Ho, Ho, Ho

Santa's fingers were digging painfully into Rose's arm.

"Since its inception, this plan has appeared to be cursed." the old man snarled. "And somehow, all the setbacks seem to be directly attributable to you."

"You can hardly blame the demon's not making an appearance on me," Rose protested. "I did my part. It isn't my fault someone cast the counter-spell first." Rose's free hand suddenly flew to her mouth as she realized she'd said too much. She hadn't intended mentioning the spell to Santa at all.

"Damnation!" Santa's face was purple in an instant. "Who found the sealing spell? I thought I had it well hidden."

"Someone at Wolfram and Hart," Rose murmured evasively. She certainly wasn't going to add fuel to the fire and tell him it was her that found the counter-spell.

"How did you get Lindsey to remove the children?" The old man was genuinely curious. He didn't put much faith in Lindsey's loyalty, but he didn't see him helping the other side, either. Especially not feeling the way he did about Angel.

Rose shrugged. "I just told him to do it," she replied quietly. "After all, I was giving you your sacrifice. You didn't need my children."

"You're very devoted to the precocious little brats, aren't you?" Santa inquired.

"Watch how you speak about my children," Rose warned. She yanked her arm out of the demon's grasp, although it felt like his fingers raked across the bone when she did so.

"So, there's still some fire there, eh?" The old man regarded her thoughtfully. "Normally, I do prefer children, but on this occasion, I believe that I'll..,"

"Keep your bloody hands off my wife," Spike ordered, striding in ahead of everyone else. Naturally. "You all right, babe?"

"Nothing that won't heal," Rose answered him. Her face went blank for a moment. In answer to the quizzical looks, she said, "Just letting the children know you've arrived. They've been asking ever since five minutes after you left."

"We had a few delays," Angel mumbled. He looked at Santa and saw nothing like he expected except for the fact he appeared to be an old man. "Nice touch, having a portal inside someone's house."

"And yet you managed to get in anyway," the elder observed. He hadn't yet seen Corinna, hanging at the back of the group. "Most resourceful."

Richard, groaning, was struggling to his feet. He didn't look like he was ready to start anything yet, though.

"What happened to him?" Gunn wondered.

"He was getting a little too familiar," Rose replied. She didn't elaborate, but her face started taking on a rosy hue.

"Give him the knee, did you?" Spike queried in satisfied tones. "That's my girl." He turned to the old man. "You seem to be having a little trouble dealing with that particular concept. Matter of fact, in the past few days, you've shown a very marked tendency for messing about with what's mine."

The old man clucked his tongue and shook his head sadly. "Poor Spike," he murmured sympathetically. "Once, a shining example of what a monster could be and should aspire to, and now..," He eyed Spike, who was hovering protectively over Rose. "Thoroughly domesticated. Truly a shame."

Spike cocked an eyebrow at him. "I chose this," he declared. "How'd you wind up in a hole in the ground?"

"Enough of this!" the old man roared. "You are in my domain now." A few random bits of stone and dirt jarred loose from the walls and ceiling at his outburst.

"How about not pissing him off?" Gunn suggested. "I'd kind of like to not have to dig myself out of here."

The old man's eyes had been darting here and there, and he finally located the object of his search. "Ah, Corinna, my love. Come here, sweet girl."

"No." It was hard to tell whose expression was more startled, the spider woman's, or the pestilence demon's. Neither one of them had thought she had it in her.

"No?" Santa looked ready to explode. "You dare say no? To me?" Veins stood out on his forehead in sharp relief.

"Why don't you scoot on back out of the line of fire, luv?" Spike suggested, taking Rose's arm and guiding her in the direction he wanted her to go, and never mind her seeming reluctance to do so. And where he wanted her to go was as far away from Santa as possible. The whole time, Spike's eyes never once left the pestilence demon.

"Why the concern, Spike?" the old man asked conversationally. "She's only a human." He frowned at the remembered inconsistencies. Was Rose really only a human?

Spike was actually willing to let that one slide. As exceptional as he knew Rose to be, her past notwithstanding, he didn't want Santa thinking of Rose in any other way. And now it looked like the s.o.b. was thinking about it. Time to distract him.

"The kids don't think much of you." See if he could get the old man's attention on anything other than Rose.

Before Santa could reply, Fred peeked around from behind Gunn and fired an injector dart into the demon's shoulder.

Santa sucked in a pained breath between jagged teeth. "You'll pay for that, little girl," he warned. "I'll suck the marrow from your bones."

"You'll have to get through me first," Angel said, crossing his arms, looking calm, relaxed, and yet, somehow, lethal.

"The infamous Angelus," the old man commented. "How the mighty have fallen. Two of the most dreaded vampires in history, and now you're both..," He waved his hand, as if words failed him. "Pathetic."

"What was in that dart, Fred?" Gunn whispered. Corinna had said that the old man couldn't be poisoned.

"Curare," Fred replied. "It's not a poison, in the conventional sense. Basically, it just relaxes everything to the point where you can't do anything. Including breathe." Fred was watching as her target still stood, apparently unaffected by the drug. "A dose the size I just gave him should bring down a bull elephant."

Santa pulled the dart out of his arm and eyed it curiously, and with a casual gesture, he threw it back at Fred.

Angel caught it, just inches away from where Fred was unable to move quickly enough to get out of the path of the projectile.

"He does seem to have a thing about picking on women," Gunn commented. "Do you think it's because he's afraid to take on a man?"

While the demon was thus distracted, Angel tried the next gambit, which was a spell, which, if performed properly, should cause the subject to evaporate into thin air.

And still, Santa stood.

"That's what I was afraid of," Corinna muttered. "We can't kill him. I'll be stuck here with him forever." Her voice had overtones of hysteria.

"There's got to be a way," Fred declared. But her tones lacked confidence.

Richard had finally recovered enough to become aware of his surroundings. "Lily?" He peered at the assembled group, and saw more people than he expected. He shook his head to clear it. "Lindsey, what are you doing with Angel? And my wife?"

"I'm not with Angel."

"She's not your wife, you barmy git." Lindsey and Spike spoke over each other.

Richard ignored Lindsey and started advancing on Rose. "No more running away, Lily," he crooned softly. "Just you, me, and dad. We'll all be together." He lunged towards her, but never got close. Spike gave him a backhanded swat that sent him staggering back several feet.

"That's my wife," Spike said, standing firmly between Richard and Rose. "Keep your mitts to yourself."

Richard made another lunge, even more feeble than the first. This time, Spike's fist connected with his jaw and Richard slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"Spike..," Rose began, but no one, not even her beloved was really listening to her. They were the rescue party, after all.

Spike, being Spike, waded in with his fists, although he still dearly wished he could have brought along the claymore.

&&&&&&&

"Daddy's beating him up," Alaric stated with satisfaction.

"Beating up whom?" Wesley inquired.

"Santa Claus," Ariel answered with the selfsame smugness that her brother was exhibiting.

"You know," Lorne remarked. "They're probably the only kids in the country who don't connect Santa Claus with Christmas, candy, toys and just generally being spoiled rotten."

"They're spoiled rotten anyway," Wesley pointed out. He turned back to the twins. "Does it look like it's doing any good?"

"No," Alaric muttered disgustedly. "Dad just gave him a roundhouse to the gut, and he didn't even blink."

Both of the adults winced. They knew that if it had been them on the receiving end of that, they'd be on the ground and defenseless.

The Q'xlzr demon emerged from the kitchen with a mug in each hand, which it pressed on the children. A quick whiff was enough to tell what the mugs contained. Blood.

"You be drinking this," the demon directed the twins firmly. Its orange eyes held more expression that most people were used to seeing. "Drink all, then I be giving candy."

Wesley and Lorne exchanged a look. And came to the same conclusion. What Rose didn't know wouldn't hurt them or the little blue gray demon.

&&&&&&&

Santa stood quietly and just let Spike wear himself out pounding on him for a while. Then, he backhanded him as negligently as Spike had done with Richard. With similar results. Spike went sailing through the air to crash into a wall.

"Well, we know that doesn't work," Gunn remarked. He and Angel shared a look which said that neither of them minded seeing Spike get the stuffings knocked out of him. At least, as long as no lasting damage was done.

Rose caught Spike's arm in a death grip before he could dive headlong back into the fray.

"That's not going to work, darling," she said softly. "In fact, right now, I think there's only one thing that will."

"What's that?" Spike asked suspiciously. His eyes almost bugged out as Rose began to glow faintly. "Rose? What's going on?" His voice had an edge of panic to it.

Rose smiled at him lovingly. "It's just a temporary re-instatement, darling, that's all." She could tell from whence his fears stemmed, and made haste to soothe them down.

Everyone was looking at Rose in amazement.

"Well, I'll be..," Gunn began.

"Damned," Angel finished for him.

"I can't believe that I'm actually seeing this," Fred commented excitedly. "And without any equipment to record it."

"Does this have something to do with her having 'friends in high places'?" Lindsey asked softly. His eyes were riveted to the scene as were everyone else's.

Lindsey's remark put the last piece in place for her, and Corinna said quietly, "So that's it. I wonder if she..," What she wondered got lost in the moment, though. Rose and Santa were the focus of attention.

"What are you?" the old man demanded hoarsely. For the first time, he sounded less than sure of himself.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Rose asked, ever so sweetly. "You didn't used to be so slow on the uptake. A few thousand years ago you'd have known me on sight."

"A few thousand?" Santa was looking distinctly unwell. It did nothing for his composure to see all his adversaries looking extremely relaxed at the thought of letting this slip of a girl handle things. Then, the pieces clicked into place for him as well. "No, you can't interfere directly. You're not allowed."

"Who is to deny us?" Rose's voice sounded different now, as though it were several people, all talking in perfect unison. "Enough of this. We have decided that you have polluted the earth with your presence long enough." She raised a hand, and the old man started to diminish in size.

"No, please!" the demon pleaded wildly. "Anything that you want that I can possibly provide is yours, if you just let me live."

"What could you conceivably give me that I cannot obtain on my own?" Rose shook her head almost pityingly. "Do try to go out with at least a modicum of dignity."

"He doesn't deserve it," Corinnna muttered under her breath. "I just do wish that she'd get on with it."

Lindsey stared, goggle-eyed. He still didn't entirely have Rose figured out, but this performance was definitely shoring up a few of his suspicions. If he didn't have her number now, he was pretty sure that he at least had the area code.

At last, Santa dwindled away to nothing. Rose turned away from where he'd been, dusting off her hands as though she'd just been dong dirty, menial work. Then, she threw herself on Spike.

&&&&&&&

"What's happening?" Wesley demanded impatiently.

"Mummy made him go away." Ariel's voice was little more than a whisper.

"Go away?" Wesley wanted more details.

"He just got smaller and smaller," Alaric elaborated. "Until there was nothing left."

"Rosebud did that?" Lorne didn't sound awed, as the children did, but rather, shocked.

The Q'xlzr demon suddenly started looking guilty. Like everyone else, it knew Rose's views in regards to stuffing her kids with candy. It gave Lorne and Wes a pleading look, insomuch as anyone could tell. "No be telling Rose I give offspring candy?"

&&&&&&&&

"I'm not in any way injured, darling," Rose pointed out.

"Glad to hear it, babe," Spike replied evenly.

"So there's really no need for you to carry me like a baby," Rose added.

"Just making sure that you're not going anywhere without me, luv," Spike answered. He gave her a squeeze that nearly cracked her ribs. "Sorry, pet."

"What are we going to do with him?" Gunn cocked his thumb at Lindsey.

"Good question," Angel said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I have an answer, though. Maybe we should just throw him in a holding cell until I've got it figured out."

Oz had been silent for some time. There hadn't really been much of anything for him to do, but he was grateful for being treated like one of the gang. "What do you intend to do about Richard?" he asked quietly. He'd been rather overlooked, being unconscious.

"Bring him up to the house," Angel directed. "I'll send someone over here to de-spell that portal."

"And then..," Fred prompted.

"Then, all he'll have to do is talk to someone," Gunn remarked. "All it's going to take is one person hearing him claim that Santa is his dad, and he'll be locked in a nice padded room." He shook his head, but couldn't hide a grin. "So much for the state senate."

"I think I can deal with that," Angel agreed. He looked at his grandchilde and saw that Spike was too wrapped up in Rose to have heard. Or demand stronger measures be taken against Richard.

"What about me?" The voice was soft, small-sounding, unlike Corinna's usual confident if sultry tones.

"Put me down, love," Rose ordered Spike gently. And because something in her voice said that it was important, Spike complied.

Rose walked straight up to Corinna and looked up into her eyes. Eyes that were fighting to go back to the way they were when she was in her arachnid state. "Oh no you don't," Rose said warningly. She reached up and touched the spider woman's cheek, and her eyes returned to normal. "I'm not talking to a spider."

"Don't think you could," Spike put in with a smirk, thinking of all the times he'd had to rescue his wife from the object of her phobia.

"Hush, darling," Rose admonished. "What do you want, Corinna? I owe you for my daughter's life, and mine. And we all owe you for preventing the opening of a new hellmouth. So, what do you want? Your closest heart's desire."

"I want to go on being like this," Corinna muttered, eyes on her feet. "I used to be human, oh, so long ago. He took that from me too."

"Agreeable, and doable," Rose decreed. "Would you like to keep the spider available, as it were. In case of need? You would only become one by your own will, not by accident."

"It might prove useful," Corinna conceded. "Especially if I'm allowed to continue working at Wolfram and Hart. I can see where it would be extremely useful."

"So be it, then." Rose glowed again, briefly, and then, so did Corinna. Corinna just stood there, looking awed. But Rose had quite a different expression on her face. One of rapt attention.

"Kids checking up on you, Rose?" Gunn asked, when the silence got too much to bear.

"No," Rose choked out. "My.., other family. Why do you know that until now, I didn't realize that I loved them?" A tear trickled down her cheek, and Spike pulled her into his arms.

&&&&&&&

Their arrival at Spike and Rose's apartment was more than somewhat chaotic. The twins were running amok, greeting everyone enthusiastically. Until they got to their mother, and then, they hung back.

Rose, who wanted nothing more at the moment than to cuddle her babies (no matter how many times the children corrected her, they were still her babies, and probably would be when they were older than a human could ever dream of), was taken aback. And wounded. These were her precious children. What she'd risked herself and countless others for. Why were they acting as if they were afraid of her now?

"They were watching the whole thing through you and the Spikester, blossom," Lorne informed her, correctly interpreting the looks. "It was a bit out of the ordinary, even for them."

The twins were still keeping a cautious distance away. They had known, of course, since they were in the womb, that their mother was one of The Powers That Be. But they had never seen her actually wield any power before.

Spike went and stood behind his children, and wrapped an arm around each. "She's still your mum," he said softly. "She's the same person that changed your nappies and cleaned up your messes and read to you and sang to you. There's no one in this world she loves the way she loves you two. That hasn't changed. It couldn't."

Rose was trying to remain calm, trying to appear non-threatening and completely understanding. But it had been a long, hard day, and this hurt worse than almost anything. A tear trickled down her cheek, rapidly followed by another.

"We're sorry, mummy." The twins descended on her, pulling her down to their level. "We still love you. We'll always love you."

As Spike joined the trio on the floor, everyone else started slowly filing out. There would be time later for a celebration. Right now though, Rose needed to be with her family.

"Corinna?" Angel hung back from the pack to have a private word with her.

"Yes, Angel?" Corinna suddenly felt nervous. Her cover was blown to pieces, not that she needed it now, but he knew that she'd been deceiving him. And while she would like to continue at the law firm, she didn't see it as likely. She figured that he was about to tell her to get lost and never come back.

"I was just thinking," Angel mumbled, realizing that things had gone back to awkward again. "Well, before we were so rudely interrupted." He stopped, shuffled his feet for a moment, then forced himself to look at her. "Do you want to finish our date?"

Corinna smiled delightedly. "I'd love to," she purred. "Remind me. Where were we?"

"Here, I think." The rest had given up on waiting on them and had gone their own ways, so it was just the two of them as Angel took her in his arms and kissed her.