Sam pulled Danny's arm over her shoulder, trying to support him enough so he wouldn't fall over. She was slowly starting to come back into reality.

"OK," she said to herself, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down, "We're in a blizzard, Danny's unconscious, it's almost impossible to move around, but we know where we are. I can handle this," she suddenly realised how familiar this way of summarising her problems seemed. She looked at Danny, whose head was slumped away from hers.

"And now I'm starting to talk like you," she said, though she doubted Danny could hear. Shifting his body slightly, she dragged him along with her down Burton Road.

On an ordinary day, heading down five blocks wouldn't have been much of a trouble. With several feet of snow in front of them and the wind almost knocking them over, it was another story. Sam pressed forward the best she could, but the wind was again acting at its most relentless and unforgiving state. The energy she had gained back from her little nap wouldn't last that long. And there was another problem. Danny was taller and heavier than she was. Usually this was a good thing; he could give her or Tucker a lift when need be and was able to support and hold back attacks from ghosts. Now it was making it doubly hard to get around.

Their situation did not improve. The wind was shoving them back, the snow was piling up on top of them, and Danny was not faring well at all. After what had to be at least ten minutes, the sign for Burton Road was still in sight and they had barely managed to get down one block. Sam shifted Danny's weight again.

"You really need to lay off on those Nasty Burgers," she muttered, more to herself than him. Danny made a slight movement and coughing. Whether or not he had been trying to laugh she had no idea. Shifting his weight a bit more, she kept going.

Now, it happened that earlier in the year, this road had had a series of problems with electricity, mainly due to a rather violent lightning storm that summer. The lightpoles were in disrepair and very unstable. So whereas the ones by FentonWorks needed a collision with a RV to fall over, these things could bend like a twig. An especially strong current of wind blew down from a cloud and slammed down on one of the poles, snapping at its support and foundation. It rattled around, slowly leaning forward, before it cracked off the cement and went spiralling down...right towards Danny and Sam.

Danny barely had his eyes open when the pole snapped. He was barely aware of it as it headed towards them. And he just barely heard Sam's yell and just barely felt her attempts to move out of the way in time. But he only needed to be just barely aware. With a sudden burst of energy he turned them both intangible just as the pole came down on them and threw them both forward into the snow. They quickly went tangible again, Danny gasping for breath, coughing up a storm, and shivering worse than ever.

Sam started to take off her coat to put it around Danny, but he stopped her. The blanket wasn't really that warm, but he wasn't letting Sam freeze over it.

"There's…" he coughed, "…a shortcut," he pointed over to a dark alleyway nearby. With all the snow and the hour of the night (whatever it was) it was impossible to make out anything about it. Danny was so exhausted he couldn't really think about what the alley looked like himself. He wasn't even too sure if this was the right alleyway All he could remember was that he'd used an alley around here as a shortcut to his house when he needed to get back from ghost-hunting and 10:00 PM was coming up on him one time.

Sam studied the alleyway questionably. Something told her this was a bad idea. But she doubted the weather would permit her to make it another four blocks dragging Danny along. Finally, she reluctantly nodded in agreement. Helping Danny to his feet and shifting his weight around so she could help him along, she started over to the alleyway.

The street wasn't any wider than any other one in the city, but with all the snow, wind, and the need to help Danny around, it felt like walking a mile. They made it over, but found a very disappointing sight waiting for them. The alley had a wall blocking anyone from cutting through into a different street.

Despite their situation, Sam couldn't help but look at Danny with an annoyed expression. He grinned sheepishly.

"Guess I phased through it last time," he offered as an apology, still not sure if this was even the right alley. Sam sighed and shook her head.

"Where's Tucker and all his PDA maps when you need him?" she muttered.

----

Tucker had his feet up on the footrest, flipping through channels and eating heavily buttered popcorn. Having left right from school, he and his dad had gotten to their Maine cabin just before 6:00. His dad was trying to roast another batch of chestnuts on the fireplace the old-fashioned way; he'd burnt the other three. Tucker kept flipping through channels, not really watching anything, when something on The Weather Channel caught his eye.

"And the lower half of New England is still being hammered by these winter storms," the weatherwoman was saying, "Boston, Springfield, Amity Park…anyone in these cities needs to get inside immediately. The power in Amity has been down for quite a while, there are literally walls of snow blocking off roads, and the temperatures are well below freezing, folks. You need to get to shelter now…"

Tucker felt the popcorn he'd just put in his mouth fall out as it hung open in shock. His eyes were bulging out. He let the report go on without taking in anymore than he'd already heard. He didn't think he could. He was just barely aware of his dad's shouting and scramble for the fire extinguisher as he burnt yet another batch of chestnuts. He just watched the warnings for Amity Park flash across the screen. A cold, frightened shiver ran through his body, knocking the bowl of popcorn to the floor.

----

Though Danny was way too tired to phase them through the wall, he and Sam stayed in the alleyway, Sam trying to think of what to do next and Danny trying to keep himself from shivering so much. He was leaning against the wall while Sam paced around, occasionally slapping her head in an attempt to get an idea going. Occasionally she'd stop and take a look at Danny. He was always rubbing his hands together or breathing on them. Finally, watching her best friend freeze to death became too much.

"Danny, just borrow my coat or gloves or something!" she shouted, exasperated.

"Nah," Danny shook his head, "I'm fine," that was a lie, but he was going to stick to it.

"Well…" Sam sighed. His stubborn attitude could be so frustrating, "…At least help me think of what to do!"

"Why don't we just wait here 'til I have enough energy to phase through the wall?"

"We don't have time! We stay out here much longer and we'll turn into ice cubes!" it was true. They'd been fine under shield because they both had full winter clothing then and the barrier had blocked out everything. But now that he wasn't in ghost-form and couldn't turn back, Danny just had the blanket. And, while the alley was a fairly good shelter, the storm was so powerful now that bits of the wind and snow made their way in. The snow just outside the alleyway had collapsed in, just like with Sam's friends before, and as the amount of snow had increased considerably since then, it fell in farther. They couldn't stay in there for much longer.

"Well…" Danny started slapping his head himself, trying to think. Going the long way probably was the only immediate option they had, but he didn't think he could walk all the way and he knew Sam had a hard time supporting him. He knew Sam was thinking the same thing. They just stayed in the alley for a while, trying to think.

"Let's just go the long way," Sam finally said, "If we stay here, we'll freeze. At least if we're moving we'll have something else to worry about."

"Sam, are you sure you…"

"Danny, drop the superhero act and face the music," she cut in dryly. Danny just stared at her for a minute. Finally, he sighed in resignation and slowly got up. He tried walking a bit, but he stumbled after a few steps, and Sam had to catch him so he didn't fall to the ground. They stepped out of the alleyway and into the streets. Sam compared it in her mind to stepping into a wind tunnel after spending your afternoon outside on a quiet day. Even if they'd spent all night in this weather, they still were never prepared for it. They kept going, both now reviewing the directions that Sam hadn't been able to finish piecing together due to Danny's collapse. They'd already gotten down one block. They had four more to go, and then they had to take a right and head up another block. Then they would be at FentonWorks. It would have been easy without the storm.

They started down the road again, having to move extremely slowly to keep from falling over. The wind and snow had not let up since they had gone into the alley; it actually felt worse. Sam, having to carry herself and Danny while fighting the elements, was fading fast, and Danny was in no condition to take over. It may have just been four blocks, but it felt like they were walking across the state of Alaska. But there was nothing else to do. And something inside her felt unusually sure. Like so many other things that had gone on that night, she couldn't explain it; everything else in her body was soaked with doubt. Yet that one bit inside her seemed the strongest of all. They pressed on.

----

Jack, Jazz and Lancer sat in the living room around the fire, silent as the grave. Even by the fire they all still felt cold.

After another two failed attempts and Lancer's getting near a heart attack on the last one, Jack had given up on the idea of using the Fenton Pods to rescue Danny. They never got any more than three yards away from the house (Jack blamed the cold; more likely than not Maddie hadn't had time to run maintenance on them in a while). The cell phone lines were still overloaded and the power was still dead everywhere else. They had no idea where Danny was.

Jazz looked over to the window. It was still nearly impossible to see outside due to the snow and wind, which only seemed to be getting worse. Twice a bit of the cold air had blown down through the chimney and into the fireplace, causing for the need to use up more wood faster. But she didn't care about that. Her eyes were blood-shot from staring out the window while hardly ever blinking so much. She, like everyone else, had dark circles around her eyes from worry and her skin was sickly pale. Everyone feared the worst had already happened.

----

Still half-carrying Danny through the snow for who-knows how long, Sam finally looked up. She found herself in the middle of the road in front of FentonWorks. She blinked, moment, thinking the cold must be making her delusional. When the house didn't appear after she stared at it for several minutes, she started for the house. Whether this was divine intervention, ghostly assistance, or pure Christmas magic, she didn't know or care. She stumbled up to the doorstep with Danny in tow.

---

Jack was going through the channels on the TV, trying to find The Weather Channel or any station with some report on the weather. He passed a few, and with every one came the same report; the storm showed no signs of stopping. With every report the horror on everyone's faces sank in deeper. It looked as though this holiday season, things would turn out the way of Batman Returns instead of A Christmas Carol.

Everyone was so gloomy they barely heard the knock at the door.

"Is that the door?" Maddie's voice coming up from the basement brought them back into reality. The knock came again, a bit louder this time, and everyone turned towards the door. Jack approached it cautiously, as if he were walking towards a potentially dangerous beast. Jazz didn't move, but eyed the door with a mix of suspicion and hope.

'It could be…' she thought, 'but if it wasn't…who else would it…' she held her breath as Jack slowly creaked the door open. Danny and Sam fell in with a huge amount of snow, gasping for breath and looking colder than ice. Sam was still helping Danny along. Jazz saw that Danny's winter clothes were gone and that he only had a blanket, but at the moment, she found herself hard-pressed to care about that. She literally jumped over the chair she was sitting on and ran over, grabbing both Danny and Sam in a big hug. If that hadn't knocked what little wind they had left out of them, then Jack's huge bear hug that got all three of them definitely did.

"Maddie!" Jack was beside himself with joy, "He made it! Oh, that's my boy!" he finally set everyone down, still resting his arm on Danny's shoulder. Danny's eyes darted over to an old-fashioned clock on the mantle, one that didn't have to be re-set. It was 9:15.

"Told you I'd be back by ten," he smiled weakly. Jack looked over at the clock too, laughed, and ruffled Danny's hair, grabbing hold of him again.

"Grimm's Fairy Tales, are you two all right?" Lancer asked as he walked over, looking as relieved as anyone else. Sam nodded, and this time it was true.

----

Danny and Sam sat in the kitchen, wrapped in dry blankets from upstairs. It had been amazing that they didn't have any real frostbite, let alone manage to get through the storm. Danny had been worse off; no one knew where his winter clothes went, and he didn't seem to be able to remember ('So he says,' Jazz thought to herself with a smile). Jazz was making them some hot chocolate now. Jack had taken over for Maddie in the basement (she had nearly knocked Danny over with all her hugging and kissing, then eventually joined Jack in the basement for something) and Lancer had returned to his spot by the fire.

"So where exactly were you, Sam?" Jazz asked.

"The park," Sam said.

"Wait," Jazz stopped getting the cocoa ready, "That's on the opposite side of town from the forest. To meet up Danny would either have to pass by here or you'd have to pass by here."

"Yeah…" Sam nodded, not sure she liked where this was going.

"Well what the heck's wrong with you two!?" Jazz exclaimed, "You didn't have enough brains to come in when you walked by, whichever one of you did!?" Danny and Sam took offence for a second, but then they saw the grin on Jazz's face. Danny sighed, but he couldn't help but smile back.

"Why don't you two go by the fire?" Jazz offered, "I'll bring in the hot chocolate when it's done."

"Sure," they both got up. They had just reached the doorway when Jazz whistled and pointed up to the ceiling, her grin going from kind to sly. There was a bit of mistletoe hanging above the doorway. Danny had had too much else to worry about tonight to remember where all of those were placed. He and Sam quickly moved out from under it and into the living room. Jazz shook her head and went back to work.

Danny and Sam sat down on the couch by the fire. Lancer was also there, at the right side of the couch, sneezing like mad. They just sat there for a few minutes, warming up without really thinking anything. After a while Jazz brought in their cocoa. They'd gone through about half of it when Jack came up from the lab, looking tired but happy.

"Samantha," he walked over, "I tapped into the cable line your parents used and managed to use the monitors in the lab and your TV to form a temporary Fenton Visual Communication Unit. I let them know you're here. They said to tell you they don't care if it involves swimming in Amity Park Park Lake tomorrow, this year they're doing Christmas however you want it," Sam almost spilled her hot chocolate. There had been nothing truly fantastic or unusual about how they had managed to get indoors. But her encounter with the four men, the wind changing around when she had most needed it to, and the mere fact that they'd survived were enough to convince her; regardless of what commercialism did to it, the Christmas spirit as she had hoped for it did exist. She had planned to take Danny's advice and have her own Christmas up in her room. But she never, never imagined that her parents, her family would offer to do this. She couldn't think of anything to say. She just smiled and nodded.

"I checked the latest weather bulletins," Jack resumed after nodding back, "The storm's still strong, but by tomorrow around noon it should all be over," he yawned, "I'm bushed. I think I'll turn in for the night. Your mother's downstairs minding the generator. You want some tunes?" both Danny and Sam nodded. Jack turned on the radio. "The Christmas Song" was playing.

"Merry Christmas," Jack yawned again and headed upstairs. Sam yawned herself. She may have had that nap, but dragging Danny around in a blizzard quickly got her worn out again.

"Merry Christmas, Danny," Sam smiled a bit wider. Danny eyed her strangely for a second, then returned the grin.

"Merry Christmas, Sam," he shrugged and laughed. Sam returned the laugh and drained the last of her hot chocolate. She wrapped herself more tightly in the blankets around her and within minutes was fast asleep. Danny just watched her contentedly, still smiling. He hadn't seen her like this in three years.

"Looks like you two have cleared off your holiday blues," Lancer observed, wearing a grin himself.

"Yeah," Danny nodded, "I think I would've rather done your way, though," Lancer laughed and patted Danny on the shoulder. Immediately after he went into a sneezing fit. Danny turned back to the fire with a sigh. They'd seen his car and the lightpole on the way in. They also saw three Fenton Pods (or whatever his dad called them), and he could guess why they got put into use. It made him feel a lot better about the fight earlier that evening; the mood hadn't been killed. He felt something fall onto his shoulder; Sam's head was leaning against it. He meant to shrug her off, but didn't he didn't really mind. And something else came to mind at that moment anyway.

A lot of what had happened that night was unexplainable. The squirrel leading him to shelter, Sam happening to run into four homeless guys who treated Christmas the way she thought it should be treated, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come…none of it seemed possible. The mere fact they weren't dead or frostbitten everywhere was a miracle itself. Even Sam's change of mind seemed unreal. In his mind flashed images of Jazz's figurines and the Christmas tree. He looked up at the ceiling.

"Thank you," he whispered. He got no reply, but a happy, sleepy feeling that overcame his body felt like one. He soon dozed off himself. His head ended up unintentionally close to Sam's. The song kept playing as the fire burned away, the snow still coming down outside.

And Christmas was still a few days away.

The End

Happy Holidays ;)I'm shutting down all my projects 'til after New Years, but rest assured; those fics I said I would update within the first two weeks of January will get updated by then.

wafische89