Christmas Time
An LXG: TNG Short Story

Michael sat at the ordinary dinner table, nursing a hot chocolate from a novelty mug. This was him, on Christmas day, all alone. His folks were away, and by sheer coincidence, so were the rest of the gang's.

He was just thinking, what was the meaning of Christmas, when the doorbell rang. He set the mug down slowly and got up from his seat. Rubbing his hands to warm them up, he opened the door.

There was Judy and Bob.

Michael grinned. "Come on in."

He ushered them in, locking the door behind them. They looked around. There was absolutely nothing festive in the house.

"Your place gonna be this empty at Christmas?" Bob asked.

"Oh, I think it's all right. Nice and plain, with a classic Christmas novelty mug on the bare wooden table…" Judy said, taking a seat at the table.

Michael took his former place by the mug, beside Judy, and Bob took a seat on Michael's other side. Michael took a sip from the mug, and noticed Judy and Bob looking at him.

"Right." He got up and made two more cups of hot chocolate. "There you go," he said, pushing the mugs toward them.

The doorbell rang again.

"Now, who could that be?" he sighed. He got up and opened the door again.

This time, there was Joe and Amy. Joe was carrying a small pine tree in front of him, but it wasn't small enough, apparently.

"Bugger it," Joe muttered, then noticed that the door was opened. "Wotcher, Mike."

"Hey, Michael," Amy said, as she went in.

Joe was still standing out there in the cold. He was motioning at the tree with his head. "Bloody hell, Michael, would you budge? I can't fit in the doorway with this load."

Michael stepped back, looking on in amazement as Joe flung the tree into his living room.

"Oi, you!" Michael exclaimed, slapping Joe on the arm. "Be careful, it's my living room, mate!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Joe grumbled, rubbing his arm.

Joe and Mike started pulling up the tree. Bob joined them, seeing that the guys were all doing it.

"There," Joe said, making a show of wiping his hands.

They made their way back to the dining table. Joe and Amy sat opposite Bob, Michael and Judy. Michael just happened to notice the decorations lining his dining room. "Nice one, Judy," he commented, nodding at the sparkly decorations and the Christmas lights.

Judy blushed. "It's nothing, really." Michael grinned. He was grateful for it.

"'Ere, where's our drinks then? I want eggnog!" Joe announced. All of a sudden, there was a murmur going all around. It was clear that everyone now wanted eggnog too.

Michael sighed. "Right, then. When did I choose to be the host…?"

After some time, which involved trying to find the recipe for eggnog, and then trying to find the ingredients, he finally made enough to go around. He also took the liberty of making himself a mug.

"Oi, how come you got the nice mug with Santa's face on it?" Joe asked, scrutinizing his plain green one.

"Well, see, I wasn't expecting any guests," Michael explained. "I only bought one novelty mug."

"So, it's Christmas, and we're all here –" Amy said.

"No, not quite," Michael interrupted. "Where's Jekyll?"

Right at that moment, Jekyll rushed in. He looked distraught, and gasping for breath from running so fast.

Michael stared at him, shocked. "What is it, Jekyll?"

"We have a real problem. I think it warrants the League's attention."

Everyone gaped at him. At this time? "Bloody hell," Joe said. There was the background murmur of 'oh no's and headshakes, and then they quieted down.

"What is it, then?" Michael asked.

"I was walking down the lane, as I would any other day, when I bumped into this moustachioed fellow. I said excuse me, but he wouldn't let it go. He went 'Why'd you do that?', and I said it was an accident, but I don't think he believed me. Then he pulled out a gun. I started running, but then he started pulling at my leg..."

"… which is what I'm doing to you lot right about now," Jekyll gave a weak grin.

Michael glared at him. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. No interruptions during Christmas day.

Jekyll took a seat on the far end of the table, which wasn't very far, considering it was a rather short table (the length, not the height). Michael passed his eggnog to him.

"For a moment there, you scared us, Jekyll," Judy said. "I wouldn't want this Christmas to include yet another mission."

"I thought you were serious, Jekyll!" Bob exclaimed. "You're always serious."

Jekyll smiled. "I was in the mood for some fun, if you will."

"So we're all here, a big happy family, there's nothing to ruin our Christmas. Not a single bloody mission today, nothing of that sort. Sounds like my kind of deal."

"Agreed, Joe," they replied in unison.

Michael glanced out the window.

"Look, it's snowing."

They went up to the window and looked out at the brightly-white plains, marvelling at the snow.

"First time in years now, innit?" Joe remarked.

"Yeah. White Christmas," Bob said. "Last time I checked, Britain didn't have it for quite some time."

Michael looked out the window. There was snow, when snow hadn't fallen for so long. It's a miracle, really. He looked around at his friends. There was Bob, Amy, Judy, Joe… all dressed in red and green. Joe had a funny little Santa hat on his head. Even Jekyll was wearing something other than his usual drab attire – he had on a festive red sweater with green designs. Michael smiled. Yeah, he's got all his friends here with him. What more could he want? Nothing. Nothing more.

It was the perfect Christmas.