Disclaimer: Justice League Unlimited, Static Shock and all the characters in this story aren't my property. Well, except for the kids, but nobody's going to envy me for them.

'Tis the Season

Virgil Hawkins, the costumed crime fighter also known as Static, flew across the skies of his hometown, Dakota. He crouched on his flying disk, trying to spot his destination from his altitude. Of course, the current blizzard didn't help. His Dad said that calling it a blizzard was a bit of an exaggeration, but he wasn't the one flying about in the clouds. Spotting his quarry, Virgil willed the disk downwards using his powers of electricity manipulation. The disk complied silently, the only noises being the sizzle of the snowflakes as they evaporated on the electricity field.

Once he reached ground level, Virgil hopped off the disk and folded it into itself as he had done so many times before. He wondered if he would ever find another mode of transportation. Yet another thing he should have asked his future self during his brief journey there. He shook the thought from his head as he entered the building, brushing snow from his unruly hair as he went.

"Okay, I'm here. Now where…?"

He grinned as he saw his fellow crime fighter Gear, otherwise known as Richie Foley. He was not dressed in his usual costume, just as Virgil wasn't. However, Virgil had ended up being dressed as Santa Claus for this show. Richie had ended up being an elf, a fact that he was still grumbling about a week after he was given the news. And Virgil was still laughing at the costume.

"Hey! How's my little helper elf?"

Richie scowled beneath his facemask. "Y'know, if I knew it wouldn't traumatise the kids, I would so kill you right now."

"And that's why I like being a superhero," Virgil said, still smirking. "So where are the kids?"

As if in answer to his question, the double doors on the other end of the room burst open, and a wave of small children burst through. Virgil resisted the temptation to cover his ears from the noise, and simply opted to give the children a grin and a wave. He still wasn't used to the whole public service part of being a superhero.

"Hey kids! How you doing? I'm Static Claus, Santa's good friend, and this is my partner…" he said, gesturing over to Richie, who crossed his arms and made a huffing noise. "I said, 'and this is my partner…'" Virgil repeated in a slightly more hushed tone, raising his eyebrows at Richie.

Richie sighed. "…Gear, the helpful elf," he said, his voice a perfect monotone.

Virgil smiled and turned back to the kids. "All right, so what would you kids like to do first?" he said, rubbing his hands together to create some sparks. The children looked in awe at the flashing purple lights, entranced. One child raised his hand. Virgil walked over to him and knelt before him. "All right man. What's your name?"

"Robert."

"Okay, Robert, what can I do you for?"

"I want you to zap Susie! She's stupid!"

"Am not!" an indignant voice responded.

Virgil smiled. "Well, I'm not really allowed to-"

"I thought you were a big superhero though? I thought you zap bad people?"

"Well, I do, but-"

Another voice rang out. "Wait, you said you were Santa's friend, not Static! You're not Static!"

Virgil stood. "Hey, I-"

"Where's Santa? We want Santa!"

Virgil turned back to Richie, who was setting up some strange contraption while quietly singing 'Tis the Season'.

"Gear!" Virgil hissed through his teeth. "Stop with that and give me a hand!"

"Just a second…" he said, preoccupied with adjusting something on the strange device. Meanwhile, the kids were beginning to tug on Virgil's coat, noisily and angrily demanding the return of Santa Claus.

"There!" Gear said, stepping back from his new invention. A small circle in the center of the machine lit up, and a hologram projected itself into the air, the colours swirling and dancing around each other to eventually assume the form of Santa Claus. Virgil looked at Richie questioningly, who just put his fingers to his lips and winked at his friend. The children looked in awe at the hologram as it began to speak.

"Hello, children. I regret that I'm not there to talk to you, but I'm very busy, andskssjkkskkskskkssss! Error. Goodbyeeeee children. Yes?"

And with that, the hologram sputtered out of existence. Virgil looked over at Richie, who just shrugged with an exasperated look on his face.

"I don't know," he said quietly, and the children slowly began to stir.

"That wasn't Santa! You keep on trying to trick us!"

Virgil put his hands up defensively, looking to the caretakers of the children pleadingly. "No, kids, you got it all wrong-"

"He's quite right, children. That wasn't Santa Claus; I am."

Virgil turned to see Chris Cringle himself walking towards them, a jolly smile on his face and a spring in his step. Virgil raised an eyebrow, and looked over at Richie.

"Not me," Richie mouthed, looking in puzzlement at the Santa Claus look-alike. Robert scowled.

"You're not Santa. I bet your beard isn't even real," he said, running over to Santa Claus and pulling on his beard. Virgil prepared himself for another farce when the man winced in pain.

"Careful there, son. It takes quite a while to grow a beard like this," he said, chuckling to himself as he picked up the boy. Robert's eyes lit up.

"It really is him! His beard's real and everything!"

Virgil's eyes widened slightly.

Who is this guy?

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Once the proceedings were over and the children had gone home, Virgil and Richie were left with 'Santa Claus'.

"Thanks for your help back there. I don't know what we were gonna do."

Richie laughed. "Yeah. I was afraid that Static would have to shock them."

'Santa' smiled. "Oh, I don't think that would have been necessary. They were only children, after all." He made his way towards the door.

"I've gotta say, you're pretty good for a guy in a costume," Virgil said, shaking his head in amazement.

"Why thank you, young man. But it's not a costume." He turned and left the building, walking through the doors and into the snow. Richie and Virgil looked at each other before running after him. They both burst through the doors at high speed, slipping slightly on the snow. They looked up and down the street, but 'Santa' was gone. Virgil turned to Richie.

"Where'd he…?"

"Dunno. Backpack can't detect him anywhere, either."

Virgil paused for a moment. "You don't think…?"

Richie laughed. "Nah."

A noise caught their attention, and they looked up to see what looked curiously like a flying sleigh being pulled by reindeer. The two stared up at the sky, their eyes wide with shock.

"No… way," Richie said, and Virgil dumbly nodded.

It didn't even occur to him to fly after it.

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'Santa Claus' landed on a nearby rooftop, and reverted back to his true form. The Martian known as J'onn J'onnz pulled the facsimile of the sleigh and reindeer back into this body. It hadn't been particularly pleasant, stretching his body in such a way. He wasn't even sure why he was in Dakota in the first place. He had simply been travelling the country since the incident with Viking Prince, and he had somehow ended up here. Was it just a coincidence he was in the mall at the same time that Virgil and Richie were doing their little Christmas presentation? He didn't know. He just knew that something compelled him to help them out. He reached out with his mind, and felt the amazement and awe coming from both Richie and Virgil, and he allowed himself a small smile.

It was worth it.

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(A/N: I was wondering what to do with Static and Gear, when I also thought that I needed a story for J'onn, considering his large role in 'Comfort and Joy'.

Anyhow, review.)