Part 2

"I agree, this is fairly advanced technology, not something you can just walk into a store and buy." Oracle said, looking at the readouts Robin had sent her. "You want me to do a search?"

"Not yet. There are a couple of the usual suspects around here we can investigate around here first. Just doing this in advance, before the season gets hectic. Cyborg and Savior are looking into it too. If there's some guy handing out high tech robbery aids, I'd prefer to find him sooner rather then later, when people get desperate."

"Understood. Will you be dropping by Gotham this year Tim?"

"…That's…up in the air Barbara."

"All right, just asking. Merry Christmas, Tim."

"Merry Christmas Babs." Robin said, and sighed off, briefly adding notes to a few files. All right, we have virtually all the shopping done, the rest on order, the kitchen stocked…still need to get a tree and get ready for the Titans East coming to visit this year…

"Hey Robin, check it out!" Cyborg said as he popped up next to the Teen Wonder. Robin glanced at him.

"Yes?"

"Behold! The 'Tinsel-Zooka!" Cyborg said, holding up a large bulky weapon. "It'll get the tree all glittery with a minimum of effort!"

Robin blinked.

"Uh…Vic…how many bugs are there to work out of it?"

"Robin!"

"How many Vic?"

"Uh…a number."

"What kind of a number?"

Cyborg stared, and then muttered something under his breath. Robin's eyes widened.

"Victor!"

"Oh come on man!"

"That is not a small number! That is a big number! Go back and reduce it, or I won't let you anywhere near the main recreation area, much less the tree!"

"Fine, fine…" Cyborg said, as he turned and left. "I don't know why I even bothered building that Star Placer…it only dented the steel floor twice…"

December 5th

The room was rather dreary and dark, both from the décor and the fact that all the lights were out. Two figures slept in the large bed, the male on his back and the female curled on her side towards him.

And two people stood by the bed.

"While Christmas was still some time away, the somber mood that usually afflicted Noel Collins at this time of the year was already on him." 'Charlie said', standing by the bed with Dickens. "While Noel made his best efforts to keep his feelings down, the fact remained that unlike last year, he did not have a young girl in a wheelchair or a crime boss poker game to screw over and make him feel better…will you quit staring!"

"I'm not staring! I'm watching them to make sure they don't wake up and find us here. That could be very awkward." 'Dickens' said.

"Dickens, they won't wake up."

"Why not?"

"We're the authors! Authors are omnipotent! They'll only wake up if we, or I, want them to wake up!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Watch!" Charlie yelled as she hopped on the bed, reached down, and yanked Raven up.

"WAKE UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!"

Raven remained asleep.

Charlie produced an alarm clock from somewhere, wound it up, and pressed it against Raven's ear as it rang. Raven remained asleep.

Charlie produced a rooster. It 'cock-a-doodle-dooed' right in Raven's face. Her expression remained serene.

Charlie jumped off the bed, walked off screen, and came back as a one-woman brass band, marching around the bed while banging on all the instruments. Neither side stirred.

Charlie shucked the instruments, and just to utterly drive the point home, jumped up on the bed and bounced around on it several times before landing back down next to Dickens.

"…I've heard of heavy sleepers, but this is ridiculous." Dickens commented.

"Yes yes, now that I'm done recycling an old joke, once removed…The methods used by Savior last year could not be repeated: Savior had already checked in on Annie and found her to be fine, and it appeared that crime this year would be far smaller and more brutish, which did nothing for Noel's mood. It would yet to be seen if anything would save this year for him…" Charlie said, and then grabbed Dickens and pulled him into the shadows.

Raven arose from her bed, yawning lightly. She slipped out from under the covers, dressed in a long nightgown, and headed for her washroom. When she emerged again, she found Noel still asleep.

"Morning." Raven said, giving her love a brief shove. Savior's eyes blinked open.

"Already?" Savior replied, not sounding too enthusiastic. "What's on the itinerary for today?"

"Nothing set, though Tim probably wants to talk to us about Titans East. Oh yeah, and cheer up you big Scrooge. I'm supposed to be the dour one on this team."

"Yeah, but you're also the one who picks up the good vibes of the season from others while being able to screen out the bad ones. Me…not so much." Savior said.

"Yes yes, we've been through this before. Just cheer up Noel. It's not fun to spend the season with someone who just wants to pick it apart."

"You're right as usual…" Noel said, as he stepped out of bed, dressed in a pair of pants. "Though I think Tim and I will do some investigating in regards to that thief's gear…"

A giant racket and a cry for help outside the door made both Noel and Raven jump, and then Noel hopped up and broke for the door, opening it as Starfire flew by. A second later, Robin followed in her wake.

"What's the situation? We under attack?" Savior asked.

"No no…nothing going on here Noel…" Robin said, looking a bit sheepish.

"IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE!" Gauntlet yelled as he ran past the door. A second later Starfire flew past again.

"Ok, what happened?" Raven asked.

"Well…I told Starfire that she shouldn't shake her gifts…apparently she misheard me and interpreted it as shaking gifts as a terrible faux paus…and she walked in on Rob shaking his gifts. Before her morning coffee."

"THERE IS NO NEED FOR A TAMARANIAN…LIVING BY EBONY FENCE!" Gauntlet yelled as he ran by again.

"Libercai ebunaifrensh!" Starfire yelled as she went by again as well.

"Like I said, just a misunderstanding…" Robin said.

"I have you now, friend Rob!"

Robin looked worried and ran off after the pair, while Raven just good naturedly rolled her eyes and smiled at how bad an idea it was to introduce Starfire to caffeine: her moods could vary wildly in the morning at times without it, though she didn't know if that was due to an alien chemical thing or…

She was suddenly aware Noel was walking away from her, and as she turned away from the door he got back in her bed and pulled the covers over him. She smiled slightly, as she closed the door and headed over to the bed.

"Come on soldier. There have been more chaotic beginnings to days. You're just using this an excuse. Come on out."

"No. Come join me. We can be dour together under here. And…build a little fort." Savior said from under the sheets.

"Come on you. Let's have a meditation session. Calm you down." Raven said, as she reached under the covers and pulled Noel out. "Besides, what good could you do from under my bedcovers?"

"Avoiding whatever crazy thing this season throws at us next."

"Oh come Noel, you have no guarantees of anything like that happening…"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cackled an ugly, mutated man, somewhere in the Jump City sewers. "The fools have no idea that soon, their city, and the world, will be mine! Those children are no match for…DR.SLUG! AHAHAHAHAHA! Now, with this switch, I will put my plans into motion! Pull the lever, Hortense!"

A large mutant slug reached up and pulled down a lever.

And the laboratory promptly exploded.

"WRONG LEVER!"

"I suppose not." Noel said.
While Raven played the extrovert to Noel's introvert, an unusual role but one she always seemed to assume around this time, and while Robin chased Starfire and Gauntlet around, Cyborg and Beast Boy were meeting in an isolated hallway.

"Ok Gar, I've sworn you to secrecy, and by that I MEAN secrecy." Cyborg said. Beast Boy nodded. "All right, here's the thing. I need to think of a good idea for a gift for…"

Cyborg glanced around the hallway, and then leaned in close to whisper as low as he could.

"…Jinx."

"JINX?" Beast Boy yelled. Cyborg recoiled back, as Beast Boy realized what he had done and clapped his hands over his mouth. Nearby, a door opened, and Nigel peered out.

"…Y and The Little Mice are out on DVD? Oh really, good! Ha ha! Ha ha!" Beast Boy laughed, leaning on a wall with one arm. "Yes, I shall have to get that for Starfire. She will enjoy the earth cartoon involving a cat named Jinxy, who has absolutely nothing to do with the Hive at all."

Nigel gave the pair an odd look, but after a second he went back into his room. Whatever the two were talking about, he had way too much paperwork to worry about it.

"Nice there Gar. Care to try again? I think a few people in Dakota didn't hear you." Cyborg commented.

"Sorry man, but…Jinx? Jinx?" Beast Boy whispered under his breath.

"Yes! I know! Look, you have to have seen some of the signs, right?"

Gar thought back…

"TITANS, GO!" Robin ordered, as the superheroes charged the Troika. Jinx shot off a magical shockwave, which blasted Beast Boy, Robin, and Cyborg off a building.

Beast Boy turned into a bird in mid-fall.

Robin shot off his grappling hook and swung down.

And Cyborg landed on a gigantic, pink heart shaped mattress that had magically appeared out of nowhere and was hence completely unharmed.

"…Well, I guess that does explain a few things…" Beast Boy said.

"Yeah. Well I need to get her something, without anyone else knowing! I mean it! There's a reason why I'm holding your membership in the N'Sync fanclub over your head."

"SHHH!"

"Exactly. So, your advice?"

"Lessee…Jinx…the girl who is a member of the Hive, which is filled with rotten teenagers and a tech-stealing wackjob who would like nothing more then to kill you…how about a Break Up Bear? They're these cute little teddy bears with break up lines on them. It's a gift AND a way to say 'please never talk to me again'."

Cyborg glared at Beast Boy.

"Uh…aheh…" Beast Boy laughed nervously.

A sudden sound came from Cyborg, a noise that sounded a lot like an old style modem dialing up, as Beast Boy stared at Cyborg, the noise going on for about fifteen seconds.

"Everybody in Pakistan now knows about the Pasta Debacle." Cyborg said. "Care to give me some real advice?"

"Uh well…got any money left?"

"Not really."

"Ok then…how about you give her some of your internal parts and make them into jewelry or something?"

"Ah, the Van Gough route. It's not a bad idea, and it sounds pretty romantic…if I didn't, you know, NEED them."

"Well shoot, what DOES she like?"

"I don't know! I've never exactly had more then two minutes alone with her!"

"Huh…gift, girl, lack of funds…well ok, she likes YOU, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Why don't you give her that Cyborg marionette that the Puppet King made of you? You still have it right?"

"…Well I have to say, that's not a bad idea…except there's no way to hide it AND it would be way too obvious where she got it."

"Right…what else is there…" Beast Boy thought. "Well, last year she got you that…photo…"

The two paused.

And then they grinned wickedly at each other.

"All right, now give me that pout!" Beast Boy said as he snapped a photo.

"Knew there was a reason I held onto this thing." Cyborg said, his form reworked so he looked like Stone again…except this time he was wearing a bathing suit and appeared to be oiled, as Beast Boy continued to say insipid photographer clichés and take pictures. Yeah, this would be a good gift.

And elsewhere, Terra got hit by a snowball.

"ARGH!"