Hey, hey, hey! I finally got this up! The last chapter!

Just a few things to cite:

I do not own Beauty and The Beast on Broadway production.

I do not own Halo 2 or anything to the Microsoft corp.

I do not Best Buy gift cards or anything related to Best Buy.

I do not the song or the lyrics from "I'm a Believer." Song is performed by Smashmouth. As for the lyrics, I have no idea who wrote them, but it wasn't me. That's for sure.

And finally, I do not own the SVU characters. Just Amy and Emily and Heng Fu's Kung Fu Palace. Enjoy guys!


Munch lied in bed next morning staring at the ceiling. Emily had her head on his chest, still sleeping, and his hand was around her back.

"Did last night really happen?" he thought.

His clothes were on the floor, yet he still could not believe he had sex. He could not even get it up last time with Billie Lou, yet last night…

Munch shook his head. Last night did happen and, for once in his life, it did not feel like it was a mistake.

Munch managed to move Emily onto a pillow without waking her. He quietly got out of bed and put on boxers and pants and opened the door quietly. He snuck out of the room, barefoot, and saw he had left his present for Emily on the couch. He tilted his head to one side and went over to it. He picked it up and went back to Emily's room.

Munch came back and kissed Emily on the neck. Emily stirred.

"What?" she asked groggily, "What's wrong?"

"I have this for you. Merry Christmas," Munch said and he gave her his present.

She sat up with the covers still wrapped around her and opened Munch's present.

"I thought you would like to wear it tonight, for the dance," mumbled Munch.

Emily smiled.

"It's so beautiful, John! I love it! Thank you!" she exclaimed and she kissed him.

Munch was enjoying the kiss until his cell phone rang. He broke apart and after a few minutes of searching, he found it under the bed.

"Munch," he said.

"Hey! Are you up?" came Amy's voice.

"Yes," groaned Munch, "Where are you?"

"Home," she replied.

"How the hell you got home?"

"I chained the tires. Is Emily up?"

"How would I know!" he hissed, "I slept on the couch last night."

Amy held back what she really wanted to say.

"Then make some noise," she said finally, "Wake her up on purpose. I'm leaving your place right now. The roads are okay, but we need to leave early since we are picking up Fin. Don't forget to tell her she needs to bring her stuff with her for the dance, etc."

"Fine," sighed Munch, "Are you bringing my stuff?"

"Who do you think I am, the Fed Ex girl! Of course, I'm bringing our stuff to the house…"

And she hung up, ranting.

"What's up?" asked Emily.

"We need to get going," said Munch, "She was able to get home last night by chaining her tires and she's picking us up and then we have to pick up Fin. Get your stuff ready. I'll make some coffee."

Munch was getting up when Emily grabbed his arm.

"Listen, about last night…that was lovely. I haven't felt like that in ages."

"Felt like what?" asked Munch.

"Respected, loved…that's how it felt."

Munch smiled.

"I suppose this means we are serious now?"

Emily kissed him on the lips.

"That answered my question," he said, laughing and he went to go make the coffee.

Fifteen minutes later, Emily was dressed and her stuff packed for later on that night. She also some presents for the squad and she was a bit nervous.

"I don't know, John. I mean, detectives hate reporters," she said.

"We only hate reporters that don't leave us alone and let us do our job. You haven't got in our way," said Munch.

"I'm a reporter John. I still fall in that stereotype."

"And if any of my co-workers start acting rude to you, they've got something else coming. They're not going to mess with you because then they have to mess with me and that won't be pretty," said Munch, giving her his over the glasses look, "Trust me, everything is going to be fine today and tonight."

A buzzing sound rang out through the apartment.

"That must be Amy," said Emily and she went over to the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Emily!" cried Amy, "Are you and my uncle ready?"

"Yeah, we are. We'll meet you downstairs," Emily replied.

"Okay."

Emily turned to Munch.

"Does she know about…"

"That I don't know," said Munch, grimacing, "But if I know her and I think I do, she won't say anything until tonight and she'll give me the chastising of a life time after she drops you off."

And they gathered their stuff and left the apartment.


On The Way To The 1-6

Friday, December 25th, 2005

"You…are…nuts!" said Fin, shaking his head in the passenger seat.

Amy had just got done explaining what she did the night before to get home while Munch and Emily listened intently from the back.

"And where was John in all this?" he added.

"I was stranded at the restaurant with my girlfriend," said Munch, rolling his eyes, "By the time she came, we were just glad to go home. She gave Emily an extra set of chains."

"And you always carry chains with you in the trunk?" asked Fin, skeptically to Amy.

"During the winter time, yes I do," said Amy.

"You're nuts!"

Amy smirked.

"Am I nuts enough to belong into an asylum?" she asked.

"You see," said Munch to Emily, "I deal with this every day I go to work."

"What do you mean by 'You'?" asked Amy, "I deal with it too, along with Fin."

"But I'm not the cause of trouble this time," Munch said succinctly, "Fin started it."

Fin rolled his eyes.

"Emily, I have this much to say to you."

"What?" asked Emily.

"Either you are very brave or very stupid to go out with him, but since he's been going out with you? Well, he's become a bit more bearable in car rides and in the squad room. I thought it was the shooting at first, but I was wrong. Whatever you two have been doing, it has really softened him up."

Munch and Emily turned red and were speechless. Amy, however, turned to face Fin.

"You idiot! What the hell are you spouting! I have a half mind to shoot you right now! Was that suppose to be a compliment!" she yelled.

"Yeah, it was. I mean Munch struck gold this time. Otherwise, she would have left after the first date," said Fin shrugging.

Munch and Emily looked at each other, then at Fin.

"By the way," he added, "You just missed our turn, Amy."

Amy muttered a few things to Fin and everyone burst out in the car laughing. Amy could not help it. She laughed too.


SVU Squad Room

Cragen was pacing around the squad room. Due to last night's snow storm, he knew everyone was going to be late. He just did not expect it to be this bad. He poured himself a cup of coffee and was about to go back into his office when he finally heard the elevator bell and everyone came off at the same time.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked, "I've been worried sick. Who carpooled?"

"No one," said Stabler, "We all arrived at the same time and in the process, we nearly crashed. The roads, they're horrible."

"You liar," growled Amy, "You were the one that couldn't make up your mind on your turn signal!"

"And what about you?" asked Benson, "You nearly gave me a fender bender…"

"People," sighed Cragen as he eyed everyone intently, "It's Christmas. And if I have to put any of you in the lock-up for disorderly conduct and reckless driving, then none of you are getting your presents."

"But we didn't do anything," said Munch and Fin together.

"I know, but you guys argue all the time in the squad room. So I have an excuse."

"What about my girlfriend?" asked Munch, revolted at the thought Cragen had the nerve to lock them up on Christmas if they were being bad.

"She can write the story of how my squadron of detectives ended up in jail for Christmas day," said Cragen, extending his hand to shake Emily's.

"I do believe we have only met once," said Emily.

"That would be at the 'funeral'," said Cragen.

"Oh God," said Munch, rolling his eyes, "Don't get started on that. Isn't Christmas supposed to be a cheerful holiday?"

"You don't celebrate Christmas, remember?" said Benson, grinning.

Munch raised an eyebrow and everyone laughed.

"You don't celebrate Christmas?" asked Emily, curiously.

"Well…" began Munch, "Yes and no. I observe it."

"Ah," said Emily, giving Munch a sly grin.

"Come on everyone!" said Cragen, "Let's open presents. I'm Santa this year."

"Santa?" asked Amy and Emily.

Munch filled them in.

"Every year, one of us is 'Santa.' Basically, we have the jolly task of handing out presents to everyone."

Everyone amassed all their gifts into one big pile which consisted of very few packages and mainly envelopes.

"I have a feeling," began Cragen, looking down at the pile, "That we did the gift card thing again this year."

"Well, at least we have more boxes this year," said Fin, "Last year, it looked like the mafia was here and we were giving out money in envelopes."

"True. All we had was the envelopes and a gold fish from the desk sergeant that got over fed because we didn't ask who fed it last," said Stabler, "Poor Jaws."

Benson rolled her eyes.

"After we get some coffee, can we please start opening something here?"

Cragen smiled and nodded and handed Benson an envelope and a box. Munch got up and began to serve everyone coffee. Cragen also handed out envelopes to everyone else, except for Emily in which he handed her a small box.

"What's this Captain Cragen?" asked Emily.

"Well, I found it the other day and I found it kinda cute," said Cragen.

"You find things cute?" asked Munch bemused.

Cragen ignored Munch. Munch, however, was watching what Emily was about to open.

"Awww…it is cute Captain! Thank you!" said Emily, beaming.

It was a black teddy bear wearing a police uniform and it had a hat and gold glasses, stuffed inside an NYPD coffee mug.

"I found the glasses at a craft store. I thought I'd give it some Munch-flair," said Cragen, smiling.

"It looks just like John!" cried Emily, "I think I'm going to take this to work and put it on my desk!"

Munch nearly dropped the coffee pot. Everyone, except Cragen and Emily, snickered.

"Hey Captain!" said Munch, as he regained his composure and served coffee to everyone, "I'll find one just like you next year, only with a magnifying glass."

"I'm honored John," said Cragen, rolling his eyes.

Benson opened her card. Out fell an Office Max gift card.

"Question," said Benson, "When you were criticizing us on the gift card ordeal, you were including yourself, right?"

"I guess this means we can't be b—ching about not having enough supplies to get our paperwork done," said Stabler miserably.

Benson gave out her gift cards which were from Staples, with the exception of Stabler.

"Merry Christmas," said Benson, handing Stabler a thick envelope.

"What this?" he asked.

"Open it," said Benson.

Stabler opened the envelope and pulled out six tickets.

"Hey! Beauty and The Beast on Broadway! My kids have been dying to see this Olivia! Thanks!" he said, reading the tickets.

"No problem," said Benson as she gave quick, hinting look, but Stabler did not notice it.

Now Stabler gave out his gift cards to everyone (They were from a local donut shop), except Benson. She got a bag from him and opened it. It was a stuffed Panda in a Kung Fu robe and it was holding a card.

"Heng Fu's Kung Fu Palace…get seven free lessons," read Benson, "What? You don't trust my shooting skills any more?"

"Well actually, I just saw Charlie's Angels the other day with Liz and I always pass the place on my way to work," said Stabler, shrugging.

"Thank you, Elliot," said Benson, giving him a look.

Fin past out his gift cards which were from Best Buy.

"Ten bucks!" exclaimed Amy, "Sweet! Best Buy is cool!"

Fin gave Munch a small box. Munch gave him a curious look as he opened it.

"Hey! It's an alien hula doll! Where did you find one of these?" Munch asked, amused at the gift.

"What if I told you I made it?" asked Fin.

"I would say you have too much time on your hands," Munch replied.

"Merry Christmas then, Old Man," snickered Fin.

Munch gave him a look before passing out his gift cards, and presents to his partner, niece, and girlfriend. Fin examined his closely.

"What did you get me this year?" he asked suspiciously.

"Open it and find out," said Munch.

Fin tore off the gift-wrapping. It was Halo 2, the game he had wanted to get for ages. Fin tried to hold back his excitement.

"Um, thanks," he said, but a small smile crept across his face.

"No problem," said Munch, "Now quit telling me about it and we can call it even."

Emily opened her present next. It was a set of long, sleek black leather gloves. She had lost hers one night while on a date with Munch earlier in the month.

"Thank you sweetie," said Emily and gave Munch a kiss on the cheek.

"Sweetie?" asked Stabler, curiously.

"Pursue that one and you'll be having an unwanted accessory on your face for this dance," hissed Amy.

Stabler put his hands in front of him.

"I was only asking, but I surrender. I surrender."

Amy now opened her present from her uncle as soon as Stabler backed off the affectionate name calling between the two lovebirds. She opened the box and inside was a black fedora hat, exactly like her uncle's.

"You gave me your hat," said Amy, confused yet smiling.

"No I didn't. I bought you one exactly like mine. I thought you looked kinda good in mine yesterday."

"Sweetness," said Amy and she put it on, "Now I'm definitely a Munch."

Everyone laughed.

"What?" said Amy, "Hats are cool and this hat is classy. You can never go wrong with Fedoras and trench coats for your day job outerwear."

"Exactly my point," said Munch, "I've been trying to make that for years."

Cragen sighed.

"So, I think it's a little for early for everyone to start getting ready for this dance. Why don't we go…"

"Have a snowball fight?" asked Stabler.

"Well," began Cragen. He was not too sure considering last year's snowball fight had got out of hand and his bald spot on his head was the primary target for most snowballs that had headed his way.

"Snow ball fight?" asked Amy, "Oh yes! We got to have one!"

"But we have an odd number of people," argued Cragen.

"Not anymore," said a voice behind them.

Casey Novak had arrived as Cragen's dance partner for the dance that evening. She was caring her dress and a bag with all her stuff.

"I do believe you guys received my Christmas gift already," she said.

"What Christmas gift?" asked Benson.

Novak pointed over at the coffee maker. The coffee pot had been brewing since they came in and they all had assume that Cragen had made it.

"Oh," said Stabler.

"I see everyone likes it," said Novak looking at the pot and noticing it was almost gone.

"We thought Cragen made it," said Fin.

"No wonder it tasted so good," said Munch, looking down his cup.

Novak shook her head. Everyone started looking down at their cups and Cragen walked over to Novak.

"See? I told you they don't like the way I make the coffee," he said.

"Didn't you tell them I was coming today?" Novak asked.

"I dropped them a hint. I'd figured their excellent detective skills could figure out the rest."

"Well, obviously they didn't believe you, Don," she said and went upstairs to put up her stuff.

Cragen sighed and looked at his squad.

"What is so interesting about a cup of coffee?" he asked exasperated.

"The fact it was made here," said Stabler.

"Well, it's one o' clock and we don't have to be there until seven, so you can do whatever you want for the time…"

"SNOW BALL FIGHT!" cried Fin.

"I'll join you guys later," said Cragen, shaking his head, "Just be back here and start getting ready for the dance so we can be on time."

"Who's joining? We got to form teams," said Stabler.

"Fin, Amy, Emily, and me are on one team," said Munch.

"Count me in too," said Novak, coming down the stairs.

"That means Olivia, Casey, and me form a team and we get the Captain," said Stabler.

"I guess that means I have to join in now," said Cragen miserably.

"Well, I actually needed to talk to you for a second," said Munch.

"Anything to prolong my misery please," said Cragen.

"We can hold the fort down until you guys get back," said Amy.

"I haven't been a snow ball fight in ages," said Emily.

"You'll be fine," said Fin, "They can't hit anything."

"HEY!" shouted Benson, Stabler, and Novak.

Everyone left except Cragen and Munch. Munch waited until he heard the elevator doors close before he spoke.

"Well?" asked Cragen.

"Captain, I was wondering if I could take some vacation time," said Munch.

"Let me guess," began Cragen, "You were also hoping Amy's vacation would tie along in with yours."

Munch nodded.

"Well, we've had three people on duty before. I don't mind. When do you want to have it?"

"Before the shrink evaluation," replied Munch.

Cragen looked at the ceiling.

"Well, considering it's for this reason and this reason alone, I could make an exception this time. But for future reference, this won't happen again," he said, returning his gaze back on Munch.

"Except when we have a shrinking coming up and the government is behind it," added Munch and Cragen gave him a look.

"Just kidding," he said.

"Forget it. Let's go outside and join this snowball fight. I want my embarrassment as quick and painless as possible."

Munch held back his small laugh and followed Cragen to the elevator.


"TAKE THAT!" yelled Benson.

She flung a snowball at Fin who grabbed Amy and ducked beneath a snow mound. The snowball instead hit Stabler.

"I'M ON YOUR SIDE!" he cried to her.

Novak threw a snowball at Emily. Emily was focused on hitting Benson when it hit her in the back and she went down for the count.

THUMP!

Munch and Cragen both went their separate ways. Seeing Emily as a victim of Novak's snowball, Munch wanted revenge and threw one at Novak, which hit her right on her side.

"You mess with Emily, then you mess with me!" he yelled and smirked.

Amy scored a hit as Cragen had tried to throw one at Fin. He looked at her as she laughed, but was quickly silenced by Benson. Then Benson had snow in her face as Fin turned away from Novak and threw one at her. Subsequently, Novak hit Fin as he got distracted by Benson. And a snowball Stabler threw at Munch was intercepted by the one Munch threw.

To see a squad of detectives, an ADA, and a reporter having a snowball fight outside a station house and on a holiday workday, would be a strange sight indeed. In fact, the site would almost be considered as a once in the blue moon opportunity. However, the last 3 years they had worked Christmas because of department regulations (If Cragen had his way, he would not even called in his squad for work). Someone needed to be on duty in case anyone called about a crime.

And the fact that it was a squad of detectives, their leader, the ADA that helped out the unit, and a reporter having a good time together, it was unthinkable. Both the police force and ADA shared similar feelings about reporters. They were good, yes, but sometimes they stick their pens and notepads where they should not be. But Emily Smith was an exception to this rule. She was a reporter, but she only reported about tourists sights to see in New York City in the New Yorker. Okay, newspapers or newsletter do the same thing she did, but she did not report about crimes, politics, economics, or all that other stuff that was released on a day to day or weekly basis with the sightseeing attractions. And she had connections to the press that had been used many a time by all squad members, the Captain, and the ADA herself. So, they were some good things about her and it changed their perspective on the press a little, but not too much either.


Soon, everyone's hands were going numb to the cold. Wanting to reclaim the feeling in them, everyone went back inside to the squad room. And to their great mercy, the desk sergeant must had grabbed a cup of coffee because he refilled the pot with a hot fresh brew.

Cragen looked at his watch as he waited in line. It was four thirty in the afternoon.

"I think after this, the girls should go upstairs and not come down until it's almost time to leave," he said.

"Do we have to?" asked Benson.

"It'll be fun for me. Think of it. I can watch the male half writhe in agony wondering what their dance partners will look like," said Cragen.

Stabler, Munch, and Fin glared at Cragen.

"So we're your entertainment?" muttered Stabler.

"Yes and tonight at the dance. Speaking of which, I would like to say a few things before everyone goes their separate ways."

Everyone listened.

"Tonight, I want you to represent your house well…"

"Not a be-on-your-best-behavior speech. I haven't listened to these things since fifth grade," muttered Amy.

Munch gave her a slight jab with his elbow.

"Just bear with it and listen to him."

"And when I mean by well," Cragen said, eyeing the pair, "I mean…"

He paused to find the right words.

"I mean bring the house down."

The squad looked at each other.

"Come again?" said Novak.

"You heard what I said. This should be especially easy for Munch and Fin at least."

"We're not trouble makers!" exclaimed Fin.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Amy.

"How do you want us to bring the house down?" asked Emily, who was just as confused as the squad.

"I wouldn't say by any means necessary, but I would say bring it down within reason," replied Cragen, "Now…ladies upstairs in the crib and men stay here in the squad room."

The squad sighed and went their separate ways. Emily kissed Munch.

"It's not all that bad, John. We'll be down before you know it," she said.

"Tell that to the other part of me that the squad sees everyday. I wanted to spend Christmas with you and Amy…"

"And you will tonight," she said kissing him on the cheek.

Stabler and Fin snickered and a small smile crept up Cragen's face. Munch shook his head and sighed.

"Awww…is the poor Munchkin going to miss his girlfriend?" asked Stabler, grinning.

"He'll go crazy if she doesn't come down in thirty minutes," snickered Fin.

"Two things. One, I'm not 'Munchkin' anymore. Amy is…," began Munch.

Amy stopped on the stair case and wanted to shout something at her uncle, but Benson and Novak, who were behind her, pushed her to the top of the stairs.

"And two," said Munch, pausing as if he knew what was coming, "What makes you think I'll go crazy if she doesn't come down in a certain amount of time?"

"Well, we were going to ask you questions of what you have been doing with her," said Fin, thoughtfully.

Munch got stunned.

"Well, in that case…" he began and he started to head for the stair case.

"Knock it off you two," said Cragen, shaking his head, "Leave the man in peace. If he wants to confess his guilty feelings, then get him in The Box. That's what we do for a living."


"I don't get it," grumbled Amy, "Remind me why do we have to sit two hours up here again?"

"So we can wow our dates…uhhh, I mean, dance partners," said Novak, seeing the glares on Benson and Amy's faces.

"Or give them a heart attack," added Benson.

"Or could we do both?" asked Emily.

All four women laughed.

"That would be a site for the nurses on duty near in the hospital. We come in, looking so nice and there's four stretchers coming in with our partners on them. They might think that we're black widows," said Novak.

"Ewww. Nasty things they are," said Amy.

"Which one? The homicidal maniac who wants money and riches or the arthropod?" asked Benson, grinning.

"Both," said Amy, "One makes you look through a paper trail of insurance claims and whatnot that's as long as the distance from Earth to Pluto and the other makes you wish you had a flyswatter, a shoe, and a can of Raid handy."

"Black widow cases are the most difficult to prosecute," agreed Novak, "The paper trail is so long that sometimes we get the new ADAs in training to look up the stuff for us, but sometimes you're usually better off doing the long, tedious job yourself."

"But don't you prosecute cases for the Special Victims Unit?" asked Emily.

"I do now, but once in awhile when I was still in White-collar crimes, we got one. And boy, they were a mess. Sometimes you had to team up with another ADA who represents the homicide unit and other times you had to represent both of the units in court. Very difficult," replied Novak.

Benson turned her head slightly to side at Emily.

"Why do you insist on calling us the "Special Victims Unit?" she asked.

"Formality, I guess. I am so use to writing and speaking that way that I forget how to speak like a regular human being sometimes," replied Emily, "Do you want me to call you guys sex crimes?"

"We accept either one," said Benson, "It's just everyone I talked to refers to us as sex crimes. It's a thing you get use to hearing all the time."

"So how did you meet John?" asked Novak.

"Well, we literary ran into each other. Well, I ran into him at least. I was going back to my car to get a few things for interview I was doing early that morning and I didn't see him standing on the sidewalk. I ran into him and we both fell on the sidewalk. I got a few scratches on my arm, but he really did a good number to his hand. I caught him off guard I guess because he was yelling at me then he stopped. We both helped each other up and we were both embarrassed about the whole deal. We apologized, I asked if he was okay, and he said he was fine and that Amy would clean up his hand. We asked each other for our names, and when he said Munch, I vaguely recognized it. I went to the newspaper archives at the library and I found his name in a few issues of a few rapist he had caught. I mostly remember the ones with Sarah Logan in them and the serial rapist Darryl Kern who fled to Canada, but was ship back into our custody."

Amy began to feel uneasy. Munch had crush on Sarah Logan, the reporter on tv, before she died in a bombing. The bomb was actually created by some psychopath who thought he had a relationship with her, and because Sarah had did a story about the details of her case, he killed her because he thought it was inappropriate for her to broadcast it on TV. He was still in prison serving his sentence, but Munch still had a photograph of Sarah Logan in his bedroom, which she saw on occasion if she went in there. She had seen the case file once, and had talked to Cragen about the details that did not make it on the file. But she was afraid to bring up the case as a conversation piece for her uncle, fearing her he would either brush it off or get sensitive about it, at least what she deduced from Cragen's conversation so many months ago.

The women talked some more before deciding they should start getting ready and Amy still had that queasy feeling in her stomach. It was always the same feeling that came up when anyone else or her brought up the case of Sarah Logan. She finished getting ready and occasionally participating in the conversation the other girls were having.


The four men downstairs had already changed into their tuxes and were now waiting on the girls. Solitaire on the computer had now lost its interest and now they were talking.

"So, John. Is it really getting serious between you two?" asked Stabler.

Munch buried himself in yesterday's paper. He found himself rereading an article he had already read three times. He could not stand much longer of the constant ridicule that Stabler had been giving him for two very long hours. Cragen had finally given up on telling him to knock it off. Fin had lost interest after a while, but he had to worry about two Munchs chewing his ass over if he said anything that they had sworn him to secrecy to.

"Come on," said Stabler, "Tell us something and we'll stop making fun of you."

"And be the laughing stock and the new joke of the day for the squad room? I don't think so," said Munch, not looking up from the paper.

"Come on man. You've been dating her for four-five months now! Tell us something!"

Munch ignored him. Stabler to turn to Fin.

"Can't you tell me anything?" he asked.

Fin snorted.

"You're kidding right? I deal with John and Amy at work, I ride with them to crime scenes. If I say anything, I'll be in the East River and in the next day's paper."

"You guys, can we please move on to something else?" moaned Cragen.

"Your fault you wanted to the girls to go upstairs," said Munch, turning a page of the newspaper, "You should have known that we, or in this case they, were going to do something along the lines of this."

Someone coughed from upstairs. Heads snapped up to the staircase.

"Well you guys are having fun," said Amy, "What did we miss?"

"Not much," said Fin.

The men were so use to the women in work suits that they could not picture them in a dress. Now they could not take their eyes off them.

Benson was wearing orange silk dress that slimmed her out. Her hair had some curl to it and she was wearing a matching set of diamond earrings and necklace. Novak was wearing a purple dress that fluffed out towards the bottom, her hair in a bun, and she was wearing a matching set of emerald earrings and necklace. Amy was wearing a simple black dress and her hair was also in a bun with some hair cascading down from it. She had also put makeup on which was very rare for her and she had blue sapphire earrings and a necklace. Emily had also work a black dress, but it was silk. She was wearing the pin Munch had given her and some gold earrings. She had a black shawl wrapped around her shoulders as well.

Something in the men's mind clicked and said "Stop staring you idiot."

They snapped out of their trance and joined their dance partners now waiting at the bottom of the stairs. They put on their coats and were heading to the elevator when Fin stopped and went back to the squad room.

"What the…" Amy began, "Where the hell do you think you're going!"

"Cold feet, Fin?" shouted Cragen as he held the door open.

Fin rummaged around in his desk, found what he was looking for, and slipped it inside his jacket pocket. Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. He joined them inside the small area.

"Forgot something," he said.

"Good," said Munch, "At least your prepared."

Hits and elbows came his way along with "JOHN!" as the elevator doors closed.


City Hall

City Hall did not even look recognizable that night. The squad and reporter were riding in a limousine Cragen had called for the occasion. The only way the gang could tell was from the district it was in and the statues outside the building.

"What the..." said Novak, "Is this who I work for again?"

"You mean 'we'," said Cragen.

"Red carpet. Why are they treating us like celebrities when they're trying to fire us?" asked Benson.

"Maybe because we have the same standing as them," said Stabler.

"Or maybe it's because they're kissing up," said Munch.

"Don't start old man. Out of the 365 days of the year, you can at least spare me one day without your ranting," said Fin.

"Maybe he's right for once," said Amy, thinking thoughtfully, "I mean they're basically saying 'Merry Christmas! Here's your severance package,' if we even get that."

"Or maybe it's because the guy who is force to do all this shrink screening, doesn't really want to. So he threw this dance to kind of say he's sorry," said Emily.

Silence.

"Nah," said everyone and got out of the car.

They walked up the stairs and into the building.

Inside, they looked around. It was somewhat dark with the exception of the disco ball providing light along with the other dimmed lights. There was bar in the corner and the orchestra was up near the front on stage, along with The Commissioner. He was talking to a man the squad all knew very well. Agent Hammond. Cragen's mood darkened at the sight of them. The squad noticed.

"Let's hang up our coats here and then disappear," he said.

"Can we disappear to the bar?" said Munch. Amy resisted the urge to step on his foot.

"I don't care. Wait, actually I do. If you do go there, don't buy nothing alcoholic," replied Cragen.

"Why?" whined Munch.

"For God's sake old man, look who's on the stage! The man who nearly wrecked your life!" hissed Amy, "Getting drunk is a perfect recipe for disaster!"

Munch frowned and sighed. Cragen took Novak's coat and hung it up on the nearby wall. The squad followed and they disappear onto the dance floor.

"What do you think he's doing here?" asked Novak, as she took Cragen's arm and he began to lead her in the waltz.

"I don't know," said Cragen, keeping an eye on Hammond, "But I don't like it one bit at all."


A few feet away from them, Fin and Amy were trying to do the waltz.

"Stop stepping on my toe!" hissed Amy.

"I'm sorry," said Fin, "I'm not use to this."

"What did you grab from your desk back at the house?" she asked, hoping it was not what her uncle had assumed.

"It was a CD…hey, I hope you weren't…" he began looking at her.

"No!" said Amy, horrified.

"Good, in that case, why don't we go to the bar?" Fin offered, the shock of what Amy had been trying to say to him was still wearing off.

"Yeah, great idea," said Amy.


Munch and Emily were doing fairly well on their own.

"Next month, my niece and I are taking a vacation."

"Bit cold, don't you think?"

"We're going Baltimore."

"What for?"

"She wants to see where her father grew up. It's a trip for this psych evaluation coming up. Kinda get out what we don't want on our records."

She nodded and noticed that they were fairly close to Fin and Amy. She had not been paying attention to Munch's lead.

"John, why are we so close to those two?" asked Emily.

"It's not like they can see us," replied Munch.

Amy saw her uncle and his girlfriend and she stuck her tongue at them before she stopped dancing with Fin. Emily snickered while Munch frowned slightly. Then they began to walk towards them.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as her eyes narrowed.

Emily gave Munch a don't-get-me-into-this look.

"Uh…we were just heading over to the bar and we're dancing over to see if you wanted come with us. We need someone to watch over us if we drink too much," said Munch quickly.

Emily playfully slapped his bad arm. Munch gasped in pain.

"That's the most creative excuse I have ever heard. And you're lucky your girlfriend hit you on your bad arm. I would have taken a beer glass and crashed it on your drunken head," said Amy seriously.

Munch gave her a shocked look.

"You wouldn't do that! I'm your uncle!" he exclaimed.

"That means I can get away with it," smirked Amy.

Fin and Emily couldn't hold back their laughter, so they snickered instead.

"Let's go to the bar," Munch said, admitting defeat.

"Hold on," said Fin, "I need to do something."

And he took off back on the dance floor. Amy scowled.

"What his is problem tonight?" she grumbled.

"It's ok, Amy. I'm sure he'll be back soon," said Emily.

"He'd better," said Munch, also getting annoyed by Fin's behavior, "If he keeps this up with her, I'll have a thing or two to say to him."


Meanwhile, Benson and Stabler were enjoying themselves on the dance floor.

"These dance lessons Cragen gave us have really paid off," said Stabler.

"And also me leading so you don't step on my foot," said Benson.

Stabler grinned and looked around.

"Check out the Captain and Casey. Don't they look cheerful."

"It's probably because of Hammond. They're probably worried," said Benson.

"So how we going to bring the house down if he's around?" asked Stabler.

"Don't worry about. My money is on Munch, Fin, and Amy. They're The Three Stooges at work, so there's no doubt about it that they have thought of something."

"You didn't think of anything?"

"No, did you?"

"I didn't either."

"So I guess we were relying on them then or maybe we forgot and we're lazy?"

"We had a snowball fight today. We didn't have time, Olivia."

"You mean you, Elliot. You kept trying to hit Fin after he got you on his sneak attack."

Stabler shook his head and decided to change the subject. He saw Munch, Amy, and Emily at the bar.

"I think we were somewhat right with out prediction," he said.

"How so?" asked Benson.

"Look over at the bar. I think Fin is up to something and Amy has the most sourest look on her face."

Benson laughed aloud.


Fin had got near the orchestra and been signaling the maestro for sometime before he got his attention.

"Hey! Yo! Wrap it up! I need you do something for me," he said.

The maestro looked at him.

"Can you play this CD for a friend of mine?"

The maestro raised an eyebrow.

"What? You want some incentive? How about the traditional greeting I give to perps on the street? I don't have anything to give you except a good and heart-warming reason. My friend is with his girlfriend tonight and I want them to enjoy themselves. You see them at the bar? That's who I'm talking about. Not to mention my whole squad is here and we want to livin' things up a bit, y'know what I mean? Alright, I'll even say please. So will you do it, please?"

The maestro sighed and then stopped the orchestra.

"Thank you," said Fin, handing him the CD, "I really appreciate this. Now if you will excuse me, my partner is looking a bit upset right now, yeah the one with the brown hair and glasses, and I would like to get my misery over with as soon as possible."

Fin disappeared back onto the dance floor. The maestro headed over to the CD player that was hooked up to the nice surround sound speakers. He had just put the CD in when Fin arrived at the bar.

"Hi Amy," said Fin cheerfully.

"Where have you been?" said Munch menacingly.

"Uncle John, I can handle this," said Amy, sliding down from her bar stool, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FIN! WE WEREN'T EVEN ON THE DANCE FLOOR FOR FIVE MINUTES WHEN YOU SUGGEST GOING TO THE BAR, BUT THEN YOU TAKE OFF AGAIN!"

Fin looked at Munch and Emily.

"She's not drunk, right?"

"I AM PERFECTLY RATIONAL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! NOW ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"Does that answer your question?" Munch began, but was silenced by his niece.

"I was…I was…I was putting in operation a plan," explained Fin.

"What plan?" asked Emily.

Then her question was answered by the music that began to blare out loud.


I thought love was
Only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else
But not for me
Love was out to get to me
That's the way it seems
Disappointment haunted
All my dreams

"So that's what you were up to!" exclaimed Munch, "Why didn't you just say that?"

"You honestly didn't think that I was…"

"No, no…"

Emily and Amy rolled their eyes.

"I promise you, if I knew he was going to say that on the elevator Amy, I would've…"

"It's okay. It's Uncle John's nature. He always assumes the worst thing possible."

With that, both girls dragged their dance partners onto the dance.



And then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
I'm in love
I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her
If I tried

"Now see, this didn't turn out to be so bad after all," said Emily.

"Neither was last night," whispered Munch in Emily's ear.

Both turned a dark red and kept their fast pace dance going.

"So, when do you want to get together again?"

"That depends on Cragen and what happens at work too. This silent spree has to end sometime soon."

"Well, we don't want that to happen now do we?"

Munch laughed and Emily, smiling, rested her head on his chest, causing Munch to turn slightly red again, but he smiled and closed his eyes. He breathed in the scent of her hair.


I thought love was
More or less a given thing
The more I gave the less
I got, oh yeah
What's the use in trying
All you get is pain
When I wanted sunshine
I got rain


Amy had broke away from Fin and was dancing on her own. Fin got somewhat upset.

"Why aren't you dancing with me?" he asked.

"You were gone half of the time. I thought you wouldn't care," said Amy.

"But I risked my neck to crash this party!"

"No, you didn't."

Fin looked at her.

"Oh, fine. I can't stand it when you give me that look."

Amy took Fin's hand as the chorus began to play again. Both were smirking at each other.


And then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
I'm in love
I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her
If I tried


Benson and Stabler were having a blast a little place for them on the floor had been created. They were singing the lyrics.

"You know this song?" asked Stabler.

"It played one time on the radio," said Benson, in a joking, defensive manner.

"I learned it from Shrek."

Benson laughed.

"Took the kids to see the movie?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Thanks for the tickets by the way for the musical. Liz and Dickie have been wanting to see that for awhile. You didn't have to do that," said Stabler.

"I'd figure it was what a partner could do. Besides, your kids mean everything to you and I thought that would be a cool thing to do with them," said Benson.

Stabler smiled and he and Benson kept dancing the night away.


What's the use in trying
All you get is pain
When I wanted sunshine
I got rain


"Well now, I am impressed Captain Cragen. You have taught your squad well," said Novak.

"I have?" asked Cragen puzzled.

"You tell them not to take any sh-t from anyone," she said.

"Counselor, such language!" mocked Cragen.

"Like you haven't said a few choice words yourself," pointed out Novak.

"I know. I confess. I have said more than just few choice words in my career."

"You know, we should be dancing instead of talking about work."

"Good point, Casey."

And so Cragen and Casey resumed their waltz at a much faster pace.


And then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
I'm in love
I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her
If I tried


So now the squad had taken over the party, but other squads from other precincts soon followed and in no time the party was rocking. Benson and Stabler were dancing and singing the song lyrics, Munch and Emily were content with each other, and Amy, seeing the pair, gave her uncle an encouraging thumbs up sign. Fin even sent a nod to Munch's direction as if to say that the morning banter about his girlfriend would now end due to the affection he saw between them. And Cragen and Novak were watching all of them enjoying themselves. Cragen smiled to himself and so did Novak. Nothing was more rewarding than to see their colleagues, who worked so hard all the time to serve justice for the victim, enjoy their selves without worrying about work the next day or what was coming their way. For now, the world just seemed to stop just to let them have a break.


Then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
Now I'm a believer
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm a believer
Then I saw her face
I'm a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
I'm a believer


On The Way Home To The Munch Residence

The squad left city hall late and returned to the squad room. They changed from their outfits into their relaxing clothes. Cragen told them not to come until nine the next morning and the squad smiled in relief. The night had been fun, but they were exhausted from the dancing. They went their separate ways and bid each other good night.

Amy drove Fin back to his Brooklyn home. The roads were somewhat better than what they had been in the morning. Fin bade both his partners good night and Amy turned her car around to drive Emily home. Here, Amy encounter minor impatience as her uncle gave a long good bye to Emily. They were both in a long, passionate kiss when Amy blared the car horn. Munch came in the car grumbling. So the two had been bickering on the way back to their home.

"You could have waited a few more minutes," whined Munch.

"And watch you get robbed, knifed, or shot? You do that kind of thing indoors, not outdoors especially in this weather. What the hell were you thinking with that bad arms of yours, hmmm?" retaliated Amy.

Munch sighed. "I guess your right. I guess the headline of 'NYPD Detective and New Yorker Reporter Killed While Kissing' wouldn't seem right in a day after Christmas paper. But if I did it indoors, I may have not come back outside."

"Uncle John!"

"Sorry."

Amy sighed.

"So, did you have fun?" she asked.

"Of course I had fun at the dance…" began Munch, but was cut off.

"I know you had fun at the dance. I'm talking about last night."

Munch got very interested at the shops they were passing by them.

"Well? I know you two slept together."

Munch turned a very bright red.

"Hey! That's not…appropriate…polite!"

Amy laughed.

"I'm only kidding with you. Personally, I don't care what you do with her. If you're happy, then that's all I care about."

"Liar," said Munch, smiling, "I suppose you want a detail account of my sex life?"

Amy shot a sideward glance at her uncle and forced herself to keep the car from swerving into a nearby shop.

"Ttthh..then how we'll kill the other fifteen minutes until we get home?" she asked.

Munch burst out laughing.

"You're look…definitely priceless on that subject," he said, laughing.

"Would you like to hear a detail account of my sex life?" said Amy, smartly.

Munch stopped laughing and looked at her.

"Wwwhat? How…but…you…no…"

Munch kept making weird sounds and began to point around. Amy burst out laughing and then Munch sighed. He began to laugh too. Amy pulled up to their apartment complex and they both got out.

"I'm just asking this because I want to be sure…you and Fin haven't…" Munch began.

Amy grabbed some snow and threw it at her uncle. She glared at him.

"I guess that answer my question," said Munch, wiping the snow from his face.

"Dirty old man," muttered Amy, "I HAVE NOT BEEN FOOLING AROUND WITH FIN!"

Munch threw up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. Just don't announce it to the whole world."

Amy shook her head. The pair grabbed their stuff and went inside the building to their apartment.

"Merry Christmas Uncle John," whispered Amy as she leaned her head against his arm.

"You too, Munchkin," said Munch, "You too."

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Executive writer: Munchkin25


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