I do not own.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

"And the final order of business is finding enough people to work this year's holiday shift." White Knight said from the monitor. "Captain Calan, I expect you to handle that."

"Yes, sir. We have enough people to cover all vital operations except one." Calan reported.

"And that is?" White Knight asked.

Calan nervously cleared his throat. "That would be mine, sir." He shifted his weight uneasily to his other leg.

"I see." White Knight said slowly. "Well, I'm sure you can take care of that issue."

"Yes, sir." He agreed saluting.

The monitor turned off to signal the end of the meeting. People immediately left the room as if happy to finally to be free from the never-ending meeting.

"What are you doing this Christmas?" Rex asked. "You're always on base."

"I have a life outside of Providence." Calan frowned.

Rex laughed until Six smacked him over the head.

"Oww. What was that for?" Rex rubbed the sore spot.

Calan gave Six an appreciative nod. "I did have plans this Christmas, but if I can't find anyone to cover me…" He shrugged.

"What about Kenwyn?" Six asked.

"Her vacation was approved at the beginning of the year." Calan said.

"Wade? Beasley?" Six asked.

He shook his head.

"Fortier? Nyquist?" Rex piped up.

Both men glared at him. "Are you serious?" Calan asked.

"Yeah, you're right." Rex agreed.

"I guess I'm going to cancel my plans." Calan sighed.

"I'm sure, you'll find someone." Six assured him. He turned to leave.

Rex got up and clapped Calan on the shoulder."Good luck." He said before leaving.

Calan was alone in the room. He sighed as he pulled out his phone.

Pressing a single number, the phone began dialing.

"Hello, Sweetheart?" Calan said. "I'm not sure I can make it." He winced as the voice on the other end got shrill. "I told you, I'll try. I have responsibilities though." He pulled his ear away from the receiver as there was more yelling before a click ended the call.

He sighed again. Rubbing the back of his neck, he trudged out of the room

0o0

Calan was always self-reliant and was always in control of his situation. He worked most holidays because he didn't want to put anyone else out. Now however, he finally needed time off. However, no one was able to cover him. He didn't blame anyone. If anything, he felt it was his fault for not letting anyone know sooner. It was a last-minute plan, but the person had been most insistent that it was important.

He was so deep in thought that he almost ran into Tuck.

"Sir, sorry sir!" Tuck immediately saluted.

"At ease." Calan said good-naturedly. "Was my fault, really. Should've looked where I was going." He paused a minute. He looked thoughtfully at Tuck. "I know you have next week off, but I don't suppose you can… never mind." He trailed off shaking his head.

"What, sir?" Tuck asked politely.

"Nah, it's nothing. Not fair to you to ruin your Christmas." He said as he started to walk away.

"Well, I wasn't planning on doing much." Tuck said. "Cricket and I were going to hang out with Walter in the city but his apartment's not that big, so it'll be tight."

Calan stopped and looked like he was trying to decide something. "Tuck, I need to be somewhere this Christmas and I need someone to cover a very important position."

"Sir?" Tuck asked puzzled.

"I don't suppose you would like to be this Christmas. Would you like to take my position while I'm gone?" He asked.

Tuck's jaw dropped. "Really? Me? Do you think… I mean… I do have some experience leading… but…"

"It's only for a week. It's the holidays so you'll only have a skeleton crew here. But if you had plans, I under…" He started.

"You, bet I would!" Tuck jumped in. "I promise, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Calan felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulder. "I appreciate this… captain."

Tuck was almost giddy with excitement as he rushed off.

"Is that a good idea?" Someone from behind him asked.

Calan started as he spun around to address the voice.

"Six, don't do that." He took a dep breath to stead his beating heart.

"He is a little young and inexperienced." Six said in his flat voice.

"I thought about that, but we were willing to give the position to Kenwyn." He argued.

"Granted, but Kenwyn graduated at the top of her class." He reminded him.

"And Tuck has been the main on several missions. He's very hands on and the others respect him." He listed. "Plus it's pretty quiet around the holidays."

"It wasn't quiet two years ago." He reminded him.

"That's a fluke. And I won't be more than a jump jet ride back if anything goes wrong." Calan replied.

"As long as you think he'll be fine, I'll defer to your judgement." Six said turning around. "Merry Christmas, Calan." He said as he walked down the hall.

"Merry Christmas, Six." Calan watch his back as he disappeared down the hall.

0o0

"Captain Calan put me in charge." He excitedly told Cricket.

Cricket frowned. "But what about visiting Walter?"

"This a great opportunity to advance my career." Tuck said. "You know maybe one day I can take over Calan's position."

"You want to do that?" Cricket asked.

"I mean what else do we have planned." He asked.

"I don't know." Cricket said. Then she cleared her throat. "But when you say we… are you thinking of what we would want."

Tuck paused to think. He wondered if this was some strange trick question. "Uh, yeah? I guess I was?"

"Well, do you know what I would want?" She asked him.

That stumped him. He hemmed and hawed but couldn't give an intelligible answer.

"I though so." She sighed. "Well, I'm going to Walter's. You do what you want."

Tuck watched her leave wondering what had just happened.

0o0

"Tuck's going to cover for Calan?" Holiday asked.

"Yes." Six answered.

"That'll be nice for him. Tuck was always looking for a leadership role." She glanced at Six. "Are you all right with that?"

"I'll let Calan deal with that." Six answered.

Holiday smiled as he moved closer to her. She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Wow, since when are you so hands off."

"Since we have plans." His arms went around her waist.

Holiday laughed. "You really don't mind spending another Christmas with my family?"

"As long as you're there." He said.

Holiday laughed again until his lips met hers.

"Ack! Sorry, I didn't see anything." Rex said as he burst into the room.

They pulled apart.

"What is it?" Six asked with annoyance.

"Okay, okay so uh, whatever Calan says, it's not true." Rex told them.

"Rex!" A voice yelled from outside.

Six sighed as he grabbed Rex's shoulder and led him outside.

Holiday shook her head. She hoped that things would be quieter than this while Tuck was in charge.

A start of a Christmas Story? Am I out of my mind? Yup.