Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This chapter was meant to go up yesterday, but FanFiction wasn't cooperating. However, some countries consider this the second day of Christmas, so I think I'm still good to go. The season three Christmas episode had Pete accidentally triggering an artifact that creating a timeline where he had never existed. He goes on a quest to reunite the team that was now never together so that they can help him restore the timeline. I tried to write something from the alternate timeline, but the characters were all different enough that I just couldn't get their voices right. So I've resorted to instead writing a scene of the whole team after the episode ends. It came out kinda fluffy, but I really like it. Enjoy!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

After Pete finally stopped screaming, it took another half hour of nagging and prodding before the five of them finally get him to tell them what happened. Even then it was a bit hard to tell how much was truth and how much was Pete embellishing his own heroism. But Artie agreed that the artifact was real and Mrs. Frederic admitted that she had felt a strange jolt at around the time Pete said he had touched the brush. That meant that apparently his crazy story held some level of truth in it.

"So you just jumped?" Myka asked, slightly impressed.

"Yup," Pete told her proudly.

"Straight out over the lava," Claudia clarified.

"Straight out over the lava," Pete agreed. "And obviously it worked, 'cause the next thing I knew I was back in the Christmas Aisle."

"This is why I don't like other people shelving artifacts," Leena said, giving Artie a pointed look.

"Hey!" Pete said defensively. "I fixed it, didn't I?"

"I think Agent Latimer did quite well under the circumstances," Mrs. Frederic said.

"Thank-you," Pete said. "At least someone around here appreciates me."

"Don't push your luck," Mrs. Frederic warned him.

"You've already got two strikes today," Claudia said with a chuckle.

"No wonder you didn't want to watch the movie," Leena said in understanding.

"Watch it?" Pete snorted. "I lived it!"

"So without you," Myka clarified, "that's what the world would look like."

"Looks like you guys need me after all," Pete said proudly.

"Don't let it go to your head," Artie told him drily.

"Hey, Myka," Claudia said, turning to the older agent, "you think we could get some hot chocolate?"

"Sure," Myka said with a smile. "Come on. You can help."

"I want mine with marshmallows," Pete called as Myka and Claudia got up and headed into the kitchen. "I did save the timeline, you know."

"We know," Claudia said with a roll of her eyes.

When they got into the kitchen, Claudia and Myka each went to different cabinets. They had made enough late-night hot chocolate together to have a routine down. Claudia grabbed the milk from the fridge and got the plastic bag of Myka's favorite crushed up chocolate from its hiding place in an empty canister of Quaker Oats. Myka pulled out a pot and turned on the stove. Claudia got down six mugs and set them on the counter before leaning against it.

The kitchen was quiet as Myka melted the chocolate into the milk. She mixed it up in silence before adding in the rest of the milk. The whole process only took a few minutes.

"There we go," Myka said as she switched off the stove. She picked up the pan and began pouring the hot chocolate into the mugs. She glanced over at Claudia to find the younger girl staring into space.

"You okay?" Myka asked. Claudia looked up and blinked before nodding.

"Just thinking," she said. "If MacPherson hadn't helped me hack into the Warehouse, I'd be back in the Loony Bin by now. He sort of saved my life. Kinda weird, huh?"

"Kind of," Myka admitted. She headed over to the pantry to dig out the marshmallows. "But he did help you and now you're here."

Claudia nodded slowly. Then she grimaced.

"Pete's not gonna let this go, is he?" she asked.

"Not for a long time," Myka agreed with a smile.

"Are you ladies about done?" Pete asked, coming into the kitchen. "I wants me some hot chocolate."

"You want some cheese with that wine?" Claudia asked.

"How about some humble pie?" Myka added as she and Claudia picked up the mugs.

"Hey," Pete said defensively. He grabbed the last mug off the counter before following them into the living room. "Would it kill you guys to be nice? I just saved the timeline."

"Yeah, after you screwed it up," Myka pointed out.

"She has a point," Artie said as he took the mug Claudia handed him. The young techie sat back down on the floor while Myka resumed her spot on the couch.

"Wow," Pete said, looking deeply offended. "This is the thanks I get."

"Don't worry, Pete," Leena teased. "I'm sure Santa knows what you did."

"He better," Pete muttered.

"So, Mrs. F," Claudia said slowly, seeing her boss pull out the small flask from earlier.

"The answer is still no," Mrs. Frederic told her firmly. She added a small amount of Schnapps to her mug before replacing it in whatever pocket it had come from.

"Come on!" Claudia begged. "I'm twenty years old. I'm an adult."

"You are not, however, old enough to legally consume alcohol," Mrs. Frederic pointed out. "When you are, then we'll talk."

"I'm old enough in Switzerland," Claudia muttered.

"This is not Switzerland," Mrs. Frederic informed her.

"Six more months," Myka said, nudging Claudia with her knee.

"What about me?" Pete asked. He held out his mug expectantly. Mrs. Frederic gave him her famous raised eyebrow look and he quickly withdrew the mug. "Never mind."

"Well, if we're not watching It's a Wonderful Life," Leena began.

"We're not," Pete interrupted strongly.

"-then what should we watch?" Leena continued.

"We could watch The Polar Express," Myka offered.

"Dude, you get weepy every time we watch that," Claudia said with a grimace.

"It's a good movie," Myka said defensively.

"I vote Unaccompanied Minors," Claudia said.

"Ooh, good one!" Pete said excitedly. "Or Christmas with the Kranks."

"Also hilarious," Claudia agreed. Trailer woofed in agreement.

"We haven't watched White Christmas yet," Artie pointed out. His own personal favorite, it was the one movie that he watched every Christmas without fail.

"Have you watched that thing every Christmas since it came out?" Claudia asked.

"Was that supposed to be an age joke?" Artie asked with narrowed eyes. Claudia shrugged innocently.

"Personally, I'm quite fond of Miracle on 34th Street," Mrs. Frederic said. She looked over at Leena. "What about you?"

"I really like The Christmas Box," Leena said.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that again," Myka agreed. Leena had introduced them to the movie the year before.

"So how do we decide what to watch?" Pete asked.

"We could take a vote," Leena said diplomatically.

"Or put them all in a hat and pull one out," Myka offered.

"Um, guys?" Claudia said. Everyone turned to look over at her. "I don't know if you've looked outside lately, but I think it's pretty obvious none of us are going anywhere."

"And your point is...?" Artie asked.

"If we're gonna be here all night anyway," Claudia said simply, "why don't we just watch them all?"

"Christmas movie marathon," Pete said with a grin. Myka held up her hand over her head and they exchanged a high-five.

"I'm okay with that," Artie said in agreement.

"Why not?" Mrs. Frederic agreed.

"In that case, we're going to need a lot more Scotchies," Leena said, getting up and heading for the kitchen.

"Wait a minute," Pete said suddenly. "Santa won't come if we stay up all night."

"Santa isn't real, Pete," Myka reminded him with a look that said she couldn't believe how childish he could be sometimes.

"Oh, right," Pete said, deflating a little.

"Don't worry," Claudia said with a chuckle. "I'm sure Artie Clause will leave something nice in your stocking."

"Wait, what?" Artie asked. He had clearly been caught off guard.

"He better," Pete said indignantly. "I just saved the whole timeline."

"Here we go again," Myka said, collapsing against the back of the couch.

"Hang on a moment," Mrs. Frederic said as if it had just occurred to her. "Did you really just leave me incased in bronze?"

"He told me too," Pete said quickly pointing his finger at Artie.

"Hey," Artie said defensively. Mrs. Frederic's gaze swung over to him. "Technically that timeline doesn't exist anymore, so really I did no such thing."

"But given the circumstances, you would have simply left me there," Mrs. Frederic said dangerously. Claudia and Myka exchanged a worried look. Things could be about to get hairy.

"The entire timeline was in jeopardy," Artie argued. "And obviously it was the right call, because now that never even happened."

"Obviously," Mrs. Frederic said drily. Artie gulped.

"So... since I'm clearly undervalued here," Pete said warily, "could I maybe get a raise?"

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Frederic told him.

"Okay," Pete said quickly.

"And on that note," Myka said, getting off the couch. She headed over to the stack of Christmas DVD cases resting on the table beneath the TV. The topmost case just so happened to be The Polar Express. She opened the case and stuck the DVD in the player.

"Leena!" Claudia called. "You coming?"

"Go ahead!" Leena called back from the kitchen. "I'll be there in a minute!"

"Hey," Pete protested as the menu screen on the TV revealed which DVD Myka had stuck in. "Why are we watching your pick first?"

"It was the one on top," Myka said innocently, sitting back down on the couch.

"Sure it was," Pete muttered.

"Quiet in the peanut gallery," Artie ordered. Claudia picked up the remote for the DVD player and tossed it to him. He managed to catch it without too much fumbling.

"Nice catch, Grumps," Claudia said, mildly impressed.

"Thank-you," Artie said. He pushed a button and the movie began to roll.

"You know," Claudia admitted as she leaned back against Myka's leg, "I'm kinda glad we all got snowed in together."

"I, for one, am thrilled," Artie said with a little too much enthusiasm. Claudia grinned.

"Yeah, we know," she told him.

"It's nice to still spend Christmas with family," Myka said with a smile.

"Indeed it is," Mrs. Frederic agreed. Trailer barked in agreement. Claudia reached up and began scratching the dog's ears.

"And to think that if it weren't for me," Pete said smugly, "none of you would even be here."

"Please tell me the naughty list is already set for this year," Claudia said. "Because if he doesn't stop, I might have to murder him."

"I'm sure we could make an exception just this once," Artie said drily.

"You're just jealous," Pete told them.

"Guys, be quiet!" Myka said, waving at them all to stop talking. "It's starting."

They all fell silent as the deep voice of Tom Hanks came out of the TV.

"On Christmas Eve many years ago," he began, "I lay quietly in my bed..."

In keeping with the Christmas spirit, please leave a quick review! And why not tell me some of your favorite Christmas movies? :)

I've decided to take a very short hiatus from this story so I can enjoy hanging out with my family while I'm home. Chapters will resume on January first with the season four opener. Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year!