Christmas morning came around quicker than Kate could have imagined. That morning, she woke up at 5am. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that Olivia was still fast asleep beside her. Smiling to herself, Kate climbed out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Walking into the front room, she saw that the Christmas tree was still lit up and she realized that presents had yet to be placed around the tree. After she put the kettle on, she crept back into her room and took the presents which were already in a cotton sack, to the living room.

After spending five minutes organizing the presents around the bottom of the tree, she finished making coffees for both herself and Olivia.

Walking back into the bedroom with two cups of coffee in hand, Kate gently placed a cup on Olivia's bedside table whilst she stirred from her sleep.

Gently, Olivia groaned as she turned over.

'Morning.' Kate said softly to her, 'And merry christmas.'

Olivia smiled at her, despite her sleepy haze, 'I never had you down as a kid that's awake at half five in the morning after Santa came.' She laughed as Kate walked back to her side of the bed. After Kate got back into bed, she merely giggled, 'I merely forgot to put the gifts beneath the tree after Santa dropped them off.'

'Oh! So you did remember to leave a glass of milk and some cookies out for the big guy?' Olivia laughed, 'Where's El and Ruby? I would have thought those two would be pouncing out of bed round about now?'

'They're both adults that love to sleep, we won't see them for another couple of hours.' Kate gently sighed as she sipped her coffee, 'Peace is almost non-existent in this family, so to have moments like this? It's nice.'

Olivia frowned at her, 'You sound like an old lady.'

'I'm older than you think.'

'Humour me.'

'Three hundred and fifty one.' Kate replied, 'That's how old I am.'

Olivia laughed, 'You love winding people up with that alien nonsense, don't you?'

Kate nodded, 'I'd like to know what it's like to be a human…What's it like having one heart?'

'What's it like having two?' Olivia laughed, 'I've heard your heartbeat and it is so interesting! And…Alien.' Her eyes cast downward. Now she was starting to believe that the so-called alien crap might just have a hint of truth to it.

They shared a look between each other but didn't say more about it. Instead, another thought hit Kate, 'Oh my god.' She cringed at the thought.

'What? What is it?' Olivia was slightly alarmed.

'I just remembered that we are going to Jo's for dinner. My kitchen is nowhere big enough, and Jo is El's mum-'

'Are you worried that I think there's more to it?' Olivia asked, 'Kate, Jo is El's mom and I'm going to have to meet her at some point. Today is the perfect day for that. Season of goodwill and so on.' She shrugged, 'Jo doesn't frighten me, and if she sees me as a threat? That's on her.'

Kate continued to drink her coffee. Many thoughts whirled around in her head, and she hoped none of her parents turned up. Today was going to be hard to get through. If there was one thing for certain, this was going to be fun.

….

A couple of hours later, both Ruby and El emerged from their rooms. Surprisingly, it was 10am before they moved. Kate knew that El had to take the first part of her medication in the morning, so she was glad when she finally did emerge. Again, surprisingly, both young women were dressed rather than being in their pyjamas. From where Olivia and Kate were sitting in the front room, the stairs were in front of them to the left.

'Morning ladies.' Olivia sounded joyful, Christmas was one of her favorite holidays, even if this one looked different. She had even gotten messages from her colleagues back home wishing her the happiest of holidays.

'Morning.' Ruby replied. It was clear both girls were still somewhat sleepy. This prompted Kate to get to her feet and wander over to the kettle, 'Right! Mum's classic Christmas hot chocolate is in order!'

This perked both women up. Ruby had never had this hot chocolate before, it sounded quite frankly, amazing.

El was less enthused and Kate noticed.

'El, sweetheart?' Kate called over to her, 'Come over here and help me out please. Normally, you love my hot chocolates on Christmas morning.'

El wandered over with very little enthusiasm. She wasn't feeling Christmas today. The magic for her after everything over the last few months had gone. Any innocence she believed in, it was taken from her. Instead, she was plagued by nightmares that she refused to tell anyone about. The fact that Tyler was still free, it bothered her more than anything. Kate wasn't stupid, she knew Tyler being free was going to bother her.

Pulling out El's medication from the cupboard, Kate passed it over to her, along with a glass of water to wash it down. Leaning on the side, she tried to gauge what was up, 'Are you alright?'

Taking a tablet from the foil, El nodded. She took the tablet and ignored any other conversation that Kate wanted to have. Still, Kate tried. She grabbed her hand before she walked away, 'El, whatever it is, we can fix it.'

Quietly, El replied to her while looking her dead in the eye, 'You can't fix what he did to me, can you? He's still out there. You and I both know that he won't give up until either I'm dead or he can prove once again to the rest of humanity what we are. You could have arrested him that day, but you didn't. I know you did something to him which means that you can't get me justice without you getting caught in the crossfire.'

Kate swallowed. El had hit the nail on the head. The entire reason she and Jo didn't hand him in the second time was exactly that. They simply couldn't without getting themselves implicated.

Still, El continued, 'I didn't ask you to do justice your way, I never did and I never wanted you to, but because you did, he is still out there and he won't stop, you know that, don't you?'

Kate nodded slowly. This hurt to hear, but she understood where she was coming from. It was a bitter pill to swallow and her voice got stuck whilst trying to respond, 'Y…Yes…I do.'

'And that's on you. You're like him, I said no. I told you not to go after him or take the law into your own hands, but like him…Because I said no, you didn't listen.'

Kate couldn't help but snap, 'I am nothing like him, don't you dare!'

Upon hearing the bickering, Olivia looked up. Just by looking at them, she could see that something was up.

'You're like him in the aspect of not listening to me when I tell you no! He is out there still because of you! You had one job. Get him locked up for good!'

'You didn't exactly help yourself at the trial the first time around did ya?! This goes both ways El! Don't you dare!'

'BUT IT HAPPENED AGAIN! YOU WENT TO NEW YORK TO BE A BETTER COP, WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE DONE THAT TO START WITH?! THE SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED YOU AND MOM SHOULD HAVE DONE THE JOB OF LOCKING HIM UP BUT YOU DIDN'T ANS BECAUSE OF THAT, I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE BY MYSELF BECAUSE I AM SCARED THAT HE WILL GET A HOLD OF ME AGAIN! THAT IS ON YOU!'

Ruby and Olivia both looked over now. This secret argument was now blown out of the water and Kate didn't know how to make it right, because El was right in everything she was saying.

El then stormed off and went back to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Not the start to the day that they imagined.

Later this afternoon, they had to go to Jo's. Kate had been apprehensive enough about that, and now this argument made that apprehension worse.

Olivia wanted to say something, but she had no idea what she could have said in this situation. If this was the start of the day, she wondered how the rest would go.

…