Harry put down his book and slipped it into his bag when he heard the long-awaited sound of the clock chiming. He quickly checked his watch and grinned to himself while he rubbed his eyes. He couldn't use a torch to read the book, so he'd had to make do with whatever light he could find, but it had been dimming with each passing second, hurting his eyes.

No matter.

It was time to begin work.

Harry and Marv had a really good day despite those damn kids getting away from them like that, but after they'd escaped around the park, they had both decided they were basically harmless, and they couldn't do much at this point. Like Marv had pointed out, it wasn't as if Kevin had a house to pack full of dangerous goodies to injure them like last year. But Harry had been more busy with the plan of the heist to really bother with going after the kids.

They had spent most of the day touring the city, visiting the Central Park Zoo, watching a couple of movies at a cinema, having a few meals like lunch and dinner. But at the same time, they had gone looking for the tools they'd need for the heist. Since their burglary wouldn't be that complicated and they wouldn't need the kinds of tools to break through the doors and bypass the alarms, they only needed crowbars and bags for the cash.

For Harry, this burglary was something of a treat. They weren't planning or executing anything complicated. There were no heavy-duty tools, and no alarms to bypass. This was something of a dream for all burglars. Literally in and out.

Harry turned to Marv's little house. "Marv." He snapped, "Marv. Come on, let's go. It's time."

In his little house, Marv nodded and pulled his head back inside. A few seconds later both burglars had left their little houses and were running downstairs as softly as they could and went behind the serving counter.

Just before they were going to get down to business, Harry turned to Marv, crowbar raised, "Marv. Crowbars up!" With a grin they both clanged their crowbars. Harry levered the till open and he looked inside. Inside were dozens of dollar bills and cents. For Harry, they were one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, and he cursed the times he had robbed houses. This was what he should have been doing. "Merry Christmas, Harry!" He whispered reverently, already planning out what he was going to do with this cash.

Behind him Marv had busted the lock on the glass trunk. He could see the money piled inside, but when he flipped open the lid and gazed at the money - more money than he had ever seen in his entire life - Marv gasped in awe, believing miracles DID happen on Christmas Eve. "Happy Hanukkah, Marv!"

-8-

Outside Duncan's Toy Chest, Megan and Kevin had just arrived. Megan looked up and down the street, hoping against hope there were cops nearby to stop this robbery and make Kevin's insane and dangerous plan to hurt the burglars redundant. But no, the streets were completely empty. It was hard to believe hours ago, she and Kevin had been here and the streets were bustling with shoppers and traffic.

Kevin put down the can he was carrying in one hand and leaned the plank he'd brought with him against the wall and peered in through the window. "They're inside," he said.

Megan looked over his shoulder. She could see the two men rifling through the cash register and the money trunk, and for the first time ever with this visual proof of what these two men wanted to do…

When Kevin had broken down outside the children's hospital, Megan had been more stunned by his empathy more than anything else, but now she knew he was more than upset on those kids' behalf, he was angry. And she felt that anger herself. It's strength surprised her.

"What are we gonna do?" Megan asked knowing this was Kevin's plan, not hers.

But Kevin was already positioning the drum right outside the window and he was going for the plank….

-8-

Inside the toy store, Marv and Harry were enjoying themselves. They had managed to stuff quite a lot of the cash into their bag already.

"Harry, y'know, this is the best haul we've ever made," Marv was saying to Harry.

"Yeah, if I had my way, we'll doing more of 'em in the future," Harry was already picturing it in his head at that moment. Okay, he knew the chances of the shops having little houses in them was remote, but if they could find other ways in with the new connections they would make, then their careers would flourish and riches would come their way.

"Have you given any more thought about where we're gonna go after we have to leave New York?" Marv asked.

"I was thinking Australia. It's far away. It's warm and sunny. I'm tired of America."

And he was. The winter was appalling. In prison, it also felt cold to the bone.

"I thought we're gonna go to Arizona," Marv pouted.

Harry was in too good a mood to scowl angrily at Marv. "Arizona's in America, Marv. I'm tired of America," he said although he wouldn't say if Marv wanted to go to Arizona by himself, he was welcome to it. The world was big enough for both of them and besides he wanted to move on to bigger and better crimes.

But Marv wouldn't stop talking, "This is more money than I can even count!"

"It makes you wonder why we spent so much time robbing homes."

"Yeah, we're making more money right now than ever before. The amazing thing is, we're fugitives from the law…," Marv was shoving yet another armful of cash into the bag, a bit like a turkey being stuffed come to that, "...we're up to our elbows in cash and nobody even knows about it."

A knocking came from the window, startling both thieves. They looked up, half expecting to see a cop. Instead, they saw something much, much worse.

It was the kid.

With his bitch sister.

He was outside, waving mockingly at them.

"He's back!" Harry wondered how the kid found them, but then he remembered Marv running his mouth off earlier, and he almost kicked his partner in the shin for being so stupid.

And he very nearly did when his mind realised the kid wouldn't have come back unless he DID have some kind of plan; why else would he come back?

While his mind was trying to work out what to do about this whole mess, there was a flash. Harry gasped in shock as his eyes blinked furiously before he realised what happened; the kid had a camera, and he'd just snapped a picture with it.

"He took our picture!" Harry shouted in outrage.

"How was my hair?"

Harry glared at his friend in annoyance, wondering why he didn't see what this meant, but before he could do anything the kid had taken an extra picture.

-8-

Outside Duncan's Toy Chest, Megan watched as her brother snapped his pictures and shoved them away before he rushed back, taking care not to step on the see-saw he had rigged up outside the window.

He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a brick wrapped in a piece of paper. Megan had seen him write the letter while she'd been doing some tasks reluctantly inside the brownstone.

Her curiosity spiked, "What's the letter say, Kev?"

"It's for Mr Duncan, it's just an apology for what we're about to do," Kevin said briefly.

"What are we gonna do?" Megan asked suspiciously, her mind racing before she realised and her eyes widened. "Kev, no-!"

There was only one way to get those two burglars out of the toy store. Had Kevin lost his mind? One of them had a gun for God's Sake!

But Kevin was ignoring her and speaking to himself. "This is it. No turning back. Another Christmas in the trenches."

Kevin drew back his arm as he summoned all of his strength….

-8-

Inside Duncan's Toy Chest, Harry and Marv watched in horror as the kid drew back his arm, ready to throw something. They didn't know what it was, but they knew what it would do.

"NOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed as he watched all of his plans, all his hopes…shatter in thousands of pieces.

And the window DID shatter into thousands of pieces, and the alarm bell rang furiously.

-8-

"Wow," Kevin whispered in awe.

Megan grabbed his arm, pulling him away. "Come on, you idiot!" She snapped. "Get out of the way now!"

-8-

Inside Duncan's Toy Chest, alarms blaring in his ears, Harry snapped.

All of his plans had come undone in just one minute.

All of this work, all their hopes of starting again, somewhere else without any problems…

Harry had had it all worked out. He and Marv would have laid low somewhere outside New York, knowing it would be too hot. They'd return to the city maybe a few months later after making preparations. They would have found someone who could get them the passports they'd need to get away from America (by this point in time, Harry was more than willing to sever any remaining ties with Marv; if he wanted to stay here in America and go to Arizona, Harry wouldn't stop him), and he would go to Australia.

Once he was there, he would wait for a bit and explore the country, maybe striking small jobs here and there while getting used to the new country, before he really get started and began robbing again.

When he had started pulling the money out of the register and Marv had started on the trunk, Harry had been fantasising about the glorious possibilities of really hitting it big.

No more houses.

No more apartments.

No more scrounging for contacts like regular burglars.

No more rummaging through houses and picking up things that they'd get a meagre percentage over.

No, from now on, he and Marv - if the moron decided to come with him after all - would be hitting businesses that sold reasonably priced goods, and they'd then leave with hard cash, and make it big.

And now it had been for nothing, all because of the little bastard who'd gotten them arrested last year. But now Harry had had more than enough of him, and his sister.

"That's it!" Harry yelled as he clambered over the counter to rush out to grab the kid, holding his pocket and was reassured by the weight of the gun, a new fantasy entering his head. He wondered if the kid would be dumped in an unmarked grave with his sister and if their family would discover what happened.

He didn't care.

Turning over his shoulder, Harry snapped at Marv, "Get the money! Get it!" He began mumbling to himself. "I'll kill him!"

But as he jumped out of the window after the kids, Harry found himself on a plank. His weight had weighed down the end of it. Harry gasped in horror as he realised what was going to happen, but before he could get off, Marv came charging towards him like stampeding elephant!

"Marv-!" Harry tried to warn his partner, but Marv wasn't listening.

"I'm coming, Harry!" Marv yelled, jumping onto the other half of the plank.

Megan watched in amazement and awe as Harry went yelling up into the air before gravity inevitably brought him back down, yelling until he crushed a car parked nearby. Megan flinched at the sound of the impact and the crushing glass.

Marv shook off his awe and he raced over. "Harry?" He asked in concern.

Megan shook her head, convinced Harry was dead before she became aware of a low, painfilled moaning. Was Harry alive?

Marv reached Harry's side and helped the other man up slowly, "Harry! That was incredible," Marv said in awe, completely skipping the possibility his buddy might urgently need medical attention. But what amazed the teenage girl the most was how Harry was even still able to move. Shouldn't his back have, like, broken?

Megan was sure Marv had said something, but it was drowned out by Harry's furious whisper, "Where are they?"

Kevin stepped over, smiling cheerfully with his camera raised, "Hey, guys! Smile!"

Like with the idiots at the hotel, Megan was amazed Marv actually hugged the grimacing and scowling Harry to him, grinning like a moron….actually, he was a moron. Kevin shoved his camera away and he took off down the street, Megan followed him. She saw they were heading back to the brownstone.

"What now?" She called after her brother.

"Just follow me," Kevin yelled back.

Megan grumbled and she desperately increased her speed. When she was running, like in the airport she had the panic of missing the stupid plane, Megan would always have that image in her mind. This time she had the image of the two burglars running behind them. She changed a look back.

She was amazed as she watched the two men some way back, convinced Harry should be in a hospital instead of running down a street past midnight on Christmas eye in the middle of New York, but they were there.

Megan swallowed nervously to herself.

She only hoped whatever those traps did in the brownstone, even if they scared the living crap out of her, were worth it.

-8-

Meanwhile, Peter and Kate were pounding on the door of Rob's brownstone. But there was nobody there. They looked around for a good few minutes, and Peter sagged.

"They're not here," he muttered in disappointment.

"I was hoping they would be," Kate replied before she saw something, and went charging to the road. ""Taxi!" The couple climbed in quickly. "Times Square!" Kate added to the driver.

"Do you think we should come back around here?" Peter asked. "They might come here later," he pointed out.

Kate bit her lip, and she nodded. "Okay, we'll be back here in a couple of hours, but I want to look around Time's Square before we do that."

-8-

Getting back into the brownstone again after the first time was easier the second time around, and it helped they were both motivated. Once they climbed out of the chute, Kevin raced for the roof, and Megan followed, wondering what her brother had in his head. By the time they reached the edge and looked over, ignoring the sheer drop, the siblings saw the two burglars suddenly stop, looking around for them.

"Where'd they go?"

That was Marv.

"We're up here! Come and get us!" Kevin yelled down, snapping another picture down at them.

Megan gaped at him. "Hey, leave me out of this!"

"I thought we were in this together?"

"Reluctantly!"

Once the flash of the camera had worn off, Marv growled, feeling the frustration which had been simmering within him for the last ten minutes bubble into rage. "Let's kill!"

Harry, who'd been looking up at the brownstone and wondering how they had found this place, decided to change their approach. He wondered if there was some way to reason with the boy instead of wondering around this house. "Hold on, pea-brain," Harry snapped as he stopped Marv from moving any further towards the house, "We got busted last time, because we underestimated that little bundle of misery."

Even as he spoke, Harry wondered how he could best approach this, and he knew he would have to be really good, choosing his words as carefully as he could.

Easier said than done; he rarely if ever spoke to kids, when he did, they either didn't talk at all or ran off.

Still, he had to try. While the night had largely been ruined and their plans had gone up in smoke, maybe there was a way they could still rectify that?

Harry had no intention of being thrown into prison, ever again.

But, as usual, Marv's whiny voice broke through his thoughts. "This ain't like the last time. This ain't his house. The kid's running scared. He ain't got a plan."

Harry turned to him with an expression of….extremely exaggerated patience, managing only just to resist the urge to do something to him. "May I do the thinking please?" Marv sighed and bowed and gestured towards the house. "Thank you." Harry looked up at the rooftop, trying very hard to appear friendly and casual instead of perpetually angry and irritated. "Sonny! Missy!"

Megan turned to Kevin. "Is this normal?"

"More or less, they tried being friendly last year," Kevin raised his voice and yelled down, curious about where this was going. "Yes?"

"Nothing would thrill me more greatly than to shoot you," Megan stiffened as she heard what Harry said. "Knocking off a youngster and his teen sister ain't gonna mean all that much to me. Understand?"

Kevin had to admit it was a good point, "Mm-hmm."

Bolstered by this, Harry went on, "But since we're in a hurry, I'll make a deal with you: you throw down your camera and we won't hurt you."

Megan blinked, and out of the corner of her mouth she asked her brother, "Is he serious?"

But Kevin didn't have a chance to reply.

Harry went on. "You'll never hear from us again. Okay?"

Kevin visibly perked up, easily seen from the ground, "You promise?" He yelled down.

"I cross my heart and hope to die."

Megan frowned, wondering what her brother would do. Would he throw down the camera like Harry wanted?

But then again what did she really know about her little brother?

Megan had to admit there was a massive gap between her and Kevin; it was one of the biggest drawbacks of being one of the eldest in a large family, you rarely spent that much time with anyone younger, even if she preferred Linnie's company to Kevin's at the best of times. It didn't help one little bit Buzz and Jeff sometimes pushed Kevin into acting out.

Last year aside where he had tried to be better, more mature, Megan hadn't really spent much time with him….but would he really just throw down the camera?

"Okay," Kevin yelled down, and for a fraction of a second, Megan actually thought he would. But when she saw his hand reach out to pick up a brick from a pile near them.

"Kevin, what are you doing?" She whispered urgently.

Kevin ignored her and prepared to drop the brick, his arm slightly weighed down by the weight.

Unaware of the impending danger, Harry yelled up, "Okay, kid. Give it to me!"

Megan winced when Kevin obliged, throwing down the brick….For some reason it veered off towards Marv, who looked stupidly up - Megan wasn't sure if he was sucking his finger or his thumb absentmindedly - just in time to see the brick but he was just too late to get out of the way, the brick smacked him on the forehead.

Megan watched as Marv, almost like a puppet who had his strings cut, collapsed moaning in agony. She was even more amazed he was even still alive! Why hadn't the brick crushed his skull like a biscuit?

"Direct hit!"

Megan gasped at the way her brother was treating this as a massive sadistic game. "Kevin," she whispered.

But her brother ignored her.

Marv was in agony; he looked up through glassy eyes, seeing several Harry's looming over him. "How many fingers am I holding up, Marv?" He asked.

But since there were so many Harry's holding up so many fingers, Marv wasn't in the mental condition needed to actually count them up properly.

"Mmmmm, Eight?" Marv asked.

Harry looked at his fingers. He had only been holding up two fingers. Gritting his teeth and realising his plan to just get out of here had just gone up in smoke, Harry shouted up at the roof. "Okay, kid. You want to throw bricks? Go ahead, throw another one," he goaded while Marv, who had managed to recover just enough of his brains, tried to stop him, but Harry ignored him.

"Don't do that!" Marv yelped.

Kevin lobbed down another brick. Harry got out of the way just in time, and Marv yelled in pain as the brick hit him in the forehead, leaving a nasty dent in the skin.

"Kevin, stop doing that!" Megan snapped.

But Kevin ignored her.

"If you can't do any better than that, you're going to lose."

"Harry…," Marv moaned, weakly, "…no."

Marv yelped again in agony as the brick smashed into his forehead again; okay, she was becoming a bit worried, how come the idiot kept getting hit, and why was it always in the forehead? Getting that many hits was not doing well for his brain, she thought.

Meanwhile Harry became angry, "Y'know what, kid, your brother," Megan stiffened as she realised he was addressing her, "I was hoping you'd be reasonable, but I bet you could see him on the ground in a blood pile!"

Megan felt the red mist descend, and before she could stop herself, she picked up two of the bricks in her stronger hands, and she lobbed them down. Marv yelped in pain while Harry - the bastard - managed to jump out of the way as the three bricks - Kevin had lobbed another one after Megan had lobbed her own bricks down - smacked into his body; Megan's bricks had hit the burglar in the chest and the knee, while Kevin's hit him square in the forehead.

Harry walked closer towards Marv, looking up, "You got any more?"

Kevin was silent, looking placidly down at them, while Megan had to resist the urge to glance at the now depleted pile.

Harry seemed satisfied, "Get up, Marv." He said down to Marv, but because his back was turned, he didn't noticed Kevin reach over and pick up another brick, "He don't have any more bricks, he's out of 'em."

Up above, Kevin prepared to throw…

"Kevin, don't," Megan whispered, but she remembered their threat, and so she didn't stop him.

Marv was in pain; while his forehead hurt like hell, his knee hurt worse. As he twisted around experimentally, Marv happened to look up…and his face paled.

He babbled a few incoherent words.

"What?" Harry blinked.

Marv pointed upwards in utter terror, babbling again.

"What?" Harry snapped, wondering what the dope was saying this time.

But Marv carried on panicking, jabbing his hand upwards and babbling…inwardly he was trying to repeat the words "He's still got more bricks, and he's about to throw down another one!" But the words refused to leave his mouth, so he sounded demented.

"What?"

Kevin threw down the brick - he and Megan had been listening to this for a short time, and it was becoming dull now. The brick fell towards the ground, picking up speed before it began to make the sound the others had. Harry turned and he managed to leap out of the way, just in time as it smashed into Marv's forehead. Megan wondered why her bricks had hit Marv in other parts of his body, and Kevin's just hit him in the forehead.

Was there a scientific reason for that?

And then she blinked, wondering why she had been….so indifferent towards her brother, why she was horrified and yet did nothing to actually stop him?

Why instead had she just decided to help him and do nothing?

"That did it!" Megan blinked in surprise when Harry yelled up, and she looked down curiously as she snapped back into reality. The smaller burglar was dancing with rage. "Nobody throws bricks at me and gets away with it." He turned and actually kicked the prone Marv, who was still writhing away on the pavement, moaning in agony the whole time, "Come on, Marv, Get up! Come on! You go this way. I'll go around back." Harry went charging off down the street towards the end to where the gate leading to the backyards were. Megan wasn't worried about him getting in, since Kevin had already taken care of them…she hoped.

In the meantime, Kevin jumped away from the edge of the roof, pulling her along. "What now?" Megan asked.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin stopped and gave her a surprised look. "Operation Ho-Ho-Ho is a go!"

Megan bit her lip, wondering if she would ever see her brother in the same light again as she remembered what those traps were capable of. It was one thing seeing him trip them up with those pearls from the ripped necklace, to getting punched by that woman, and then seeing Harry be catapulted high into the air so he'd crush a car, to watching him lob those bricks down…and okay, she had helped there, but that was something she had never once expected herself to do…but she wondered if Kevin was going to kill those men tonight, they just didn't know what to expect.