Disclaimer: Joss and company own everything.
AN: Ninth story in my Reasoning series.
Summary: Will Angel get what he wants for Christmas- peace and quiet?
Spoilers: My first series (you d really have to read those stories to understand all of these).
Rating: Probably PG-13, if even that. Not much plot in this one- just a lot of meaningless fluff thrown together.
Distribution: Want it- take it. Just let me know where it s going.
Feedback: As always, greatly appreciated.
**Dedication: For my girl, Ashleigh- Happy Birthday!!**

One might say that Sunnydale was in full swing with the holiday spirit. The streets were overflowing with anxious families; mothers keeping one eye on their children, the other on their gifts. The crowded department stores were filled with crowds of holiday shoppers, pushing their way up and down aisles that glittered with festive decorations, debating over each item in an attempt to find that perfect gift, and bombarding the exhausted store employees with questions when their attempts failed. One might say that this particular year, the holiday spirit was more than evident in everyone…

"Would you bloody fools shut the hell up!! It's almost midnight!! How the hell is anyone supposed to relax with all that noise you call singing?!"

…everyone except one very ticked off vampire, that is&

"The next one of you I hear out there let out so much as a peep is gonna get it!"

Amid all the holiday cheer, Spike found his evening being continually interrupted by the good-spirited carolers traveling along Crawford Street. But knowing that he'd have hell to face if either one of the slayers came home and found their doorstep littered with a few bloodless carolers- not to mention a splitting headache from the chip- he decided against it, and returned to his job for the night.

"Hand me that green one, would ya?...No, not that one- the bigger one, over there...yeah, that's it...thanks..."

Furtively, Spike had been glancing at the clock for the past hour or so. It was getting late, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to get worried about the others.

"Ya know, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they all just left us here and decided to go on vacation like Nancy Boy suggested."

Xander's idea of spending the holidays up in the mountains had been tempting, but in the end, the Scoobs had decided to gather in Sunnydale for Christmas.

"Personally, I'd rather be staked to the ground than have to spend a week trapped on top a mountain with any of those twits."

Pausing in his task, Spike glances around the familiar walls of the mansion, amazed at its holiday transformation. Everywhere he looked, there were candles, garlands, wreaths, and other decorations. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, and the enormous tree was quite a sight to behold. As his eyes stray to the top of its intimidating stature, he can't help but smile at the memory of Angel and Dawn trying to put the star on top.

"Wish I'd had a camera for that one. 'Why didn't we put this stupid thing on first?' " he laughs aloud at his imitation of the teen. "Took 'em at least twenty minutes to finally get it straight. I'm telling ya, none of them can do anything right 'round here. They always end up havin' to come to me for help. It's always 'Spike, can you give me a hand,' or 'I really need a favor, Spike'. Probably explains why I've been here all night- spending Christmas Eve wrappin' all of their gifts for 'em," he ends on a disgusted note, though a smile returns to his face when he looks over at his companion. "There. I think we did a good job. What do you think?" he asks, lifting his final package for inspection.

A contented Quinn offers a gurgle of approval at his wrapping skills, reaching out a hand to play with the misshapen bow adorning the box.

"Glad someone 'round here appreciates me." Try as he might to fool the others, he always loved it when the slayers asked him to watch their infant daughter. It just wasn't fair that she was so damn cute- how was he supposed to keep his reputation as the Big Bad if every time he caught a glimpse of her he was reduced to a blithering idiot like the rest of them? Still, getting to spend time with her would be worth having the news of him turning into a big softy get around town.

It was the sound of muffled complaining that finally broke him from his musings as he picks up Quinn from the floor, balancing her on his hip as he marches over to the front doors. Before he can even stretch out his free arm to pull the doors open, Buffy leads the others in their return, pushing past him with such force he had to jump back a few steps for fear of getting trampled.

"Never again! That is it! I've had it!"

"Someone's in a good mood, luv," Spike scoffs at the slayer, making sure to place himself a safe distance out of her reach. "Lemme guess- that whole last minute shopping thing didn't work out too well, did it?"

"I don't want to ever hear that word again!" Anya yells from across the hall, angrily tossing her own bags at her husband, sending both the packages and Xander crashing to the floor.

"What are you all complaning about?" a bright and cheery Cordelia finally appears in the doorway, a smiling Dawn and Fred by her side. "We had a great time, didn't we?"

"Well of course you all did!" His arms overwhelmed with packages, a tired and frustrated Wesley accompanies Giles through the doorway. "Especially when you made us carry all of your things!"

Chuckling as he strolls past them, Spike hands Quinn over to Buffy, relieved to see the small blonde's face brighten with the sight of her daughter. After grabbing a drink from the kitchen, he stretches out his legs on the dining room table as he takes a seat beside his two favorite witches. "How 'bout it, red? How'd you two make out shopping in the madness?"

"It really wasn't that bad," an always calm and content Tara whispers.

"Buffy's just really upset about Angel," her lover adds.

"Just where is Peaches anyways? Still telling Santa what he wants for Christmas?" he grins.

"That's another word I never want to hear again!" Anya's yell reaches them from down the hall as she continues berating her husband. "I can't believe you made me wait in line with you for thirty minutes just so you could sit on some fat guy's lap- probably just some pathetic drunk they pulled off of the streets and slapped a red suit on- and lie about how you've been so good this year!"

"At least I got my candy cane and picture!" Xander defends.

"Please! If you wanted your picture taken with an overgrown idiot that bad I could've taken a polaroid of you and Spike! Err, uh," the ex-demon turns to the vampire, "no offense, Spike."

"None taken, you vindictive little bi-"

"Watch it!" Buffy warns, still cradling Quinn in her arms.

"So why're you so worried about your poof?" Spike steers back their conversation.

"Just as we were getting ready to leave Macy's, Cordy had a vision-"

"But does she worry about me?" said brunette chimes in. "Nooo, of course not. Don't even ask how my head is doing-"

"Angel and Gunn left to check it out," Buffy continues, simply rolling her eyes at Cordy as she lifts her daughter out of her arms, "wouldn't even let me go with them."

"But look on the bright side," Fred tries calming her, "at least now you can wrap his gift without him seeing it."

"Oooo! Good idea!" Her anxiety pushed to the side for the moment, Buffy hops up from the couch, racing over to her bags of gifts to extract a small porcelain ornament, encased in a small silver box. Bouncing over to the others, she holds it out before her. "What do you think?"

"I think this whole idea of everyone buying each other an ornament was a lame idea," her always supportive sister answers for the group.

"You're just mad they didn't have your size in that blue sweater," Buffy snaps back.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Wes pipes up, "but isn't the whole idea of Christmas to buy things for others instead of yourself?"

"What's your point?" both Dawn and her shopping accomplice Cordelia smile back.

******

While waiting for Angel and Gunn to return, the Scoobs decided to finish wrapping up some gifts and watch their annual Christmas movie of choice. While Dawn had volunteered to help Buffy with Quinn's bath upstairs, the others were gathered around the tv in the grand hall of the mansion.

"You know, I never would've figured Charles to love toys so much," Wes smiles, watching as Fred places a silver bow on top of the box she'd just finished wrapping for her boyfriend.

"Well, this isn't so much a toy as it's a model," she explains. "It's sort of been a tradition ever since we all started working together. Every year, all of us always bought him a model car- he sorta collects them."

"Okay, well that explains the model car," Tara points out, "but how do you explain the Pokemon figures?"

"Ummm...he's taken one too many shots to the head?" the young girl says with a laugh. "Gunn's just a big ol' sweet kid...just like Xander."

"And just what are you implying, missy?" he looks over to her.

"We all saw the look in your eyes when we were in the toy store and came across all the video games...and legos...and Furbys...and just about every other toy in the store," his wife reminds him with a grimace.

"What ever happened to simple games like checkers and chess?" Giles reminisces, though the others paid little attention.

"But some of that stuff is really awesome!" he defends. "Like that Crocodile Hunter Game- sweet!!"

"Well, maybe if you're a good little boy, Santa will bring you one for Christmas," Anya grins, reaching over to give him a quick kiss.

"Guess you can kiss your Croc goodbye then," Spike chuckles, "cause you've been anything but good."

"Says the one who stalks around in shadows for a living," Buffy's voice calls over as she and Dawn descend the massive staircase, a more than happy Quinn squirming around in the latter's arms.

"She sure has a lot of energy tonight," Willow smiles before throwing an accusing glance at the vampire sitting beside her. "What did you give her?"

"Nothin, nothing…except..well.." he stretches back, pondering for a minute, "we split a bowl of ice cream…and I gave 'er a few of those sugar cookies the bit made, but other than that-"

"She's gonna be bouncy for awhile," Xander muses, watching in disbelief at the affectionate way Spike reaches over, lifting the infant into his arms.

"No worries, she'll be fine. She's gonna help me finish wrapping up my gifts, aren't you cutie?" Finally noticing the others staring at him, he straightens up, his tone turning serious. "I mean, I might as well put the lil' rugrat to work. Come on, kid." Gathering up his bag of gifts- though god help him, he still couldn't understand why he'd bothered to buy any of those twits anything- he takes the small girl over to the tree, handing her a few bows and ribbons to play with while he worked.

******

"Yo- little help over here!"

Gunn's strained appearance in the doorway immediately grabs the others' collective attention, especially considering he was supporting the weight of something very familiar on his shoulder. "Come on, man…you're okay."

"Angel!" Buffy rushes up from the couch, Giles and the others a step behind her. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"He'll be fine," Gunn explains, gently helping his boss to sit on the couch. "One of those Khore demons jumped him from behind. He's gonna have a nice bump for Christmas morning."

"Angel? Honey, are you okay?" Buffy immediately begins her doting on him, hugging herself to him to reassure herself of his safety.

"Mm fine…" he mumbles so quietly that it was almost inaudible as his eyes begin to close, much to Gunn's disapproval.

"No, no, no, man- come on," he shakes his shoulders, trying to jerk him back awake. "Didn't I tell you you can't sleep?"

"I feel like hell," comes Angel's weak response, his eyes falling heavy once more.

"I know, but you can't go to sleep. I think you may have a concussion."

"Wonderful..." Angel lets out a still-dazed little laugh, "just what I wanted for Christmas, it'll go beautifully with a coma if I can manage to slip into one. At least then I'd get some peace and quiet. Gunn, if I'm gonna die, you could at least let me enjoy it this time with a few hours of restful sleep first to prepare me."

"Oh get off it, Peaches. You're not gonna die," Spike adds as he marches over with a festively decorated Quinn in his arms. With streams of ribbon wrapped loosely around her and a bunch of bright bows playfully stuck to her, she looked like she'd received more attention from Spike than his gifts.

"And you're a doctor?" he lets out another short laugh. "No offense, but I think I'd rather get an opinion on health from someone among the land of the living. Look- I'm tired, and my head is killing me, and I just want to go to bed, and…and…" his eyes squint in focus as he looks up at his daughter, brightly smiling down at him from Spike's shoulder, "and why does my daughter look like a deranged Christmas tree?"

******

"Giles, is he gonna be okay?"

Turning at the sound of his former slayer's voice, the englishman leaves Angel's resting form on the couch, making his way over to the dining room where the others were enjoying a late night snack. "He'll be fine. I don't think he actually has a concussion- he's probably just still a little out of it from the attack."

"So you don't think we have to take him to the hospital?" a still worried Buffy checks. "I mean, you're absolutely sure?"

"He's fine, Buffy," Giles confirms, placing a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to take him to the hospital."

"Not that you'd actually make it there anyway," Dawn smiles, taking another bite of her apple pie.

"What do you mean, Dawnie?" Tara turns to her with a look of confusion.

"Hello? It's been snowing pretty heavy for the past hour. The weather guy just said it's already turning to ice, and we're supposed to be getting at least three feet by-"

"It's snowing?!" Cordy's the first to jump from her seat over to the front door. "It can't be snowing!"

"Well, I'd like to know what all that white stuff out there is then, cause unless we've switched dimensions," Fred grins, "that looks like snow to me."

"But it never snows in Sunnydale," Willow begins, "oh,well unless you count that one time when it snowed.."

"Thanks for bringing us up to speed, red," Spike smirks, stepping alongside the others to peer out the window at the pile of snow that was indeed covering everything in sight.

"Well hey- this is great!" Xander cheers. "We can all spend the night! One big sleepover!"

"What?" Buffy and Angel offer their simultaneous responses.

"Well, yeah," Xander smiles back. "You don't really expect us to drive home in this mess, do you?"

"Yes!" Buffy shouts, "and as soon as possible, if not sooner!"

"Oh come on, Buffy. It's dangerous out there! Ya know, if we go out in that and you find our carcasses frozen alongside the road in the morning, you'll be sorry! You'll never forgive yourself!"

"I'll risk it..."

"Xander," Wesley tries addressing the situation, "perhaps we should all get leaving before this weather gets any worse. You shouldn't have too much trouble driving in it-"

"No, no, that's alright, Wes." Angel's voice calls over from the couch. "You can all stay the night."

"That's probably the concussion talking," Cordy mumbles before walking over to him. "Angel, trust me- the last thing you need is having to deal with all of us, especially *him*, for the night. You need to rest up, so we'll all just-"

"Stay here for the night," he restates, "and unless you want my head to get any worse, none of you are gonna disagree. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" Xander answers for the Scoobs, already making himself at home for the night.

******

After their guests had all gone to bed, Buffy and Angel were more than thankful that their daughter's Spike-induced sugar surge had run its course, allowing the infant to go to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Having finally fallen asleep after downing a bunch of painkillers, Angel would've been more than upset at being woken up, but somehow, recognizing the familiar feel of his wife's hand tracing random patterns along his back, he didn't seem to mind.

He slowly lifts his head from where he'd buried it among their mountain of pillows, craning his neck just enough to see her head resting on his shoulder as she lays on his back, a warm hand gently coming up to rest under his chest and over his heart. "How're you feeling?" he feels her whisper against his skin.

"Better. Still a little sore, but" he moans slightly as he rolls onto his back to face her, "much better. What time is it?"

"Almost seven," she smiles, reluctantly scooting off of him to sit up. "No one else is up yet-"

"Thank god." he chuckles, watching with a curious eye as she hops over to their bureau to retrive the small box containing his ornament. She had to admit, Giles did come up with good ideas sometimes. Having everyone exchange ornaments was clearly one of his better ones- it was practical, thoughtful, and was a great way of celebrating with one another, especially since it would be a tradition they'd start Quinn's first year of celebrating the holiday with her family.

"I thought maybe you'd want to exchange these now," she glances over her shoulder as he flashes her one of his trademark half-smiles.

"Sure, mine's in the top drawer. Off to the right," he gestures with his head, lounging lazily back onto their bed awaiting her return.

"Open yours first." Angel gently lifts the top off to reveal a small porcelain angel hanging from a silver thread. It was a gleaming creamy white and the intricate detail and design made the small trinket radiate even more with beauty. "Buffy, this is wonderful."

"Not as good as the real thing," she reminds him, reaching over to lay a hand alongside his cheek. "You're my Angel. You always have been, and you always will be."

"I couldn't imagine being anything else," he pulls her into a deep kiss, his free hand gently caressing the small of her back. "Go ahead, open yours," he nods towards his own box for her. He watches as she lifts back the lid, pulling out a small crystal ornament representing the sun, moon, and stars. The celestial scene was delicately carved, with the sun and moon parallel to one another, the three stars accompanying them positioned in between.

"This is so beautiful," Buffy gasps, still taken aback by the unique design.

"I know it doesn't exactly fit the whole Christmas theme, but I think it fits you pretty well." Seeing her face turn confused for a moment, he explains. "You're it for me, Buffy. You've always been my sun, my stars- everything."

"Angel," she turns in his arms, already on the verge of tears. "I love you so much," she whispers, wrapping an arm around his neck.

"I love you," her murmurs against her lips. "Being with you is my heaven, Buffy"

**Crash**

"Xander! I can't believe you just broke that! If Buffy doesn't kill you, Angel will!"

"-and having them for friends is our shared hell." the slayer surmises upon hearing the early Christmas morning antics begin. "Just another holiday on the hellmouth."

Send feedback to Skylar

Back to the Fanfiction Archive