Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 01:11:26 EST From: Kathy Whelton <103045.2473@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: Christmas:Christmas Surprise 01/04 This little Christmas tale is set in the second season. It is in the same storyline as a story I wrote in August called Jenny's Surprise, which is available on both the web and the ftp sites. You can certainly read this one alone. Special thanks to Leslie GrantSmith for beta-reading. Christmas Surprise 1/4 by Kathy Whelton Nick couldn't quite bring himself to wish that the phone would ring, bringing with it the unfortunate news of a homicide that required his attention. Still, catching up on the paperwork was just not going to cut it tonight, it would be nice to have something to keep him occupied. He was working Christmas Eve, as he always did, letting those with families enjoy the night off. He looked around at the skeleton crew manning the precinct tonight Those who were stuck working were making the best of their situation with immense quantities of food and a Christmas grab. Somehow even these meager festivities left him feeling more isolated than ever. Nat had taken some time off this year and had gone to spend the holidays with Sarah and Amy. He was truly glad that she had gone, she had spent far too many special occasions in the morgue. Without Nat to prod him, however, he had not managed even a semblance of holiday spirit. The loft sat undecorated. What point was there in decorating if there was no one to see it? The sound of his phone ringing jolted Nick from his reverie. "Homicide, Detective Knight." "Man, oh Man, oh Man. Am I glad you're there." Schanke vented into the phone. "Look, partner, you gotta help me. I'm in big trouble, Myra's gonna kill me." "What did you do this time Schanke?" Nick couldn't help but grin. "You didn't get her that vacuum cleaner, did you? I told you..." "Will you listen to me, Nick. My car, the presents, everything they're gone, stolen. Myra's gonna have a bird." "Whoa, Schank, back up. Stolen? How? When?" "We hid the presents at Myra's cousin's house. It's probably the last year that Jenny will believe in Santa and we didn't want to take the chance of her finding them." Schanke stated firmly. "She is one sharp kid, the things she figures out, it's kinda scary." "Scary doesn't begin to cover it Schank." Nick noted with some chagrin. He was all too familiar with the investigative powers of one Jenny Schanke. "I went there tonight, after Jenny was asleep, to get the presents. I swear I was only in the store five minutes, ten tops." "Store, what store? You lost me." "The liquor store, the one on the corner of Richmond. You know, Christmas Eve, a little Asti Spumanti, a little hohoho with Myra. I just stopped to talk for a minute, when I came out, the car was gone. Nick, it's eleven o'clock, the stores are closed. If I can't find that car there be nothing under the tree in the morning. Jenny will be devastated." "I think Jenny's a lot stronger than you give her credit for." Nick replied. "But let me look into it. If it really was as quick as you say, it sounds like a professional. A little unusual for Christmas Eve, but I'll check out the chop shops. Did you call this in to the 26th, that's their turf, isn't it?" "I did. I could tell by the enthusiasm with which my report was taken, that I can look forward to seeing my car sometime around the middle of July." he paused. "I'm not so sure about it being a professional though." There was something in the tone of Schanke's voice that made Nick ask. "What is it you're not telling me, Schanke?" "I left the car running." he stated painfully. "You, a cop, left a car full of presents running in the middle of the night? Outside a liquor store. "This was going to be good for a lot of mileage in the weeks to come. "I know, Nick, I know. Myra is gonna kill me when she finds out. I thought maybe you could pick me up, we could cruise around. Maybe this is just some kids out for a joy ride." "Look Schank, go back in the liquor store. Say these words to the clerk 'Veuve Clicquot', then go home and enjoy what's left of the evening with Myra." Nick smiled into the phone. "That is if she's still.....talking to you. I'll do everything possible to find your car, I promise. I'll let you know if I come up with anything." end part 1 comments welcome Kathy 103045.2473@compuserve.com Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 01:11:23 EST From: Kathy Whelton <103045.2473@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: Christmas:Christmas Surprise 02/04 Christmas Surprise 2/4 by Kathy Whelton Nick drove a discrete distance from the precinct before taking to the air. The night was cold, the sky crystal clear with a million stars visible. He shot straight upwards, taking in the spectacular view, the sudden acceleration making him breathless. It was the sheer joy of flying on night such as this that had kept him from walking into the sun on several occasions. Somehow it made all the rest of it just a little more bearable. The vast array of Christmas lights dancing below him caught his attention and brought him back to the mission at hand. Nick started at the corner where the liquor store stood and slowly circled in ever increasing arcs around the neighborhood. The odds were not good that he would actually spot Schanke's car, but the traffic at this hour was extremely light, which greatly improved his chances. Nick's travels slowly took him into the less affluent areas of the city. The number of Christmas lights dropped dramatically as the housing became shabbier. He had almost given up hope of finding anything when he spotted the car, tucked into the corner of a deserted alley. Nick set down some distance from the car. The trunk was propped open and from his position Nick could see the figure of a young man, struggling with some difficulty to remove one of the larger packages. Nick's first instinct was to intervene immediately. It angered him to see this stranger handling the gifts which Schanke and Myra had chosen and wrapped with such loving care. Something held him back, maybe it was the setting. This was no warehouse of stolen goods. People lived here, made their homes here. Nick's interest had been piqued, he needed to know why. Nick took to the air again, slowly this time, looking carefully through the windows of the rundown apartment building. He followed the man's movements within the building, until he saw the man enter his apartment. Nick landed softly on the fire escape and peered through the window. The only indication of the Christmas season was a small tree that sat undecorated in a far corner of the room. The living room was strewn with the remnants of wrapping paper, the same paper that had covered the package that was removed from the car. In the middle of the floor were two young girls, busily engaged with what appeared to be a Pocahontas Playset. The man Nick had seen downstairs sat some distance from them, his head bowed. Nick knocked softly on the door of the apartment. He flashed his badge as the door opened. "I'm Detective Knight, metro P.D.. We need to talk about the car downstairs." Nick watched the as a gamut of emotions passed across the young man's face. In the end he settled on resignation. He held the door to the apartment open and gestured for Nick to enter. "Is that your Chevy downstairs, Mister...?" Nick asked quietly. Nick's arrival had put an end to the play in the living room. The attention of the girls was now focused on him. "Carpenter, Jack Carpenter." he answered. "I think you know that it's not my car. Why else would you be here at midnight on Christmas Eve?" "The car downstairs belongs to a friend, another detective. Needless to say, he is very interested in getting his car and it's contents back." "Girls, why don't you go and play in your bedroom for a few minutes, Daddy will be right in to tuck you in." He turned to Nick. "I assume that's okay, I can tuck them in before we go?" Nick nodded his assent. He wandered through the dingy apartment as he waited. The smell from the stack of dirty dishes revolted him and the refrigerator held only a small amount more food than his own. "A detective," the young man emerged from the back bedroom. "It figures. I guess Murphy's Law is right. Whatever can go wrong..." "Why did you take the car?" Nick asked abruptly, cutting him off. Carpenter's eyes flashed. "That's none of your damn business." "Maybe you ought to consider making it my business, that is unless you want those girls to remember this as the Christmas that Daddy went to jail." Nick returned. "No," Carpenter said softly. "I don't want that, they've been through enough. Marie, my wife, and I came to Canada because I'd heard that construction work paid really well up here. What we didn't know was that the winter lasts nine months a year and how expensive everything would be." "Where is she now, your wife, I mean?" "She died three months ago. Leukemia. She was fine one day, the next she was gone." "I'm sorry." Nick said softly. "Yeah, you're sorry, everybody's sorry. Sorry doesn't pay the rent. Sorry doesn't buy Christmas presents for my girls." Carpenter slammed his fist firmly on the table. "I didn't plan to take your friends car, I saw it sitting there, full of presents. I thought about the girls getting nothing on Christmas morning and something snapped." Carpenter paused and looked evenly at Nick. "Can we go down to the station now? I really don't want my daughter's to hear any more of this than they have already." "I'm not sure that will be necessary." Nick replied. "Maybe we can work something out. I have the car back. Maybe we can work out some type of payment for the gifts." "Payment," Carpenter snorted. "You just don't get this do you? We're two weeks away from a shelter or worse. I have no way to pay your friend." he paused. "I'll gather the toys up, the girls will just have to understand." "No, don't do that." Nick stated. "I was thinking along the lines of your working it off. You said you work in construction?" Carpenter nodded his assent. "What if I was able to get you some work, maybe then we could talk about you paying my friend back." Carpenter stared silently at the floor. Not exactly the response Nick had been expecting. "I think you need to know something else" he stated softly. "We are not in this country legally." "We can talk about that later." Nick smiled gently. "Maybe there is something I can do about that as well. Take my card, I'll be waiting to hear from you." Nick peeled several large bills off a fold in his pocket. "Take this too, as an advance. I know you don't want to." Nick easily read the reluctance in the man's eyes. "But you will. You need to think about what you're going to feed those little ones in there tomorrow." "Thank you Detective," Carpenter called as Nick headed out the door. "Merry Christmas." end part 2 comments welcome Kathy 103045.2473@compuserve.com Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 01:11:19 EST From: Kathy Whelton <103045.2473@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: Christmas:Christmas Surprise 03/04 Christmas Surprise 3/4 by Kathy Whelton Nick was so intent on getting the large bag through the Schanke's window, that he was unaware of his young audience. "Aren't you supposed to be invited in or something?" Jenny asked abruptly from darkened depths of the living room. Nick felt his heart beat at the unexpected sound of her voice. "You startled me." he said, turning around to face her. "That invitation thing is a myth. Besides," he continued. "I *have* been invited in, *many* times." His face had taken on a slightly wounded expression. "It's after 3am, I had almost given up on you." "You were expecting me?" Nick questioned, the surprise evident in his voice. "Of course. I heard my Dad talking to my Mom. You know, about getting the car and the presents stolen. He said he had called you, so I figured you'd do something like this." Jenny stated rationally. Nick slumped into one of the overstuffed easy chairs. "You knew about the presents? The reason I went through all this is because your Dad said you still believed in Santa Claus. I didn't want you to be disappointed." "Santa?" she snickered. "You have got to be kidding me, that is *so* lame." "Let me get this straight, you believe in vampires, but not in Santa Claus?" somehow her logic in this was escaping him. "Vampires are cool, Santa is so...so...babyish. That's what the kids at school say anyway." Jenny walked over to him and began examining the contents of the bag that Nick had brought. "You're sure of that then? The Santa thing, I mean." Nick asked her with the slightest touch of a grin on his lips. "Of course I'm sure." she replied defensively. "Why wouldn't I be sure?" Jenny paused, watching him intently. " Is there something you're not telling me?" "Who me?" he asked, giving her his best innocent look. "If your friends say there's no Santa, then I'm sure they're right There's no Santa Claus." Jenny turned her attention back to the bag of gifts. There was no point in going around with him on the Santa thing, grownups just loved to play games. She'd be much more likely to get the real scoop if she played it cool. "Hey, what's the deal here?" Jenny commented as she rummaged through the stack of gifts. "This isn't the stuff my Mom and Dad bought. And where is the printer I asked for?" "I wasn't able to get your stuff back...I had to...improvise." Nick hadn't anticipated getting caught, this could get a little sticky. "Barney!" Jenny stated with disgust, holding the large purple dinosaur in the air. "What do you think I am, a total geek?" "Well...I..." "Well you what? You caught the guy, didn't you?" she asked. "I hope you cleaned his clock." Jenny stated, her eyes slitted in a steely resolve. "I found him." Nick stated softly. He looked around at the Schanke's house, full of all the trappings of the season. Most importantly it was a home full of love and security. For the first time it occurred to Nick that maybe he had done the Schanke's no favors tonight. "So if you found him, where is my printer? I asked for a HP 855c, and I know they got it." Jenny continued, undeterred. "Of course if I had known you were going to swipe this stuff, I would have asked for a 1600." "First of all, I didn't *swipe* anything. I just didn't go through the checkout counter. I left more than adequate compensation for the things I took." The irritation in Nick's voice was becoming more pronounced. "More importantly, did it ever occur to you that maybe you should be grateful for all the things you have, and not constantly looking for a better angle?" Jenny's face fell as if she'd been struck. He could see the beginnings of tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'm ...sorry. I ..didn't mean..." she stammered. Nick suddenly knew what it felt like to be staked. "Come here," he gestured to her, pulling her into his lap. "I didn't mean to sound cross. The man who took your things took them because he had nothing to give his own little girls for Christmas." He shifted to face Jenny. "It doesn't mean that what he did was right. He made a mistake. Some mistakes are just not as big as others." Nick and Jenny sat in silence, his arms wrapped tightly around her. "And just maybe," he said quietly, finally breaking the silence. "you're not the only one in this room who's not always grateful for the things he's been given." "You too, eh?" "Yeah," Nick agreed. "Me too." "Like what?" Jenny asked cautiously, not quite sure she would be ready to hear his answer. Nick thought back over the extraordinary things he had seen and done in his long life. The people he had met. The incredible exhilaration of flying. The convenience of not dying when you're shot. He thought of things closer to his heart, Janette and Natalie. Schanke. "Oh, maybe like your Dad. I don't think I've ever told him how important his friendship is to me." "It's never too late for that," Jenny stated brightly. "You can tell him next time you see him." "No, it's never too late for that." he kissed her softly on the forehead. "It is, however, way too late for you to be up. You better be getting to bed." Nick stood and headed for the door. "You're not gonna....you know?" Jenny gestured towards the window with her head. "Fly?" Nick asked the question for her. He glanced at his watch, there was still time. "Naw, those pesky Christmas Eve flight restrictions, still in effect." Nick smiled broadly. "Merry Christmas, Jenny." "Merry Christmas, Nick." end part 3 comments welcome Kathy 103045.2473@compuserve.com Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 01:11:15 EST From: Kathy Whelton <103045.2473@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: Christmas:Christmas Surprise 04/04 Christmas Surprise 4/4 by Kathy Whelton "Let me get this straight, Knight." Schanke stated into the phone. "You caught the guy who took my car, and *you* ended up giving *him* money. Man, oh man, oh man. Are you turning into a soft touch or what?" "Something tells me you would've done the same thing in my place, Schank. Besides, he's going to pay me back." "Yeah, right, Nick." Schanke snorted. "You are never gonna see that guy again, I can tell you that right now." "Oh I think I will, Schanke. I think I will." "Thanks again, Nick, for bringing all that stuff by last night. What luck, finding a toy store open all night on Christmas Eve. It's almost unbelievable, I guess Christmas is just getting more and more commercial every year." Schanke commented. "I still can't figure how you got all that stuff in here without waking someone up." "Don't you remember?" Nick suggested. "You gave me that key last year, in case of emergency." Actually, he could remember no such thing. But it did make sense. "I just need one more little favor from you, Nick." "What is it Schank?" "I need you to come over here." Schanke replied. "Schank...." "Before you say anything, Nick. I am not going to take no for an answer. Jenny has been hounding me about this since six o'clock this morning. She says *no one* should be alone on Christmas, no matter what they say." Schanke's voice was weary. "You have to come, Nick. I just can't take it anymore." "Okay, okay. I'll come." He needed to drop Schanke's car off anyway. It couldn't hurt to stop in for a few minutes. As long as they didn't try and feed him. Nick's stomach churned at the thought. "Kids," Scahnke continued. "You think you know 'em, then they surprise you every time. I thought Jenny was way out of that Barney phase, I couldn't get over how much she loved it. I thought she was going to be disappointed, she had been wanting a new printer for her computer, it's all she's talked about for months. There was no way I could swing it this year. She never even mentioned it. It was one of the best Christmases we've had in years, all thanks to you, buddy." "You're welcome, Schank. I'm just glad I could help." Nick smiled into the phone. "I'll see you soon." Jenny waited until her parents had gone into the kitchen before climbing into Nick's lap and whispering in his ear. "Those people, from last night, did you take care of things? I got a little money, for Christmas. If you think it would help..." "Don't worry," Nick replied. "It's all taken care of. Monday morning they'll find six months back rent paid in full, with a little left over." Nick turned to her and smiled. "It's nice of you to think of them though. Now, I have a little something for you, and it's *not* a printer." "That's okay, I can make do with that old dot matrix a while longer." Jenny had been eyeing the plain brown package he had brought with great curiosity. "Go ahead," Nick prompted, "you can open it." Jenny tore into the package enthusiastically. "It's me!" she exclaimed. It was a portrait of a sleeping child, a mass of curly dark hair circling an angelic face. "I sketched you the night you slept at the loft." Nick suddenly hoped that she would not find the thought of him watching her sleep too unsettling. "I've been working on it for a while now. I hope you like it." "I love it." Jenny threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It will look great over my bed. It is going to make my Mom cry, though." Jenny added with great certainty. Jenny hopped down and grabbed a present from under the tree. "I got something for you too." Jenny handed the present to him hesitantly. She had never had to get a Christmas present for a vampire before. That, and a severe lack of funds had made her shopping rather difficult. She watched as Nick gently unwrapped the package. "My Dad is always complaining about how cold the crime scenes are at night. I thought..." Nick was staring down at two rather misshapen mittens and a knit cap, a look of disbelief on his face. "They're not very good." Jenny said slowly. "I just learned to knit this fall." She'd blown this, she thought to herself. Any idiot could tell you that vampires don't get cold. What could he possibly want with a hat and mittens. "You made these?" Nick asked quietly. "For me." Jenny nodded. "If you don't like..." "I love them, they're perfect." Nick replied, his voice suddenly hoarse. "I'll treasure them, always. Thank you." Jenny smiled as she climbed back up into his lap. "You're welcome." she paused. "Now about this Santa Claus thing....." The End Happy Holidays to all! Kathy 103045.2473@compuserve.com