Chapter 1: Kick
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Kick had tried to think of a perfect gift for you, looking at all those online articles full of ‘ what to get your S/O this holiday season’. They were all horribly cheesy, and not in a good way. Personalized bracelets were cute and all, but the idea of having you wear his initials felt weird to him. You couldn’t really wear jewelry anyways given your jobs, and it felt reminiscent of a high school guy giving his first real girlfriend the most generic gift of all time, or that it was some kind of fetishy ‘ownership’ thing. He’d prefer the latter, but that’s neither here nor there. It was a cop out and he wasn’t doing it. You meant more to him than some lame, thoughtless present. You would have been happy with anything, he knew that - but that wasn’t the point. You were special, the gift he got you should reflect that.
Over the last few weeks he’d casually dropped hints here and there about what kinds of old games you liked, what you played growing up, if anything that held nostalgia to you in particular. You thought nothing of it, given that was something very in-line with things you two would talk about. Secretly though, he’d been memorizing them. He had a whole list going in his phone that he’d been slowly adding to as you gave him more and more intel on what he could get you for Christmas. It felt almost devious, sneaking around and using the information you so unknowingly gave him to concoct the perfect gift - espionage wasn’t something he was trained in, but dammit it sure felt like he knew what he was doing given you never caught on.
One afternoon a few weeks before the 25th, a day where you got held up with training and he was conveniently free - he may or may not have stolen your laptop for a couple of hours. He’d helped you pick out a good computer that - one you could run games off of back when you were in m the market for a new one a little over a year ago; so he knew beforehand that the specs would be enough to run what he had in mind. After countless tutorials and trial and error, he managed to get a few emulators downloaded and running. He kept most of it on a flash drive so that you would be none the wiser, given that he needed a few afternoons like to get everything downloaded and working. Adding a few games he either remembered you saying you liked, or that he thought you might like to try. He even got it all fitted with adorably categorized thumbnails coordinated to each game file, separating them by console, button mapping all the controls for you to an xbox controller. Working around the wii remote needing a 'shake' option was a little tricky, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t getting you that consoles version of Super Mario Bros. It was one you both talked about specifically, and if he worked out the issue now, should there be another Wii game you wanted later on - he could just download it for you without any hassle.
It wasn’t much, hell it only cost him a few afternoons and the cost of a decent flash drive, but it was the most heartfelt thing he could think of to get you. He scoured a lot of places for some of the games you mentioned, to no avail. It made him second guess the whole idea entirely - resorting to trying to make it up by finding a host of really silly looking gamecube games he could play with you instead. If Tekken 4 for the PS2 wasn’t available, surely a copy of Shrek: Super Slam and Super Monkey Ball would more than make up for it right?
Chapter 2: Simon "Ghost" Riley
Summary:
You already knooow I had to throw down a Ghost fic. Enjoy
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Simon didn’t talk a lot about his personal experiences with celebrating the holidays. You knew he participated in the secret santa gift exchange between the operatives he worked with, but that was it. His gifts were remarkably thought out and personalized toward anyone he got assigned; no half-assed gift cards here, for someone who didn't have that Holiday Cheer TM. He did like the idea of celebrating it, but the nostalgia just wasn’t there for him. He’d had a few picturesque Christmases growing up, but they came with a deeply somber aftertaste on the To:/From: sticker that arrived attached to it. That desire in him for it had long since died out, along with his desire for most of those ooey-gooey mushy Hallmark moments most people longed for - that was, until you came along.
You managed to worm your way past the Brit’s defenses, for reasons he still isn’t sure of himself. You didn’t outright ask him why he was so reluctant to participate in a lot of the holiday related activities the guys invited him to, but he knew you had picked up on it. The two of you had gotten close, romantically - but casually. It wasn’t like you both were moving into a house in the suburbs, with a white picket fence out front, 2.5 kids and maybe even a dog in the midst of it all if the good lord so blessed you with one. You two had an established connection much closer than just coworkers, lovers maybe? If you had to put a label on it, at least. He wasn’t very touchy-feely about his affections for you, but you two had spent your fair share of nights together. You were far closer than he ever thought he would feel comfortable with again, and with it came the realization he started turn around on a few of the things he thought he just simply didn’t have interest in. No 180 degree changes, merely just not hating the idea of celebrating the holidays with another person anymore. Having shied away from the idea for so long, it was hard to try and piece together what he wanted to do for you. You deserved all those cringe-worthy movie moments - if that was what you wanted; but he could never give you those. You’d have to settle for an emotionally constipated man just trying his best. You loved him for who he was, not what his circumstances molded him into. He was caring, truly, just in his own way.
On base, many of the other operatives you worked alongside had gone on a short leave. Simon was used to staying, residing to experiencing the moment of peaceful quietness in his quarters solo while the others went back home to their families. He had you to accompany him this time, though. He found it surprisingly nice not having to be as discreet about your feelings toward one another, not that he was all that expressive in public beforehand; but you both did get a few private moments together outside either of your lodgings that you wouldn’t have had otherwise with how the other soldiers weren’t constantly roaming around like they did during the rest of the year.
The weather in the nights leading up until the big day took an expected turn, a cold front moving in and snowing over everything. You stayed over at his place under the guise that your quarters were too cold, and he saw through the ploy entirely - he accepted your intrusion with open arms. He was comfortable with being alone, but you didn’t suffocate him like a lot of other people did. Your presence was soothing, in fact he was honestly glad that you complained about your heating being on the fritz; because it meant he didn’t have to ask you to stay over. He wanted to spend the downtime with you, even if he didn’t outright admit to it.
You staying over meant he had to hide what little he’d bought ahead of time in preparation for Christmas morning. He didn’t want to deprive you of celebrating it, even if he typically didn’t at all. While you slept in, taking advantage of the body heat he left lingering in the sheets stretching out into the vacancy he left behind, Simon got to work. It wasn’t much, but it was still a very big step for him in all fairness. He’d picked up some of the prerequisite 'iconic' Christmas movies he’d never bothered sitting through until now, the gaudiest, downright ugliest sweater he could find in the shops, a few packets of hot chocolate and some of the limited-edition seasonal flavors of tea you’d expressed interest in. He’d also gotten a set of matching mugs for you both, figuring it was just sappy enough to be endearing, and knowing it would at least make you smile when you saw it. He slipped the hideous sweater over his shirt as he waited for the water to boil on the stove, making you both tea in the mugs he’d gotten. For the first time in his adult life he actually started to feel a little giddy as he brought the mug to sit the nightstand by your side of the bed. A genuine grin started to pick at the corners of his scarred lips as he gently shook your shoulder in an attempt to wake you, excited to see your reaction.
Chapter 3: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick
Summary:
Gaz and reader sharing an impromptu holiday season together <3 He wants to make it up to you because of how busy he is
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Gaz was away on missions a significant portion of the time, taking him away from you for large chunks of the year. It sucked. He had an important job to do, and he was grateful you understood it enough to put up with it all for him. He knew it wasn’t fair to you, but you assured him that if it meant being with him during the few parts of the year he had off - you’d be there waiting for him to come back home every time. Much of your relationship was expressed through late night phone calls when he could get away with them, Gaz listening to you rant and ramble about everything under the sun so long as you let him hear the voice he so intensely longed to hear. It made him feel like a kid again with how head over heels he was for you, with him asking follow up questions about things he could already correctly assume - just so he could hear you explain anyways.
He’ll never forget how excited your tone became when he told you how he’d be able to make it home unexpectedly, just around mid-November for a few weeks. The unadulterated joy was short-lived, as he explained he wouldn’t be able to stay through the holidays. It hurt your heart to hear, but you understood it just like you had been understanding of his position up until that point. You would never pass up the opportunity to see him, but the disappointment in your voice was palpable through the phone speakers and distance between you both. You were always so strong for him, so understanding, so accommodating - he always felt eternally lucky to have someone like you in his life. You just wanted to spend the holidays with him, and that wasn’t an insane desire to have. It was entirely within your right as his partner to crave that experience, and he felt like such an ass for not being able to give it to you. It was right then and there that on that very long-distance call held the confines of his standard-issue tent in the field when he decided he was going to do his best to give you what your heart desired - holidays with him, even if he couldn’t be there on the exact days for it. Texting a few of his friends back home, he got some plans arranged. Considering how he was gone for such lengthy durations, he wasn’t familiar with the new shops and attractions that opened up in his absence. It took some finagling; asking around for what there was new in town to do that he could take you to, but the plan was set in motion before he even stepped foot on the plane home.
The first couple of days was spent just catching up, you both spending time together when you didn’t have work. Majority of it was spent in your flat, making up for lost time. It was hard having to go to work when your boyfriend was finally back, but you had to bring home a paycheck at the end of the week giving you no choice but to go. It gave Kyle the prime opportunity to round up all of the decorations you had stored away. Forgotten in a hallway closet, collecting dust since the last time they’d been drugged out. Occasionally, Gaz had to run to the store for anything he couldn’t find. He refused to ruin the surprise by asking you in the middle of your shift ‘hey, babe, where are the Christmas stockings? What about the garlands?’, ‘hey love, sorry to bother you - do we have any tape?’ , so on and so forth. It took a couple of hours, but he’d successfully turned your apartment into something straight out of a photographer's Christmas Card backdrop. It was still only the 3rd week of November, way too early to decorate by most people’s standards - but if he wasn’t going to be able to celebrate it with you when it came around naturally, so he would just celebrate it with you while he could.
Chapter 4: David "Hesh" Walker
Summary:
Hesh my beloved. My moon my stars. Maybe some slight angst in this chapter, it's hard to avoid when that mans life is always kind of tragic. Riley's in this chapter though, so it's a little happy sort of
CW- Alcohol
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Ever since he could remember, David had always felt a responsibility to get his dad and younger brother something every Christmas. Something handmade Elias would keep on his desk, something Logan would tear open and squeal with childlike wonder and glee that his big brother had got him something. It was just the 3 of them, so he wanted to make sure neither of them went a Christmas morning without something to unwrap. Gift giving became a love language of his, it was how he showed his appreciation for the people he cared about.
Elias had since passed away, and Logan - while making remarkable strides in his recovery post everything he endured when Rorke abducted him - not all of him had come back when he was rescued. He was slowly coming around, as his brainwashing wasn’t complete like Rorke’s, you all were able to get to him in time before all of him was lost for good. That didn’t mean some part of Logan wasn’t still down in the pit, though. He was still himself to a degree, he just wouldn’t ever be the same again. Hesh understood couldn’t force anything on his brother that he wasn’t ready for, meaning you and Riley were the only ones he could celebrate with. It wasn’t like the Holidays hadn’t already taken on a completely different look than what they used to, given how the Federation destroyed and turned everything upside down. Most of the people who made it through it all couldn’t celebrate in the way they remembered it. The surviving members of the Ghost team were no exception to that new fact of life, either.
Riley was already spoiled rotten by the man, he was David’s baby - of course he was going to go the extra mile for him whenever he could. The dog may have not understood why he was getting the extra treats, much less the complexities of social and religious occasions centered around that time of year - but that didn’t mean he wasn’t excited for it regardless. David had always gotten you little things here and there, handing you a rock he thought looked cool that he’d picked up while a mission, a pin from a grenade he used, giving you his sweatshirt and refusing it back when you insisted you weren’t cold anymore, even instances like remembering how you mentioned once you didn’t like minty toothpastes - so he found an alternative one that he kept in his bathroom for you to use instead whenever you stayed the night with him. Lots of little things like that, you never once felt like he didn’t care when you were with him. He wanted to do more, though. He probably couldn’t just give you dried meats the way he did Riley, but he wanted to go the extra mile for you, too.
Given the state of the world, he was extremely limited on what all he could get you. Luckily, it just so happened that during one of the missions he was deployed on clearing some buildings that the federation had previously commandeered - him and the team he was with came across some unopened bottles of booze. Keegan took the whiskey, he got the vodka.
He wasn’t even sure if you drank or not. So he made sure to mention it beforehand, to gauge your reaction first. When he realized that not only were you okay with it, but actually had a preference for vodka in particular - he kept it safely tucked under his bed, hidden away until Christmas Eve. Snow was fresh on the ground around the base, he thought it might be a little cliche - but ‘tis the season. In the middle of the night going into Christmas morning, he brought you out with him, reminding you to dress warm as he too put on his coat and carried an old, thick woolen blanket under his arm. Riley even had one of Hesh’s sweatshirts on, with the arms rolled up so that they didn’t hang over his paws and drag the ground. David wasn’t letting either of you freeze. He brought you out to a clearing, laying the blanket out under an old tree for you both. It was big enough that you could sit on part of it, while tucking the rest around your bodies to keep warm as he pulled out the hidden bottle from under all the layers he had on. You both sat cuddled up under the night sky bundled in the blanket, taking turns laughing and passing the bottle back and forth. Hesh was occasionally grabbing handfuls of snow to toss out into the air for Riley to catch, the German Shepherd destroying them as he clamped his jaw on them. He was having a blast, even if he did periodically worm his way between you and David inside the blanket, demanding pets as he warmed back up in preparation to bite snow again a few minutes later.
Chapter 5: Logan Walker
Summary:
Some angst but a happy ending
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You and Logan managed to have one Christmas together. One for the history books, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. You both exchanged handmade gifts and shared a kiss under some mistletoe Kick had put up in the common room. It wasn’t much, but dammit it was yours. Your memory with him, your time with the man you loved.
Why did Rorke have to go and mess it up?
You asked yourself that a lot, why Logan? No one deserved to be put through what he endured, but especially not him. Rorke may have only taken Logan away from you physically temporarily, but even now it felt like part of him was missing. You loved him, you always had - even if some parts of himself that you fell in love with weren’t there anymore. You loved him when he was gone, and you loved him when he wasn’t all there with you, either.
You understood he may never be the same, but over time you realized just how true that warning was. You weren’t sure what all was done to him during the attempted brainwashing - Logan never told a soul about it, so all you had to go off of was a roadmap of scarring left on the portions of his body that were occasionally visible. You wanted nothing more than to comfort him, love him the way you used to, but he wasn’t ready for that. So you waited for him to come to you, even if you weren’t sure when that would be - if it ever came at all.
Logan spent a lot of the next while, including the next Christmas, as a shell of the man he used to be. Everyday had its own challenges, but gradually the task of living got easier. There was no ‘fixing’ him, even if he did feel broken. Hesh helped, Keegan helped, and so did you, however you could - you weren’t ever sure it was amalgamating to anything substantial with how reclusive he became. You didn’t know if he ever regained those feelings for you, or how he felt about you in general, if he thought about you at all. Hesh reassured you how he could, but even his consoling was all guesswork. He never lied per se, but he did try to spare your feelings.
The first year came and went, and the second was nearly over with before you got any kind of sign. A big one, at least. It was that time of year again, the one that made you feel lonelier than any other did - and you didn’t hold out hope for any Christmas miracles this time, either. So when the presence you so longed for came up to you in the commons again, you figured it was just to grab something to eat like most people came there to do. No, it was for you. He didn’t say much, or even look you in the eyes as he placed something hard into your palm - momentarily bringing the back of your hand to his masked mouth before letting it go again. Over and done with in the blink of an eye, with Logan leaving before you ‘opened your present’. In your palm there lay a little bear he’d carved out of wood - how he ended up with a knife was a question you’d have to bring up later - because you were too preoccupied with examining the woodwork in your palm. It was just like the one he’d made for you during Christmas you spent together.
Just like before, Kick had even strung up mistletoe in the doorway again this year. It was different than it was then, but your Logan was still there. Somewhere deep down, where thankfully Rorke hadn’t found it permanently. It just took a while for him to start coming back, that’s all. Picking up where you both left off, with a small handmade gift exchange and a shared kiss under the mistletoe.
JJackKennedy on Chapter 4 Fri 15 Dec 2023 03:35PM UTC
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