Joyous Occasions

Maeve's first Christmas with a family

A lot has happened this year.

The explosion at the fire engine, the tsunami, Buck's lawsuit phase... like an unholy amount of things that would make this year crazy.

And the Christmas shift would be insane.

Call number 1 was about a lady who pepper-sprayed Santa Clause and a bunch of other people, all for a dancing dapper duck thing. Maeve wasn't one to believe in things like Santa but a part of her did agree he existed, a very small and childish part.

Until they wheeled Santa out and the kids were asking if he was gonna be alright.

"Is Santa Clause gonna die?" One of the kids asked with a sad frown.

"Oh hey, no, no, no.. of course not and don't you worry, he's not really Santa." Buck said innocently. Maeve blinked at him and a prank idea formed in her mind.

Oh, this was gonna be gold.

"He's not real..?"

"No, no, sweetie, he's just pretend."

"Santa's pretend?" Maeve and Bobby's mouth dropped a little and the younger firefighter forced tears into her eyes.

"That's right, he-..."

"Buck, Buck, Buck..." The other firefighter turned to his captain clueless and saw Maeve with the saddest fake frown she could muster.

"Daddy..." Maeve whimpered, hugging Bobby's leg as she buried her face in his pants. The fire captain looked at Maeve and gave Buck a 'really?' look as he patted her head.

"Did you just tell my kid that Santa isn't real?" One of the moms asked with a tinge of anger in her tone.

Poor Buck looked so confused, Maeve almost broke her act.

And he was making it worse.

It was only when the firefighters got into the engine that Maeve wiped her tears and gave Buck a smug look.

"And scene."

"Are you serious right now?" He asked frustratedly. "Yup. I never believed in Santa, thank you for the opportunity to cry though."

"You little-.."

"Buck."

...

Later that day, Maeve was at home, helping Micheal, Harry and May decorate the tree.

"So... this is something people do?" She asked confusedly, looking up at the fern in their house. "Yup, and we put this shiny star on the top." Micheal explained.

"This is all the stuff from the storage closet."

Harry and May entered the room, bearing two boxes full of decorations for the tree. "Alright, let's see how much we can get done before your mom and Bobby get back?"

"Should we even be doing this without them?" May asked. "It's kind of Mom's thing."

"Well, it usually is. But when have you known your mother to wait this late in the season to have her tree up?"

"Well, it's been a lot this year"

True.

"I don't think anyone's really feeling the Christmas spirit?"

"Well, Maeve does." Micheal pointed out to the cat pawing at the tree's leaves. "Yeah but she's always happy." Harry said.

That was also true.

Micheal passed some lights to Harry and asked him to untangle it. "You really think a tree is going to help Bobby forget he might have cancer?"

That was uncertain.

Maeve stopped pawing at the tree and looked at the three, one ear falling forward.

"Harry!"

"What? It's the truth."

"Yeah, but we don't think that way in this house. Okay? This is Bobby and Maeve's first Christmas with their new family."

"And we are going to do everything we can to make it special for them."

To be frank, Maeve never celebrated Christmas with anyone else before. The only thing she remembered close to Christmas was a Santa hat.

But that was it.

As May went up to get popcorn, Bobby and Athena arrived a few seconds later.

"What's all of this?" Athena gushed, opening her arms as she saw the tree. "We got you a tree." Harry answered, standing up to hug his mother.

"Oh, it certainly is." Bobby added.

"It's a beauty!"

Then, Micheal left, saying he had some work to do. The young firefighter swore she could see him tearing up just before he left the house.

What was that about?

...

The next day, a call came in from the airport.

Someone was sucked into the airplane's engine, and everyone was sure that whatever was inside was gonna be a mess. Maeve didn't let Bobby "shield" her from it, though.

And Bobby didn't argue with her.

She saw a lot during the tsunami.

Half of the man's body was sticking out, and it wasn't moving.

Bobby asked for Buck and Eddie to get the tools and asked for someone to clear the window where people were standing and watching.

But it turns out, the body was alive.

"Sir, can you hear me?" Bobby asked, getting close to the blades. Everyone slowly took apart the plane, revealing the man who was still in one piece.

They gently pulled him onto a gurney and the crowd at the window started to applaud.

"This is unbelievable."

"Nothing appears to be broken." Hen said, shocked that a man who was stuck in an airplane engine was alright. The mystery was what stopped the compressor. Maeve looked inside and pulled out some mangled golf clubs.

"I think these got sucked in first, locked up the blades.

As Maeve was showing it to the guys, Buck turned to Bobby and paused. "Bobby..." Maeve turned to the captain as well and froze.

His nose was bleeding.

Bobby was bleeding.

And in that split second, Maeve felt a different kind of fear.

They returned to the station and Bobby's nosebleed stopped.

"It's just a nosebleed. Could've been allergies, could've been Santa Ana's, could've been how cold it was out there on that tarmac."

But Buck and Maeve weren't buying it.

"Is. this your first nosebleed? Have your gums been bleeding? Do you have a rash anywhere I can't see?" Buck asked, putting his hands over Maeve's ear on the last part.

"What are you doing? Are you diagnosing me?"

"Maybe?" Maeve shrugged. "I haven't noticed any shortness of breath or bruising, but you could be hiding symptoms like a headache.."

"Dizziness..." Maeve added.

"Irregular heart rate. Are you?"

"Guys, I am not hiding any symptoms because I am not having any symptoms of whatever it is you both think I have."

"But you admit you are having some symptoms of things we didn't list?" Maeve tilted her head. "Yeah, here's a symptom I'm having... annoyance."

Bobby was not funny.

"That tunnel fire, you were in there way too long." Buck stated. "Okay, that much exposure to radiation can cause aplastic anemia."

"Did you know that's what killed Marie Curie?" Maeve asked. "No, I did not know that." Bobby said, he sounded sarcastic. "I also did not know that you knew who Marie Curie was."

"I lived with scientists, okay? And when you do that, you learn a lot about things radiation can cause."

"Okay, you two, listen. I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. So please, stop with the internet research and stuff."

Bobby quickly switched the topic to Christmas dinner and Maeve couldn't give a flying f word about the food she was being served.

As long as it wasn't poisoned... again. So she walked away, absolutely bored.

...

The next morning, when Bobby and Maeve returned home, Athena was sleeping on the couch. "Hey.." She groaned tiredly. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" Bobby asked, kissing her cheek.

"My ex husband, he snores."

"Say what now?" Maeve blinked, turning to their bedroom. "Micheal's in there." Athena pointed. "In our bed?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Why?"

"I didn't have the heart to wake him to ask." Maeve peeked inside the room just as Micheal woke up and walked out.

"Hi."

"Good morning."

"Hi Micheal."

"Hello."

"Yeah, this is awkward." It was. Awkward enough for Maeve to slip into her room, not bothering to ask about the man in the room.

She heard the door close slowly after, it was most likely Micheal leaving.

Later that day, there was a call.

A lady fell down and wasn't breathing. Her son was doing CPR on her, and refused to leave. Bobby told him his part was done and to let them take over, instructing Maeve to take the boy outside.

The younger firefighter took the boy outside and sat down with him. "Is my mom gonna be okay?" He asked softly, tears sill sliding down his face.

"Yes, the paramedics are going to help her."

"... I don't want to lose her."

"I know.. you won't." Maeve nodded, hesitantly patting her back. She wasn't the best at comforting people.

"You're a firefighter...?"

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Maeve..."

"Where are your parents?"

Maeve could have said that Bobby was inside with the others, but she didn't. "Mine are... dead. They died when I was 3."

"Oh, sorry..."

"It's fine."

"How did they die?"

"A fire killed them."

"Oh... do you miss them?"

"..." Maeve wanted to say yes, she really did miss them. But, again... she felt pretty good not being dissected every other week.

"No... I don't."

The others brought the kid's mom out and put her into the ambulance, though the policemen didn't allow him to go with his mom.

"Is it because I hurt her? I didn't mean to, I swear." The boy cried.

"No... you did fine. Your mom's gonna be okay... you saved her life." Maeve smiled, but the boy didn't smile back.

The young firefighter's walkie talkie cracked, saying something about child protective services on their way.

She heard Bobby whistle, calling her over and she gave the boy one last look.

"I'll see you later..."

She walked back to the engine and one of the cops were walking over, the same cop that comforted Maeve after the fire killed her parents.

"Hey, it's you... Good to see you again, M." The police officer fist-bumped the shapeshifter. "Officer Sash, wish I could say the same..."

"Can't say the first time we met was the best." It made Maeve chuckle. Just a little. "Maybe..."

"Hey... it's not your fault, remember?"

"Yeah, I know... that's what everyone says."

"You're a nice kid... Merry Christmas, Johnson."

"You too. Take care of the kid, Sash."

"Don't worry, I will. Took care of you, didn't I?" The younger firefighter didn't realise that her captain and Hen were watching. "Who's Johnson?" Hen asked Bobby.

"I have no idea..."

Later that day, Bobby was driving him and Maeve home after work.

It was quiet, and looked like the right time to bring up what happened earlier. "Hey kid?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know that police officer?"

Maeve remained silent, as if contemplating what to say to him. "Maeve?"

"Huh? Oh.. I- um... I met her when I was 3. After my... parents died, she looked after me until I went to the group home."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah... my other relatives couldn't take me so... I ended up in the system."

"You have another relative?"

"I never met him... my mom put all her time into work."

"Oh okay..."

...

The next shift, there was a call about a lady who was blue.

Literally blue.

"This is not okay!" She shouted after she opened the door.

She really was blue.

They sat her down and the cause of her blue look was the amount of Benzocaine that she took, which caused her to seize.

Maeve was helping to hold her down as everyone else tried to get her back to normal.

"Woah, why is she bleeding chocolate syrup?" Buck asked.

"Because blood thinner boy, Methemoglobinemia causes her blood to appear much darker than normal, then causes her skin to only reflect blue light."

"Hence, the Smurf lady."

They pushed some blue liquid in and the lady went back to normal. Everyone went back to the station and Maeve heard a very familiar voice.

"Athena, what are you doing here?"

Maeve got out the truck, and saw the police sergeant standing on the upper level. "We came to save you, someone said you were ordering takeout for Christmas dinner."

"I did vote for turkey."

"Did she say we?"

Everyone went upstairs, and were shocked to see a large group of people standing there.

"Merry Christmas!"

Everyone was there. Micheal, Harry, May, Christopher, Denny, Karen, you name it. Maeve ran over to May and Harry, hugging them tightly. "Merry Christmas, Maeve." May laughed, hugging the young firefighter back.

Maeve sat down next to Buck and Harry and everyone had this big feast.

Afterwards, Maeve went around talking to everyone. Even the kid whose mom fell, he seemed happy. "I told you." She smiled.

"Thanks... I bet your parents are here too..."

"Yeah, but I'd wish they weren't."

Maeve sat down at the table, staring into nothingness when someone walked up to her. "Hey, you doing okay?"

It was Officer Sash.

"Yeah, yeah, fine..."

She took a seat next to Maeve and handed her a small box. "Got this for you, found it deep in evidence."

The young firefighter took the box and opened it.

It was a watch.

Broken, dusty, and a little burnt.

She took it out of the box and ran a finger over the burnt, cracked glass. "This belonged to a Ron Johnson... your father."

"I know... he wore it everyday... Thanks."

Officer Sash gave her a warm smile and left a minute later. Maeve didn't move, she kept staring at the watch.

"Hey, you okay?" Chimney asked, walking over. Before he saw what Maeve had, the younger firefighter shoved the watch into her pocket.

"Yeah, just lost in thought."

"Okay, well, come on, they're taking pictures."

Everyone huddled together and Bobby picked up Maeve, grinning at her. "You good?"

"Yeah, fine." Maeve smiled back, and giggled as Bobby tickled her sides and kept one hand around Micheal and one hand under Maeve to hold her.

The younger firefighter put her hands on Athena's shoulders, grinning at the camera.

"Alright, 3, 2, 1.."

"Merry Christmas!"