[Fic] The Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, and Booster Gold and his sister were curled up under the blankets on a sofa in Metropolis, drinking hot cocoa and watching questionably sappy Christmas movies.
Booster remembered the Christmases of his childhood, back in Gotham, back in the future. They weren’t great memories. Their mom has done her best, but there has never been enough money, and he remembered years of secondhand gifts, of the ragged table-top tree, of the heat getting turned off on them, of seeing the families on the holovids with their perfect greeting card Christmases and being miserably jealous of them. It wasn’t something he’d ever asked Michelle about, but he suspected her memories were pretty much the same.
Which was why he’d gone out of his way to make sure her first Christmas in the past was a good one. Earlier in the day he’d her taken out in Metropolis for an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing. It seemed like the whole city was decorated for Christmas: every building strung with lights and greenery, wreaths on all the streetlamps, store windows filled with Santa Clauses and reindeer and gingerbread castles, the sidewalks dusted with a light coating of white snow. And just as they were leaving the little café off Planet Square where he took her to lunch, the snow had started up again, delicate flakes swirling around them as they walked, landing and melting on their hair and shoulders.
It had rarely snowed in Gotham, and when it did, it quickly transformed to an ugly grey slush. Michelle was delighted by the snow in Metropolis, and had dragged him laughing down the street, spinning in place and sticking her tongue out to catch snowflakes at the street corners. It was hard not to get caught in her enthusiasm, and soon they were doing their determined best to have a snowball fight.
When they were finally exhausted and soaked through, Booster and Michelle had gone back to the apartment. Booster’s tree was still plastic, but at least it was big, dominating a whole corner of the living room, and Michelle was an inspired decorator when given a box of store-bought ornaments, popcorn strings, and tinsel. Booster wasn’t allowed to touch the tree, but he felt that humming Christmas carols in her ear was still helping.
And now they were in the living room, lit only by the lights on the tree and the glow of the television, a thick blanket wrapped around them both. He didn’t recognize the movie that was playing, but it had small children and a man in a Santa suit and a lot of snow, so he figured it was appropriate.
Tomorrow there would be presents, and maybe a ham if he didn’t accidentally set it on fire. All in all, it was just about the perfect Christmas.
There was only one thing missing.
He knew Michelle was worried about him, how he was quiet and distracted even when he was really trying to be cheerful. But he couldn’t tell her the truth, which is that as wonderful as it is to have his sister back, as much as he loves the thought of spending the holiday with her, he can’t keep himself from thinking of Ted.
That first year after he left his own time, when he was young and homesick, and Ted insisted, practically demanded, that Booster come to his apartment to eat Christmas pizza and watch the football game. JLI Christmas parties where they had gotten plastered on eggnog and serenaded the rest of the League with barely intelligible carols. That one year they were in space fighting a giant seaweed monster and didn’t even know they’d missed the holiday until it was January, so they just celebrated then. The Christmas with the Supperbuddies that they almost killed Ralph with tinsel and Mary made them kiss under the mistletoe.
Every year at the super-parties there had been a moment of silence for the heroes who hadn’t lived to another Christmas, and Booster had held his tongue just as long as required and gone back to drinking and trying to trick people into kissing Batman.
He’d never thought he’d have to do it for Ted. But even when he was trying to lose himself in the season, he couldn’t stop thinking of Ted, of all those Christmases they’d had together. Of all the Christmases they wouldn’t have.
He couldn’t tell Michelle that. So he pushed it out of his mind, and curled closer to her on the sofa, head resting on her soft shoulder, her fingers reassuringly twined in his, and as the blinking lights turned her face gold and red and blue, he let himself fall into sleep.
It was past midnight when Booster was woken by a great clattering thump. It had come from the roof, and in his half-asleep state, Booster thought at first someone was trying to break into the apartment. He flailed for a moment in a tangle of blankets and his sister’s limbs, as octopus-like as he remembered, before crash-landing on the unforgiving wooden floor.
He got the window just in time to see something take off from his roof, too fast for him to track; all he caught were flashes of color - brown, white, red - and he could have sworn he heard the silvery tinkle of bells.
He was just chalking it up to aliens, or maybe Lex Luthor, when he heard another, much easier to place sound. This one was coming from the other side of his door, and though muffled, it was unmistakably the sound of someone swearing continuously under their breath.
Booster yanked the front door open, expecting to see - well, he wasn’t sure what he expected to see.
But it wasn’t Ted Kord, dressed in his Beetle suit and sitting on the doormat, trying to escape from the huge red bow that was tied around him.
“Merry Christmas?” Ted said hesitantly, still squirming and trying to loosen the ribbon pinning his arms behind his back. “Can you please untie me?”
“Ted?” Booster asked stupidly, too shocked to move.
“Well, yes,” Ted said. “Not that I blame you for being surprised - I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing here, either.”
Booster suddenly noticed that there was a tag dangling against Ted’s stomach, right under the bow; as if in a dream, he reached out and twisted it, lifting it a little so he could read what it said.
Merry Christmas, Booster Gold
From Santa Claus
Booster’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he dropped to his knees, throwing his arms around Ted in a fierce hug and then, when that wasn’t anything close to enough, drawing him into a deep, desperate kiss.
When he finally had to pull away from lack of air, Ted looked rather dazed.
“So, I guess there’s some stuff you need to tell me,” he said, breaking into a wide grin.
“Guess so,” Booster replied, grinning back just as widely. He still had his arms wrapped around Ted, but he leaned back and shouted through the still-open front door.
“Hey Shel, get out here! You won’t believe who showed up for Christmas!”
BONUS: Booster Gold's letter to Santa Claus this year.
Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Newtonmas/25th of December!
Booster remembered the Christmases of his childhood, back in Gotham, back in the future. They weren’t great memories. Their mom has done her best, but there has never been enough money, and he remembered years of secondhand gifts, of the ragged table-top tree, of the heat getting turned off on them, of seeing the families on the holovids with their perfect greeting card Christmases and being miserably jealous of them. It wasn’t something he’d ever asked Michelle about, but he suspected her memories were pretty much the same.
Which was why he’d gone out of his way to make sure her first Christmas in the past was a good one. Earlier in the day he’d her taken out in Metropolis for an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing. It seemed like the whole city was decorated for Christmas: every building strung with lights and greenery, wreaths on all the streetlamps, store windows filled with Santa Clauses and reindeer and gingerbread castles, the sidewalks dusted with a light coating of white snow. And just as they were leaving the little café off Planet Square where he took her to lunch, the snow had started up again, delicate flakes swirling around them as they walked, landing and melting on their hair and shoulders.
It had rarely snowed in Gotham, and when it did, it quickly transformed to an ugly grey slush. Michelle was delighted by the snow in Metropolis, and had dragged him laughing down the street, spinning in place and sticking her tongue out to catch snowflakes at the street corners. It was hard not to get caught in her enthusiasm, and soon they were doing their determined best to have a snowball fight.
When they were finally exhausted and soaked through, Booster and Michelle had gone back to the apartment. Booster’s tree was still plastic, but at least it was big, dominating a whole corner of the living room, and Michelle was an inspired decorator when given a box of store-bought ornaments, popcorn strings, and tinsel. Booster wasn’t allowed to touch the tree, but he felt that humming Christmas carols in her ear was still helping.
And now they were in the living room, lit only by the lights on the tree and the glow of the television, a thick blanket wrapped around them both. He didn’t recognize the movie that was playing, but it had small children and a man in a Santa suit and a lot of snow, so he figured it was appropriate.
Tomorrow there would be presents, and maybe a ham if he didn’t accidentally set it on fire. All in all, it was just about the perfect Christmas.
There was only one thing missing.
He knew Michelle was worried about him, how he was quiet and distracted even when he was really trying to be cheerful. But he couldn’t tell her the truth, which is that as wonderful as it is to have his sister back, as much as he loves the thought of spending the holiday with her, he can’t keep himself from thinking of Ted.
That first year after he left his own time, when he was young and homesick, and Ted insisted, practically demanded, that Booster come to his apartment to eat Christmas pizza and watch the football game. JLI Christmas parties where they had gotten plastered on eggnog and serenaded the rest of the League with barely intelligible carols. That one year they were in space fighting a giant seaweed monster and didn’t even know they’d missed the holiday until it was January, so they just celebrated then. The Christmas with the Supperbuddies that they almost killed Ralph with tinsel and Mary made them kiss under the mistletoe.
Every year at the super-parties there had been a moment of silence for the heroes who hadn’t lived to another Christmas, and Booster had held his tongue just as long as required and gone back to drinking and trying to trick people into kissing Batman.
He’d never thought he’d have to do it for Ted. But even when he was trying to lose himself in the season, he couldn’t stop thinking of Ted, of all those Christmases they’d had together. Of all the Christmases they wouldn’t have.
He couldn’t tell Michelle that. So he pushed it out of his mind, and curled closer to her on the sofa, head resting on her soft shoulder, her fingers reassuringly twined in his, and as the blinking lights turned her face gold and red and blue, he let himself fall into sleep.
It was past midnight when Booster was woken by a great clattering thump. It had come from the roof, and in his half-asleep state, Booster thought at first someone was trying to break into the apartment. He flailed for a moment in a tangle of blankets and his sister’s limbs, as octopus-like as he remembered, before crash-landing on the unforgiving wooden floor.
He got the window just in time to see something take off from his roof, too fast for him to track; all he caught were flashes of color - brown, white, red - and he could have sworn he heard the silvery tinkle of bells.
He was just chalking it up to aliens, or maybe Lex Luthor, when he heard another, much easier to place sound. This one was coming from the other side of his door, and though muffled, it was unmistakably the sound of someone swearing continuously under their breath.
Booster yanked the front door open, expecting to see - well, he wasn’t sure what he expected to see.
But it wasn’t Ted Kord, dressed in his Beetle suit and sitting on the doormat, trying to escape from the huge red bow that was tied around him.
“Merry Christmas?” Ted said hesitantly, still squirming and trying to loosen the ribbon pinning his arms behind his back. “Can you please untie me?”
“Ted?” Booster asked stupidly, too shocked to move.
“Well, yes,” Ted said. “Not that I blame you for being surprised - I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing here, either.”
Booster suddenly noticed that there was a tag dangling against Ted’s stomach, right under the bow; as if in a dream, he reached out and twisted it, lifting it a little so he could read what it said.
Merry Christmas, Booster Gold
From Santa Claus
Booster’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he dropped to his knees, throwing his arms around Ted in a fierce hug and then, when that wasn’t anything close to enough, drawing him into a deep, desperate kiss.
When he finally had to pull away from lack of air, Ted looked rather dazed.
“So, I guess there’s some stuff you need to tell me,” he said, breaking into a wide grin.
“Guess so,” Booster replied, grinning back just as widely. He still had his arms wrapped around Ted, but he leaned back and shouted through the still-open front door.
“Hey Shel, get out here! You won’t believe who showed up for Christmas!”
BONUS: Booster Gold's letter to Santa Claus this year.
Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Newtonmas/25th of December!