Fic: 12 Years of Christmas, 12/12: Through The Years We All Will Be Together
Title: 12 Years of Christmas, 12/12
Authors: lady_sarai and zoe_chan
Continuity: Follows Young Justice and Teen Titans and main continuity up to the OYL events of Flash 13, then deviates.
Pairing/Characters: Tim/Cissie.
Rating/Warnings: PGish
Disclaimer: We do not own anything or anyone. We promise.
Summary: Sophie has a crisis on Christmas Eve and enlists her brother and sister to help her Save Christmas.
Note: Tim and Cissie have three children-Sadie, 21, Aiden, 17, and Sophie, 14. Sadie has taken up the mantle of Robin, and Sophie became the next Arrowette. Aiden says he doesn't do the hero thing, but his code name (Merlin) and status as Oracle's Mini-Me argue against this.
Each of the twelve parts of this fic take place on a different year--they *are* in order, but they are not twelve consecutive years. We skipped over a few. Huge thanks to xenokattz for beta-reading! ♥
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11
12. Year 34: Through the Years We All Will be Together
~*~
“So what’re we getting Mom and Dad for Christmas?”
Aiden looked up from The Fellowship of the Ring and frowned. “Wait, what now?”
Sophie rolled her eyes and threw herself across Aiden’s bed, resting her chin in her hands. “Well, it's Christmas Eve. Do we have a gift yet or are we last minute shopping?”
Aiden kicked her side lightly before crossing his legs. He pinched the bridge of his nose and regarded his sister skeptically. “Who is this ‘we’ you speak of?”
“Well, we,” she said, as though the answer were obvious. “You, me and Sadie. Who did you think I was talking about?”
Aiden frowned at her. "Sophie, please tell me you're joking."
She frowned. “No. Why?”
"Sophie! You're fourteen-you get an allowance. You can buy your own presents for Mom and Dad."
“Yeah, well, so? I thought if we went in together we could get something nicer.”
He bent the edge of his page and set his book aside, scowling at her. "You didn't think to mention that to us, oh, a few weeks ago? Maybe give us the money? Sadie and I already have presents for them."
Sophie looked crushed. “Really? What did you get?”
Aiden leaned back against his headboard, covering his eyes. "I don't believe this. You really don't have anything for them?"
“Well, no,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek. “I didn’t know what to do, so I thought I’d ask you two. I can’t believe you did your shopping without even telling me you were going.”
He shook his head. “Sadie did all her shopping before she even came home for break-and I did most everything online this year.” He glanced at his clock, making a face. “Soph, we’re going to Grampa’s in three hours. What’re you going to do?”
“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I guess I can leave now and meet everyone over there. I’m sure someplace is still open.”
Aiden groaned, beating his head against his headboard a few times. “Everything is open for a few more hours-that’s not the problem. Do you really think Mom and Dad are going to let you go out on Christmas Eve? They’re going to let you meet us there?”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug and smiled winningly at Aiden. “Cover for me?”
“Oh no,” he said, holding his hands up. “No way. Every time I cover for you, I wind up in more trouble than you. Not happening.”
“Please?”
“Do you even have any idea what you’re going to get when you go out there?”
“No, that’s why I need you to buy me time,” she said, giving him a pleading look. “Please?”
He stared at her for a long moment and then dropped his head in his hands. “Sometimes I hate you. You know this.”
“Then you’ll help me?” she asked, her face lighting up.
"I don't see how you'll manage," he said grudgingly. "And I'm not even trying to do this on my own-you'd better go work on convincing Sadie to help, too."
“Okay!” She jumped off his bed and dashed out the door. “Sadie,” she called out, barreling toward her sister’s bedroom.
Aiden watched her go with a frown, opening his book again. He got half of a sentence read before slamming it shut and cursing under his breath. He set the book aside and dejectedly followed the force of nature that was his little sister.
“No way,” Sadie said flatly as Aiden made his way into her bedroom. “I can’t, because you have to cover for me. I need to go out tonight. If I have to sit through It’s a Wonderful Life one more time, I’m going to put a batarang through the TV.”
"But Sadie, what am I going to do?" Sophie asked, looking desperate. Aiden leaned against the doorjamb, wondering how long it would take her to wear Sadie down.
“Do your shopping before Christmas Eve, nitwit,” she replied crossly. “I can’t cover for you tonight-I’m going out.”
Aiden groaned and covered his eyes. "Sadie, don't."
Sophie draped herself dramatically across the foot of her sister's bed, flinging her arm over her eyes. "Great. I fail as a daughter!"
“Stop being melodramatic,” Sadie said tartly. “And don’t what, Aiden?”
"Don't go out," he snapped, crossing his arms. "Mom and Dad will blow a fuse."
“I can’t sit through that damned movie again,” she snapped. “I’d rather let Dad yell at me.”
"Dad and Grampa sit through it," Sophie said, sulking. "And they hate it more than you do. What am I going to do? We always buy them something together!"
“No,” Sadie said flatly. “We don’t ‘always’ get them something together. We do sometimes. We did last year, because we wanted to send them out on a date, and we got Grampa to make Dad take the night off so that they could go to the play without Dad dashing off for Kestrel stuff. I asked you in September, and you didn’t give me an answer, so Aiden and I did our own shopping. I assumed you had done yours. And Dad and Grampa are more mature than me-I’m okay with this.”
"Who does their Christmas shopping in September anyway?" Sophie cried, waving an arm over her head. "I don't even remember that!"
Aiden ignored her completely, scowling at Sadie. "If you go out tonight, it'll piss everybody off."
“I do,” Sadie replied, glaring at Sophie. She glanced over at Aiden. “I’m planning on being home by dinner.”
"You both suck and I hate you," Aiden declared. "Cover your own asses. I'm not helping you ruin Christmas."
Sophie blinked up at him and turned to Sadie. "What crawled up his butt?"
Sadie stared at him for a moment. “What the Hell, Aiden?”
"It's Christmas," he snapped. "You can't just disappear for hours and expect anyone in our family to let that go."
She grimaced. “I know, but the idea of watching that movie again makes me want to twitch violently. Please?”
"If you disappear, it'll disappoint Mom," he argued, unwavering. "And if Mom's upset, you know Dad will get mad-remember the year Jason made her so mad she locked herself in one of the guest rooms for half the movie?"
"Oh, I remember that," Sophie said, wincing. "I still want to know what he did."
“No, you don’t,” Sadie and Aiden said together.
“And I don’t think Dad will deck me like he did Jason. He’ll just be disappointed…” Sadie’s voice trailed off, and she blanched slightly. “On second thought, maybe I won’t go out tonight.”
Aiden let himself relax a little. "Thank you," he said dryly.
Sophie continued pouting at the ceiling. "I don't know why you're so worried about saving Christmas," she mumbled, "it's ruined anyway-I don't have anything for Mom and Dad, and Sadie's going to sulk and moan through the movie again. You're the only one who's going to be happy."
Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Well, fine, if you don't want to hear my idea it's no skin off my back."
Sophie turned her head to look at him with a cautiously hopeful expression. “You have an idea?”
He shrugged. "Well-Mom and Dad won't be thrilled, but they won't be angry, either." He raised an eyebrow. "Tell them you screwed up-you have some last minute shopping to do." He glanced at Sadie, giving her a significant look. "And if you volunteer to take her, you might be able to miss most of the movie."
Sadie gave him a measuring look. “You’re pretty smart, you know that?”
"So says my report card."
“Pain,” she said fondly, tossing him a half-smile. She glanced over at her sister. “Looks like our brilliant brother has come up with the perfect out for both of us-you ready to go?”
Sophie stared open-mouthed at Aiden for half a second before grinning hugely and hopping off the bed. "Definitely."
"Uh," Aiden moved to block the door, holding up a finger. "One thing-you are telling Mom and Dad. I'm not taking this bullet for you two."
“Correction,” Sadie said, holding up her own finger. “Sophie is telling Mom and Dad-I can suffer through the movie if I have to. I am not the one who forgot to get them a Christmas present. I’m just the chauffer.”
“No fair!” Sophie cried. “You want to miss the movie!”
“I’ll survive the movie. You will die of despair if I don’t take you out to get Mom and Dad a Christmas present. Plus-it would hurt their feelings if you didn’t have anything for them.”
“I hate you,” Sophie scowled.
“Whatever,” Sadie replied with a shrug. “Just tell them we’re going out.”
“And don’t tell them it’s them you forgot,” Aiden added helpfully.
“I hate you, too.”
~*~
“So how much of the movie do you think we missed?” Sadie asked hopefully, holding the door opened for her sister.
“None,” Dick said, catching the door on the other side and holding it for both of them. He grinned at Sadie. “We all knew how disappointed you would be if we started without you, so we held off until you both got here.”
Sadie gave him a dark look. “Lucky me.”
He reached out to ruffle her hair, and she ducked, grabbing his hand. “Why do you always do that?”
“Because it annoys you,” he said, still grinning. “My prerogative as your favorite uncle.”
“Uncle Roy is my favorite uncle right now.”
“Ouch.”
“Right now?” Roy asked, rounding the corner. “I’m wounded.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Oh, knock it off. You’re both my favorite uncles. Deal.”
“Um, can I come in now?” Sophie asked plaintively. She lifted the bags she carried in each hand. “These are kind of heavy.”
Roy snorted derisively. “Sissy.”
“Oh, you brought presents?” Dick asked mildly. “The rest of us have already opened ours.”
Sadie raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you waited on the movie, I’m pretty damned sure you waited on the presents.”
“Well, we knew how devastated you would be if you missed the movie,” Dick explained with a grin. “And we had to do something to keep the littles occupied.”
“Coloring books not good enough for Lian’s kids?” Sadie asked with continued skepticism.
“Nah,” said Roy. “Just too smart to fall for coloring books as a distraction.”
“Har har,” she replied dryly.
“Bags are still heavy, and it’s cold out here,” Sophie interjected. “And I don’t care if you have opened presents already-you’ll open ‘em again.”
Dick glanced over at Roy. “These two are no fun. Tim,” he called, glancing behind him. “Your kids aren’t any fun. They don’t take the bait.”
“Told you,” came the calm reply from the other room.
“Everyone’s in the rec room,” Dick told the girls grumpily. “We did wait the movie for you, so hurry up and unload the presents so we can start it.”
“Yippee,” Sadie muttered, shedding her coat and hanging it up. “I don’t suppose I can volunteer to watch the little ones?”
“Too late,” Roy said, grinning. “Jason beat you to it.”
“He always beats me to it. Him or Grampa.”
“One would think you’d have given up by now.”
She smirked. “Robins are very resilient.”
Dick rolled his eyes and made a face. “Get to the rec room, shortie.”
Sadie made an inarticulate noise before heading into the other room. She greeted everyone quickly before settling into the seat next to her brother. “Perfect solution, my foot,” she grumbled, glaring at him.
“I never claimed it was perfect. That was you.”
“Hmph.”
Finis.
OMG, it's DONE! Technically, we did finish writing these by Christmas, but Real Life has interfered with the posting. We hope you've enjoyed them as much as we have! :)
Authors: lady_sarai and zoe_chan
Continuity: Follows Young Justice and Teen Titans and main continuity up to the OYL events of Flash 13, then deviates.
Pairing/Characters: Tim/Cissie.
Rating/Warnings: PGish
Disclaimer: We do not own anything or anyone. We promise.
Summary: Sophie has a crisis on Christmas Eve and enlists her brother and sister to help her Save Christmas.
Note: Tim and Cissie have three children-Sadie, 21, Aiden, 17, and Sophie, 14. Sadie has taken up the mantle of Robin, and Sophie became the next Arrowette. Aiden says he doesn't do the hero thing, but his code name (Merlin) and status as Oracle's Mini-Me argue against this.
Each of the twelve parts of this fic take place on a different year--they *are* in order, but they are not twelve consecutive years. We skipped over a few. Huge thanks to xenokattz for beta-reading! ♥
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11
12. Year 34: Through the Years We All Will be Together
~*~
“So what’re we getting Mom and Dad for Christmas?”
Aiden looked up from The Fellowship of the Ring and frowned. “Wait, what now?”
Sophie rolled her eyes and threw herself across Aiden’s bed, resting her chin in her hands. “Well, it's Christmas Eve. Do we have a gift yet or are we last minute shopping?”
Aiden kicked her side lightly before crossing his legs. He pinched the bridge of his nose and regarded his sister skeptically. “Who is this ‘we’ you speak of?”
“Well, we,” she said, as though the answer were obvious. “You, me and Sadie. Who did you think I was talking about?”
Aiden frowned at her. "Sophie, please tell me you're joking."
She frowned. “No. Why?”
"Sophie! You're fourteen-you get an allowance. You can buy your own presents for Mom and Dad."
“Yeah, well, so? I thought if we went in together we could get something nicer.”
He bent the edge of his page and set his book aside, scowling at her. "You didn't think to mention that to us, oh, a few weeks ago? Maybe give us the money? Sadie and I already have presents for them."
Sophie looked crushed. “Really? What did you get?”
Aiden leaned back against his headboard, covering his eyes. "I don't believe this. You really don't have anything for them?"
“Well, no,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek. “I didn’t know what to do, so I thought I’d ask you two. I can’t believe you did your shopping without even telling me you were going.”
He shook his head. “Sadie did all her shopping before she even came home for break-and I did most everything online this year.” He glanced at his clock, making a face. “Soph, we’re going to Grampa’s in three hours. What’re you going to do?”
“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I guess I can leave now and meet everyone over there. I’m sure someplace is still open.”
Aiden groaned, beating his head against his headboard a few times. “Everything is open for a few more hours-that’s not the problem. Do you really think Mom and Dad are going to let you go out on Christmas Eve? They’re going to let you meet us there?”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug and smiled winningly at Aiden. “Cover for me?”
“Oh no,” he said, holding his hands up. “No way. Every time I cover for you, I wind up in more trouble than you. Not happening.”
“Please?”
“Do you even have any idea what you’re going to get when you go out there?”
“No, that’s why I need you to buy me time,” she said, giving him a pleading look. “Please?”
He stared at her for a long moment and then dropped his head in his hands. “Sometimes I hate you. You know this.”
“Then you’ll help me?” she asked, her face lighting up.
"I don't see how you'll manage," he said grudgingly. "And I'm not even trying to do this on my own-you'd better go work on convincing Sadie to help, too."
“Okay!” She jumped off his bed and dashed out the door. “Sadie,” she called out, barreling toward her sister’s bedroom.
Aiden watched her go with a frown, opening his book again. He got half of a sentence read before slamming it shut and cursing under his breath. He set the book aside and dejectedly followed the force of nature that was his little sister.
“No way,” Sadie said flatly as Aiden made his way into her bedroom. “I can’t, because you have to cover for me. I need to go out tonight. If I have to sit through It’s a Wonderful Life one more time, I’m going to put a batarang through the TV.”
"But Sadie, what am I going to do?" Sophie asked, looking desperate. Aiden leaned against the doorjamb, wondering how long it would take her to wear Sadie down.
“Do your shopping before Christmas Eve, nitwit,” she replied crossly. “I can’t cover for you tonight-I’m going out.”
Aiden groaned and covered his eyes. "Sadie, don't."
Sophie draped herself dramatically across the foot of her sister's bed, flinging her arm over her eyes. "Great. I fail as a daughter!"
“Stop being melodramatic,” Sadie said tartly. “And don’t what, Aiden?”
"Don't go out," he snapped, crossing his arms. "Mom and Dad will blow a fuse."
“I can’t sit through that damned movie again,” she snapped. “I’d rather let Dad yell at me.”
"Dad and Grampa sit through it," Sophie said, sulking. "And they hate it more than you do. What am I going to do? We always buy them something together!"
“No,” Sadie said flatly. “We don’t ‘always’ get them something together. We do sometimes. We did last year, because we wanted to send them out on a date, and we got Grampa to make Dad take the night off so that they could go to the play without Dad dashing off for Kestrel stuff. I asked you in September, and you didn’t give me an answer, so Aiden and I did our own shopping. I assumed you had done yours. And Dad and Grampa are more mature than me-I’m okay with this.”
"Who does their Christmas shopping in September anyway?" Sophie cried, waving an arm over her head. "I don't even remember that!"
Aiden ignored her completely, scowling at Sadie. "If you go out tonight, it'll piss everybody off."
“I do,” Sadie replied, glaring at Sophie. She glanced over at Aiden. “I’m planning on being home by dinner.”
"You both suck and I hate you," Aiden declared. "Cover your own asses. I'm not helping you ruin Christmas."
Sophie blinked up at him and turned to Sadie. "What crawled up his butt?"
Sadie stared at him for a moment. “What the Hell, Aiden?”
"It's Christmas," he snapped. "You can't just disappear for hours and expect anyone in our family to let that go."
She grimaced. “I know, but the idea of watching that movie again makes me want to twitch violently. Please?”
"If you disappear, it'll disappoint Mom," he argued, unwavering. "And if Mom's upset, you know Dad will get mad-remember the year Jason made her so mad she locked herself in one of the guest rooms for half the movie?"
"Oh, I remember that," Sophie said, wincing. "I still want to know what he did."
“No, you don’t,” Sadie and Aiden said together.
“And I don’t think Dad will deck me like he did Jason. He’ll just be disappointed…” Sadie’s voice trailed off, and she blanched slightly. “On second thought, maybe I won’t go out tonight.”
Aiden let himself relax a little. "Thank you," he said dryly.
Sophie continued pouting at the ceiling. "I don't know why you're so worried about saving Christmas," she mumbled, "it's ruined anyway-I don't have anything for Mom and Dad, and Sadie's going to sulk and moan through the movie again. You're the only one who's going to be happy."
Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Well, fine, if you don't want to hear my idea it's no skin off my back."
Sophie turned her head to look at him with a cautiously hopeful expression. “You have an idea?”
He shrugged. "Well-Mom and Dad won't be thrilled, but they won't be angry, either." He raised an eyebrow. "Tell them you screwed up-you have some last minute shopping to do." He glanced at Sadie, giving her a significant look. "And if you volunteer to take her, you might be able to miss most of the movie."
Sadie gave him a measuring look. “You’re pretty smart, you know that?”
"So says my report card."
“Pain,” she said fondly, tossing him a half-smile. She glanced over at her sister. “Looks like our brilliant brother has come up with the perfect out for both of us-you ready to go?”
Sophie stared open-mouthed at Aiden for half a second before grinning hugely and hopping off the bed. "Definitely."
"Uh," Aiden moved to block the door, holding up a finger. "One thing-you are telling Mom and Dad. I'm not taking this bullet for you two."
“Correction,” Sadie said, holding up her own finger. “Sophie is telling Mom and Dad-I can suffer through the movie if I have to. I am not the one who forgot to get them a Christmas present. I’m just the chauffer.”
“No fair!” Sophie cried. “You want to miss the movie!”
“I’ll survive the movie. You will die of despair if I don’t take you out to get Mom and Dad a Christmas present. Plus-it would hurt their feelings if you didn’t have anything for them.”
“I hate you,” Sophie scowled.
“Whatever,” Sadie replied with a shrug. “Just tell them we’re going out.”
“And don’t tell them it’s them you forgot,” Aiden added helpfully.
“I hate you, too.”
~*~
“So how much of the movie do you think we missed?” Sadie asked hopefully, holding the door opened for her sister.
“None,” Dick said, catching the door on the other side and holding it for both of them. He grinned at Sadie. “We all knew how disappointed you would be if we started without you, so we held off until you both got here.”
Sadie gave him a dark look. “Lucky me.”
He reached out to ruffle her hair, and she ducked, grabbing his hand. “Why do you always do that?”
“Because it annoys you,” he said, still grinning. “My prerogative as your favorite uncle.”
“Uncle Roy is my favorite uncle right now.”
“Ouch.”
“Right now?” Roy asked, rounding the corner. “I’m wounded.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Oh, knock it off. You’re both my favorite uncles. Deal.”
“Um, can I come in now?” Sophie asked plaintively. She lifted the bags she carried in each hand. “These are kind of heavy.”
Roy snorted derisively. “Sissy.”
“Oh, you brought presents?” Dick asked mildly. “The rest of us have already opened ours.”
Sadie raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you waited on the movie, I’m pretty damned sure you waited on the presents.”
“Well, we knew how devastated you would be if you missed the movie,” Dick explained with a grin. “And we had to do something to keep the littles occupied.”
“Coloring books not good enough for Lian’s kids?” Sadie asked with continued skepticism.
“Nah,” said Roy. “Just too smart to fall for coloring books as a distraction.”
“Har har,” she replied dryly.
“Bags are still heavy, and it’s cold out here,” Sophie interjected. “And I don’t care if you have opened presents already-you’ll open ‘em again.”
Dick glanced over at Roy. “These two are no fun. Tim,” he called, glancing behind him. “Your kids aren’t any fun. They don’t take the bait.”
“Told you,” came the calm reply from the other room.
“Everyone’s in the rec room,” Dick told the girls grumpily. “We did wait the movie for you, so hurry up and unload the presents so we can start it.”
“Yippee,” Sadie muttered, shedding her coat and hanging it up. “I don’t suppose I can volunteer to watch the little ones?”
“Too late,” Roy said, grinning. “Jason beat you to it.”
“He always beats me to it. Him or Grampa.”
“One would think you’d have given up by now.”
She smirked. “Robins are very resilient.”
Dick rolled his eyes and made a face. “Get to the rec room, shortie.”
Sadie made an inarticulate noise before heading into the other room. She greeted everyone quickly before settling into the seat next to her brother. “Perfect solution, my foot,” she grumbled, glaring at him.
“I never claimed it was perfect. That was you.”
“Hmph.”
Finis.
OMG, it's DONE! Technically, we did finish writing these by Christmas, but Real Life has interfered with the posting. We hope you've enjoyed them as much as we have! :)