Young Justice: Christmas

Cold December Night

Cassie chewed her lip, crushing one of the pokey evergreen branches in her fist. She'd never been on the team when Connor and Megan were dating, but she knew she liked the two of them together much more than she ever liked M'gann with La'gaan.

Megan had a nice pink blush, and Cassie wished she could control her blush like that. Whenever she was around Tim, she could never control the heat she felt in her cheeks.

Connor was slowly making his way over to M'gann, and Cassie clutched the branch harder. It was working!

"So why are you still here?" Connor asked M'gann.

The Martian clasped her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on the heels of her booted feet. "I don't know. The memories, I guess." She mumbled.

"Yeah, now think about all the memories you've had together, geniuses!" Gar hissed. Cassie clamped his beak shut.

The two of them were awkwardly quiet for the longest time, and Cassie's breath caught in her throat. Would it work? Or would they never be what they used to?

Gar gasped, and Cassie saw it. As they watched the tree, Connor slowly took M'gann's hand in his, and M'gann shifted from mittens to gloves to wrap their fingers together. Cassie knew she could have just held Connor's hand while wearing mittens, but this was much more intimate. She tried very hard to keep from squealing like a fangirl.

"Oh what the heck." Reaching up, Gar pecked something off a nearby branch and took off, carrying whatever it was in his beak.

Cassie reached for him hopelessly. "Gar!"

The green budgie flew over his blood sister and her almost-boyfriend-again, dropping whatever it was on their heads.

Mistletoe.

Cassie held it in as Connor spotted what it was that had landed in M'gann's hair.

"Mistletoe." He whispered, not letting go of M'gann's hand.

Flying back, Gar landed on Cassie's shoulder. Both of them watched with bated breath.

Slowly, slowly, Connor took a step closer. Then M'gann.

"Merry Christmas, M'gann." Connor mumbled shyly.

M'gann smiled. "Merry Christmas, Connor."

Connor leaned in, and M'gann stood on her tiptoes. And then their lips met.

When Connor ended the kiss, both of them looked as red as Santa's suit. "I know it's late, but do you want to get some hot chocolate or something?"

"Sure." M'gann wouldn't stop smiling at him. "I'd like that a lot."

"What do you think, Gar?" Cassie walked out from behind the tree, watching Connor and M'gann head back towards the town central. She stood proudly in the snow with her hands on her hips and a budgie on her shoulders. "Did it work?"

Gar tweeted happily. "Oh yeah, it worked." Cassie could hear the proud smile in his voice.

Then jealousy took over as she looked at Connor and M'gann's retreating forms again. She hadn't said anything when Barbra asked, but what she really wanted to be able to do this Christmas was go on a really nice date with Tim. One that wouldn't be interrupted by a call from Batman or the team.

"Race you back to the zeta-tubes!" Gar took off, leaving Cassie bewildered for a moment.

Thinking quickly, Cassie knew it was quite normal for a bird to be spotted flying overhead, but not for a fourteen-year-old girl. She just hope the speed of Mercury would aid her as she ran.

She leaped over trash cans and other obstacles, dodged old grannies and little kids, making a break for the zeta-tubes, and always keeping budgie-Gar within sight.

"Hey, Cass!"

Skidding to a stop in the accumulating snow, Cassie nearly knocked over a Christmas couple when she heard the familiar voice.

"Hey." Tim stepped out of the shadows, hands shoved into the pockets of his red winter coat. Cassie was struck by how good he looked in that color, and hoped in that second that he never stopped wearing red.

"H-hey, Tim." Cassie tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Yup, there was that mad blush, coating her cheeks beyond her control.

"Babs said you were out here tonight," Tim walked over to his girlfriend, "And I was wondering- I know it's last second, but -do you want to do something? Rick's told me about a ton of places to go in Happy Harbor."

Cassie smiled. "Thank you Barbra." She thought, taking Tim's outstretched hand.

"I'd love that."

Patiently, which was a first for the blonde teen, Cassie followed Tim through the twists and turns in the Happy Harbor streets. She could easily see why the original six team members loved this place so much; it may be small, but Happy Harbor was amazing and filled with fun places to go!

Finally, Tim stopped by the lake, a dammed-off area about a mile from the ocean. In the winter, the lake froze over and the local ice-skating business took over.

"Two please, size eight and seven." Tim told the cashier, who promptly handed over two pairs of rental skates.

Cassie squeezed Tim's hand again. "Tim, I can't skate." Her voice escalated in pitch with nervousness.

"Don't worry, Tim assured her calmly. He squeezed her hand and pulled her down to sit next to him on a bench. "I'll catch you."

Tim showed Cassie the right way to lace up her skates, and then he helped her to the edge of the lake. Looking at all the other experienced skaters that made Cassie feel self-conscious.

Tim caught her uneasiness. "Hey," he whispered in her ear, "If you're still scared, you can fly a centimeter up in the air and pretend. I won't mind."

Cassie grinned. "Thanks Boy Wonder, but if you can do it, so can I!"

Tim smiled at her proudly, and the two of them headed out onto the ice.