Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, much to my chagrin. But then, if I did, the show would've been called The Butler and the Blonde.

A/N: Take two. For some reason, the first document was all wonky. Amidst my other WIPs, this quick oneshot emerged after kate811 and I were discussing the abomination that is the ending of "The Hanukkah Story." So here is the missing Niles and CC reunion scene.

Small Moments

Fran clasped her hands to her chest as Maxwell and Gracie closed the door behind them. "Oh, thank goodness!" she gasped, dragging her husband and daughter to her.

Niles, hearing the front door, hurried forward into the foyer. In his eagerness, he mistook Jocelyn for Miss Babcock, and his stomach righted itself mid-swoop. "Where is she?" he asked, glancing around.

"Where's who?" Maxwell asked infuriatingly.

"She's parking the car," Grace supplied, correctly interpreting Niles's original question and reading the incredulous look on his face. "She didn't trust Daddy to drive home."

And rightly so, Niles longed to reply, but he'd already turned and headed towards the kitchen, figuring that CC would enter through the side kitchen door.

This had been one of the most frightening and confusing days of his life. Fran hadn't taken much notice of his "three people I love" blunder, but he had. Just months ago it would have been preposterous to think that Niles would ever admit to having a relationship with Babcock, much less a confusing one. But the fear, the very real fear, that he might never see her again brought many unexplored and oft-suppressed emotions right to the surface. It was all very confusing.

Then again, Niles thought as he entered the kitchen and saw the blonde taking off her hat and shaking her hair out, maybe it wasn't so confusing after all.

"You're here," he said stupidly, walking purposefully towards her. She opened her mouth to respond, snappishly so if the look on her face was any indication, but he slid his hands into her hair and pulled her lips to his and cut her off.

As if the day weren't overwhelming enough, the shock of Niles's greeting caused CC to drop her hand and stand there as he kissed her. It was a kiss more of relief than of passion, though she thought she detected affection lingering somewhere near the soft way his hands held her in place. Whatever it was, it ended abruptly.

He stood close to her still, his hands in her hair, and looked her over. For all the world as though they often greeted each other like this, Niles appeared unabashed. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly as though keeping a secret between them.

She nodded, for she couldn't think of anything else to say. In truth, she was shaken and just as confused as she'd been in the car when she'd nearly declared her desire for the butler in front of his boss and the little one.

"Are you sure?" he inquired, holding the back of his hand up to her forehead.

This broke the spell. CC wrinkled her nose and shoved his hand away. "I don't have a fever. I'm fine," she snapped.

"Well," Niles said, reaching down and grabbing her hat. "Consider this karma for trying to weasel another romantic weekend out of a married man."

CC nearly wept from gratitude at the return to familiar, comfortable ground after such a chaotic day. "Coming from the resident weasel, I'd think you'd be a little more accurate with that term. I wasn't trying to do anything. This was a business trip and now a failed one since we didn't even make it there."

"Mmhmm," Niles mumbled in response as he handed her hat over. "Glad you're back," he tossed over as she walked away and though he couldn't see her face, something suggested to him that she was smiling.

Hours later, the manse had settled into a peaceful calm with the Fine family members holed up in guest rooms and the Sheffields all asleep in their beds. Everyone had insisted that CC stay the night and although she'd largely suspected everyone had only been so insistent because Fran had suggested it first, she had shared a nice moment with the little one before everyone went to sleep.

"I'm sorry I puked on you, Miss Babcock," Grace said, embarrassment clear on her face.

"It's all right, kid. I should've moved out of the splash zone anyway," CC replied reasonably.

Grace smiled, looking more like Sara every day. "I'm glad you were there with us today."

CC raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You are?"

Grace nodded earnestly. "You kept a level head when I know my dad wanted to freak out. I was close to panicking, too. But you helped me." Grace bit her lip, looking like a small child again for a moment. "I felt safe with you there."

Before CC could think of a response (which she never would have been able to even if Grace had stood in front of her silent for another hour), the youngest Sheffield lunged forward and wrapped CC in a tight hug, her skinny arms wrapped around her waist and her head nestled in her chest. Against her will, CC smiled and returned the hug, if awkwardly.

"G'night, Miss Babcock," Grace had said before hurrying off.

"Goodnight, Grace," CC replied quietly. It had been a very odd day.

CC sat in the living room, cast into shadows by the flickering remnants of the fire. Whatever her insistence to anyone who would listen that she was fine, CC suspected that she was not. A near-death experience seemed too overdramatic to call it, but perhaps a near-near-death experience was more accurate. Whatever it was, before the red-and-blue lights had erupted around them, CC had known true fear that she was going to freeze to death in a car with Maxwell Sheffield.

And whatever her insistence for the past seven years that Maxwell was the man for her, she now knew that wasn't true. This was perhaps the most jarring thing that had happened that day.

Her nerves were shot, and her body ached with exhaustion, but sleep had already eluded her. She curled her feet underneath her on the couch and watched as the log in the fireplace finally split and spit out embers.

"Can't sleep?" Niles asked from behind her, setting down two mugs on the side table. She didn't jump; she was no longer surprised when Niles showed up at random.

"Obviously," CC replied. She watched as Niles came around the side table, curious about where he'd sit. Her heart sped up, little betrayer of her aloof facade, when he sat between her and the arm of the couch, despite the wealth of space on the other side.

"I knew you weren't ok," he said, reaching over for the mugs and placing them on the coffee table instead.

CC rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic, Niles. I'm fine. I'm never getting in a car that Maxwell's driving again, but I'm fine."

"I'm glad you're safe," he said, ignoring her response. He handed her one of the mugs, his fingers brushing against her hand as she took it from him. Her hands felt cold, so Niles reached behind her and draped the blanket across her legs before grabbing his own mug.

"Thanks," CC muttered, awkward at his ministrations. However much she enjoyed these quiet moments when Niles's solicitousness extended to her and not just the Sheffields, they always left her feeling uncertain. She lifted the mug to her nose and sniffed. "Hot chocolate?"

"Do you need something stronger?" Niles asked, scooting forward as though to head to the wetbar.

"No need," CC replied, slipping her hand into the pocket of her robe and unearthing her silver flask. She unscrewed the cap expertly with one hand and tipped the whiskey into the mug.

"Lush," Niles chuckled.

"I don't see you complaining," she pointed out as she reached over and poured the amber liquor into his mug as well.

"I never will," Niles said as he held his mug up and they said a silent cheers. She drank from her mug, the sweet hot chocolate mingling deliciously with the burn of the whiskey.

They settled into silence, Niles reclining against the back of the couch. Their arms touched but neither moved.

"I was worried about you," he admitted, staring at the fire. But then he turned to look her in the eyes and as much as she wanted to look away, there was so much fondness in his face that she found it magnetic.

Niles stared into her eyes, her beauty magnified and haunting in the shimmering light from the dying fire, and he knew his feelings were far too evident on his face. But CC's face was a kaleidoscope, showcasing surprise and interest and longing for those who knew what to look for, and finally it was Niles who cleared his throat and looked away. "I mean, I was worried about Mr. Sheffield and Miss Grace, of course. Worried you'd revert to your old ways and eat them if you got too hungry."

"Yeah, you have to watch out for that risk," CC replied, rolling her eyes and taking a large sip of her spiked hot chocolate.

"I can put another log on the fire," Niles offered, making to stand up again. This was dangerous, he'd realized. He'd opened some sort of door by kissing her earlier and though neither of them talked about it, it sat between them in their shared history, swollen with small moments that had come to mean so much.

"No, it's fine," CC said, placing her hand in the crook of his arm and holding him in place. His robe felt soft beneath her hand and she was struck by a sudden desire to wrap herself in it, to lean against him, to demand that he kiss her again.

He knew her thoughts in the same way he knew her and understood her clearly but it was also one of those rare moments that her thoughts mimicked his own. How easy, how lovely it would be to pull her against him and kiss her with everything he had and with no one awake to interrupt them as had happened frustratingly enough before.

But then he saw her eyes, heavy with fatigue, and his compulsion to take care of her somehow usurped his desire to feel her against him. There would be time enough for that soon, he now realized.

With an enigmatic smile, he took their mugs and set them on the coffee table. Then he leaned against the couch and gently led her to lay against his chest.

"I'm not tired," she protested weakly, even as she shifted to get more comfortable in the nook of his collarbone.

"Mmhmm." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and settled down comfortably, wrapping a protective arm around her and grinning when he felt her breath slow into deep, even inhales.

With no intention of moving, Niles closed his eyes and thought to himself that it wasn't such a terrible day, after all.