Here it is fellas! The final installment of the Christmas tale! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And I hope to hear from you again on my next Young Justice Fic, which will be up before too long!

Shout out's to: Batgirl13, Mobile Holmes, Queenie13, and Clouddreams! You guys are amazing, and because of this amazingness you're invited to go sledding with the Team and the kids from the orphanage! Bt don't try and sled with Tony, he's already got a sledding partner. ;)

ENJOY!

"Merry Christmas Conner!"

Conner smiled despite himself and returned his girlfriend's exuberant hug. "Merry Christmas M'Gann." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, allowing her to pull him along by the hand as she floated down the hall toward the main room.

Walking into the living room, he couldn't help but widen his smile. Artemis and Kaldur were already here, sitting on the couch and one of the armchairs, Artemis sipping her morning coffee.

The lights of the Christmas tree shone warmly on his friends as he and M'Gann took the other end of the couch, seating themselves to face the tree. The sea star glowed warmly, and the tinsel glittered. It seemed even more beautiful this morning than it had the entire duration of its stay here.

If that was even possible!

M'Gann leaned back against him, pulling one of his hands over her shoulder and clasping it in both of hers.

Footsteps came to his ears, and a tantalizing smell wafted across his nose. Conner craned his neck, turning his head to look toward the kitchen.

Zatanna was coming out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with several good sized coffee cakes on it. Behind her came Roy, dressed in a worn t-shirt and pajama pants. It didn't really surprise Conner that the eighteen year old was here, and in fact he was happy that Roy was.

From what he'd been told, Roy was alone this Christmas. Conner couldn't imagine celebrating this season without these friends that had made the season so special.

It wouldn't be right to make Roy go it alone.

The archer in question walked past them to seat himself in the other armchair, handing one of the two mugs he was carrying to Kaldur as he passed. "Tea right?"

Kaldur nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

Roy sipped out of his own steaming mug, gasping and making a face when the coffee scalded his tongue. He shook his head, setting the mug on the coffee table. "Where's Rob and Wally?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Kid klutz slept in. Robin volunteered to go get him." A shout rang out down the hall and Artemis grinned. "Sounds like he's being creative!"

Robin arrived a few minutes later with Wally in tow, the boy wonder turning cartwheels while the speedster shook his head and looked on.

Wally's hair was wet.

Both boys were dressed in PJ's. And both were grinning from ear to ear.

Wally immediately darted forward to grab a piece of coffee cake off the tray. "Dude, this is still warm!" he exclaimed through a mouthful. "Whoever did these, you're officially my hero!" Zatanna smiled and raised her hand, earning her a grateful smile. "Ok, you're officially my heroine then!"

Artemis gave him a look. "Wally, why's your hair wet?"

Wally cast a mock glare at the snickering Robin. "Rob woke me up by putting me in an ice cold shower!" he answered, earning bouts of laughter from the team. "I swear Rob, if I get pneumonia I'm blaming you!"

Roy smiled. "Hey Robin. Remember that Christmas tradition I was telling you about?"

The boy wonder looked up, interested. "Yeah."

Roy nodded towards the tree. "Pickle ornament's on the tree. First one to find it wins." He grinned, motioning for the teens to go look. "Have at it."

Artemis grinned. Getting up, she trotted over to the tree, running her eyes over it in search of the 'pickle'.

With the exception of Kaldur, who'd seen Roy hide it the night before, the others weren't far behind her. Five minutes later, M'Gann surprised them all by fishing a green glass pickle ornament out of the tree.

"Good job Meg's!" Wally laughed.

"Congrats M'Gann. Catch!" Roy called. He tossed her a bag of M&M's. "Trade you for the pickle?"

M'Gann giggled and nodded, sending the pickle floating his way.

Conner frowned. "Why a pickle?"

Roy shrugged, tucking the pickle ornament away. "I don't know. That's just the tradition."

Robin grabbed up a couple of beanbag chairs, dropping them near the Christmas tree. Grinning up at the others, he laughed. "Well? Are we going to get this show on the road? Or did we all just wrap a bunch of boxes for decoration?"

"Merry Christmas Conner!" Wally exclaimed gleefully, dumping a brightly wrapped gift in the clone's lap.

The team had dragged the couch, armchairs, and all their bean bag chairs around the Christmas tree. Their den mother, Black Canary, was watching from the kitchen as she enjoyed her own breakfast. It was actually kind of a cute sight, she thought, all those kids gathered around the Christmas tree.

If only the rest of the mentors could see this!

Conner carefully tore away the wrapping paper. Having no idea what might be inside, he had no idea how breakable said item might be! The paper fell away, leaving a box set of wrenches in his hands.

He looked up at the speedster in surprise.

Wally shrugged, embarrassed. "I noticed that your wrenches took a beating after that mission in Metropolis went snafu. You've been borrowing the Mountain's tools ever since, and I sort of figured maybe you could use a set of your own."

Conner smiled. "Thank you Wally."

He chewed his lip a second. "I…I have gifts for the team too." Seeing the surprised look on their faces, he carefully set the wrenches to one side and stood, retrieving his own clumsily wrapped packages from under the tree. "It's not much but…"

Their faces softened. "You didn't have to do that Conner…" Robin murmured.

Conner smiled, handing Robin his gift. "I wanted to." He passed the rest their gifts, nervously remaining on his feet once all had been handed out.

The team looked at each other. After a long minute Wally shrugged and grinned, tearing into his festively wrapped package. He was careful to remain at human speed so his friend could enjoy it!

A rectangular object fell out of the torn paper and into his hands.

He cocked his head curiously. The book was in good condition, though it had obviously seen some use. He could see a library sticker on the binding, the word 'discarded' stamped over the barcode.

He flipped it over, his eye scanning the author and title, and burst into laughter.

"Oh my gosh, this is great!" He held it up so the others could see the title, laughing so hard he was almost falling out of his bean bag chair.

The title read 'The Book of Totally Useless Information".

Conner gave a small embarrassed smile. "You really like it?"

Wally gave an ecstatic nod, managing to choke out between his laughter. "Like it? Supe's this is perfect!"

Robin grinned. "I'll go next." The package in his hands was about the size of a baseball. But it couldn't be a baseball, it was the total wrong shape for that, and he didn't much care for baseball anyway.

It was a little heavier than he thought a baseball would be too.

He tore the paper off, revealing a sculpted bird, painted to look like a robin. He smiled, gently tracing his fingers along the wings and arched spine of the bird. It was beautifully done!

He smiled up at the nervous clone.

Conner shifted anxiously. "I wasn't sure what you'd like. You're the one I know the least about…"

Robin grinned. "For knowing the least about me, you did a good job! This is totally going on my dresser at home!"

Conner smiled, turning his attention to M'Gann. The Martian girl took the hint, quickly unwrapping her present. This one was small and flat, about the size of a table coaster, carefully tied shut with a piece of red wrapping twine.

Her face lit up as she pulled a pretty bracelet out of the mess of torn paper, holding it up to see it more clearly.

It was a double strand bracelet, both strands meeting in a bar and ring clasp. The beads were made of red, blue, and white paper, mimicking the colors of her uniform.

The Martian girl leapt up off the couch to throw her arms around her boyfriend.

As he had said, it wasn't much. But it meant the world to her! "Thank you!"

Kaldur went next. His package was larger, heavier than those his teammates had opened. This one was a chunky sort of cube shape, a bit bigger than a dodge ball and a good deal heavier. As Conner seemed to have been very careful to keep a specific end up, Kaldur did the same.

The Atlantian frowned as he lifted a glass jar out of the paper wrappings, confused.

It took him a moment to truly understand what it was inside the jar, and then his jaw dropped.

Inside the jar was a model of Atlantis' capital city, Poseidonis. He wasn't entirely sure what all Conner had used to create this replica, or how Conner even knew what Poseidonis looked like, but the clone was almost dead on!

"How?" Kaldur asked, bewildered. "How did you know what it looked like?"

Conner smiled. "You showed me." At the Atlantian's look of confusion, he elaborated. "We were on stakeout, and I asked you what it was like under the sea. What the people were like, what the cities looked like. You had M'Gann project one of your memories of the city into my mind so I could see, and you said that was your home."

He shuffled nervously, one arm still around M'Gann's waist. "You miss it. I thought maybe this would help."

Kaldur smiled. "My thanks. It will serve the purpose quite well." He said, lifting it up out of his lap so that his curious teammates could get a better look at it.

None of them could survive the cold and pressure of the water at the depth that the Atlantians lived, with the exception of M'Gann and perhaps Conner. And none of the others had ever been in a submarine to Atlantis. This was probably their only chance to see what Poseidonis looked like.

Roy shook his head at the model in the jar. "It's beautiful Kaldur. No wonder you miss it."

Kaldur's smile widened. "I would miss this place to." He answered.

The next to go was Artemis. Like Kaldur, hers was a bulkier package, though the way hers bent she was inclined to think that it was some kind of cloth. She tore the paper away, and felt a thump as the gift fell into her lap. Unfolding it, she was surprised to find a braided rug dangling from her fingers.

She cast a questioning look at Conner.

Conner flushed. "Every time you stay here, you always complain about how cold the stone floors are in the morning when you get out of bed. I thought maybe you could put that on the floor by your bed."

Artemis grinned and nodded. "I'll definitely be doing that!"

Lastly, Conner turned to Zatanna. She was the only one he'd not handed a gift to.

It made sense, she told herself, she was the newest member of the team. Conner probably didn't feel that he knew her well enough. It was ok. She didn't mind… Or at least that's what she kept telling herself.

She knew it was a lie.

But Conner surprised her. He hadn't forgotten. "I couldn't figure out how to wrap yours, so I left it in my room." He explained. "I'll be right back."

He left the room, leaving the bewildered team to wonder what on earth he could possibly have found or made that could've been so difficult to wrap. After all, Robin's bird had hardly been a conventional shape, and yet he'd managed quite well wrapping that one!

Conner returned a few minutes later, carrying a bundle of pale blue cloth in his arms, as if he were afraid to drop it. Quickly crossing the room, he gingerly set it in her lap and stepped back, obviously nervous.

Zatanna eyed the bundle in her lap curiously.

It was small, the main body of it barely the size of a box of tissues. The magician began carefully pulling the bundle open only to stop in surprise.

Had that blanket just…?

She hurriedly flipped the last of the blanket's folds out of the way, revealing a pretty little calico kitten! The kitten blinked owlishly, having just woken up from a nap, before giving a quiet mew.

And just like that, Zatanna's heart melted. She reached out her fingers, gently caressing the tiny creature and burying her fingers in the kittens long fur.

"While I'm more than delighted…" she shook her head, smiling. "Why a kitten?"

Conner bit his lip. "You always seem so lonely. I know this is your first Christmas without your dad and all, so I figured maybe…I don't know, maybe this way you wouldn't feel so alone…" He trailed off uncertainly.

Tears welled in Zatanna's eyes as she picked the kitten up and cuddled it close. Standing, she took the few steps needed to close the distance between herself and Conner and gave him a one armed, though no less heartfelt hug.

Stepping back, she gently nuzzled her face into the kittens soft fur. "You have no idea how much this means to me Conner…!"

The clone gave a small, embarrassed smile. "I think I can guess…"

"Thanks dude!" Wally laughed to Rob, holding up the gift card he'd just unwrapped. It was for one of his favorite restaurants in Central City.

Which just happened to be an all you can eat buffet.

Robin grinned, holding up his own gift from Wally. "Likewise." He laughed. It was a gift card to the Red Robins restaurant in Gotham. "And yes, I did catch the irony, thanks!" His best friend only laughed and slung an arm around his shoulder, telling him he was, "More than welcome!".

The next gag gift came a little later when Wally and Artemis exchanged gifts.

Those who knew where to look could tell at a glance that Wally was literally vibrating with excitement as Artemis unwrapped the small rectangular package.

She rolled her eyes when she saw what it was. "Really?"

Robin leaned in to peer over her shoulder and burst into laughter. "The first season of Baywatch on DVD? Nice!" he laughed, slapping the redhead a hi-five.

Wally grinned, unwrapping his gift from Artemis. "Yeah, I saw that while I was in the store and…" he trailed off for a second as he lifted a pair of ridiculously patterned swimming trunks out of the wrapping paper, then burst into laughter again. "I guess great minds really do think alike, huh Artemis?"

Artemis shrugged. "Yep, and sometime's the weak ones just plain get lucky."

And so the exchange continued, each team member taking it in turn to gather their gifts from beneath the tree and pass them out to their friends.

They grinned at the excited looks on their teammates faces, and they laughed at the multitude of gag gifts that made an appearance, Wally and Robin being the main perpetrators.

Wally gave Kaldur a batch of sea monkeys.

Robin gave Zatanna a stuffed white rabbit in a cape and top hat holding a wand.

Conner received a sock monkey from Wally.

And the two delinquents shared the gag of giving both Roy and Artemis a copy of Robin Hood.

Wolf got up from his place on the floor near the hallway and came closer, curious to see what all the laughter and commotion was. A new scent caught his interest, and he nosed curiously at some of the torn paper discarded on one end of the couch.

The team could never decide who was more surprised.

Wolf, when Zatanna's new kitten jumped out of the wrapping paper and landed squarely on his snout, or the kitten when it jumped at a moving piece of paper and ended up landing in the middle of a dog's face!

The two stared at each other for several long minutes while the team held their breath, wondering how this first encounter would go. Then, ever so slowly, Wolf's ears pricked forward. The kitten gave a soft mew and began purring, rubbing it's head enthusiastically against the bridge of the massive canines nose right between his eyes.

"Hey Zee, what're you going to name him? Or is it a girl?" Artemis asked, smiling as she watched Robin pull out his phone and quickly snap a picture of the kitten sitting on the wolf's nose.

"The woman I got her from said the kitten's a girl." Conner supplied helpfully.

Zatanna smiled, reaching out to stroke the kitten's fur and smiling when she arched her back into her new mistress's touch. "I'm not sure. Anyone got any ideas?"

Robin shrugged. "Well, she's a calico. You could name her Callie."

Wally gave a fake dramatic yawn. "Bo-ring!"

"Maybe you could name her Patches?" M'Gann suggested. "After all those patches of color in her fur?"

"Ooh! You could call her Hocus Pocus! Or Abra Kadabra!" Wally said excitedly.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Why don't you throw Alla Kazam in there while you're at it Wally? Or Bibidi Bobidi Boo?"

Wally grinned, not in the slightest bit bothered by her sarcasm. "Hey, at least I tried!"

"How about Clarice? Or Cocoa?" Artemis suggested, completely ignoring the speedster who proceeded to pull several ridiculous faces at her, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Robin grinned. He was so going to hack the security footage later to get still shots of Wally making those faces! His grin widened as he began planning various pranks he could pull with those photos!

"Perhaps Rune?" Kaldur suggested, watching in amusement as Wally continued to make faces at Artemis.

Zatanna nodded, seeming to really consider the names. She picked the kitten up off of Wolf's nose and held her up to her eye level, murmuring something under her breath.

The kitten meowed and playfully batted at her nose with velvet paws, making the magician giggle.

"You're certainly feisty…" her face suddenly lit up. "What about…Moxie?" She looked to the rest of the team, seemingly looking for their approval. Finding it, she grinned at her kitten and cuddled the fuzzy little feline under her chin. "Your name's Moxie. You like that?"

The kitten mewed again, seemingly in satisfied agreement. She butted her head against Zatanna's cheek, loudly and happily purring away as her mistress responded by stroking her fur.

"Moxie it is!" Robin agreed.

He dangled a string in front of Moxie's face, and the kitten happily made a grab for it with both paws, her little claws fully extended to snag it. He jerked it out of her reach, leaving her to catch empty air, then quickly lowered it to jiggle it in front of her face once more.

"Woo! You're in for it Zee! She's almost got speedster reflexes!" Wally laughed, watching as Moxie managed to snag the string the second time around and immediately pulled it in close to bite it.

Roy shook his head. "If she lives up to her name, Zatanna's going to have her hands full." He murmured to Kaldur.

The Atlantian chuckled. "Actually, I think she would enjoy that!"

Canary quietly stirred a creamer into her coffee.

She never lacked for stories to tell the league after watching the team for a week. Stories that either made the league laugh, or made the mentor of the teenager in question groan and face palm.

She smiled as she watched the team.

They had pretty much finished, and those who had family's to go home to would be leaving soon to be with them. But for now, they were all on the floor playing with Moxie and Wolf, who seemed to have taken a liking to the gutsy little kitten.

Oh no, she never lacked stories to tell! But today she had a few that would take the cake!

She snorted. Trapping Robin under the mistletoe with Zatanna was inspired on Wally's part! He was probably the only one who could've nailed the diminutive ninja. The speedster had simply run up and slapped a Santa Clause hat with mistletoe dangling off of it on the boy wonder's head and shoved Zatanna over, landing her practically in his lap and thus 'under' the mistletoe.

Robin had no choice but to kiss the magician who, Canary had been amused to notice, didn't really seem to mind in the slightest!

Both she and the team had nearly laughed themselves sick when Robin had taken his revenge later, trapping Wally under the mistletoe with Artemis! Wally should've known better than to pull a prank like that on a member of the bat clan.

They always returned the favor!

She smiled. Though to be fair, after his initial surprise at being suckered, and his deer in the headlights reaction at the thought of kissing the intimidating blonde archer had worn off, the speedster had offered up a cheeky grin and stolen his kiss. After which he had beat a hasty retreat in the face of Artemis' wrath!

"Oh! Hello Black Canary! I didn't know you were in here!"

The heroine glanced up from her musings. M'Gann had entered the kitchen and was telekinetically getting into multiple cupboards at once. "Hello M'Gann." She answered. "What are you looking for?"

A black roll of garbage bags floated out of one of the cupboards and into the Martian girls hand. She quickly stripped a bag off the roll and returned it to the cupboards.

"Garbage sacks." She answered. "Robin, Wally, and Artemis need to get going. But they don't want to leave a mess for the rest of us to clean up, so we're going to pick up all the wrapping paper in the living room really quick."

Canary nodded. "I see." She glanced out into the living room curiously. "What about Roy and Kaldur'ahm?"

M'Gann shook her head. "Atlantis doesn't celebrate Christmas, so Kaldur doesn't have anywhere he has to be. He did say he might go home to say hello to Garth and Tula later on tonight though."

"And Roy?" Canary asked.

M'Gann chewed on a corner of her lip. It was no secret that Green Arrow and Black Canary were sort of an item. So how much should she say in front of the blonde heroine?

"Um…I don't know what he's got planned. I think he was going to stay here with us for a while."

Canary shook her head, exasperated. "Men and their stubbornness! They can't put aside their stupid pride even for Christmas!" To the Martian girl she added, "Thank you M'Gann."

M'Gann returned to the living room, and Canary whipped out her phone.

She'd begun punching in Green Arrow's number when she happened to glance into the living room and stopped. She'd known Roy for several years, and it'd been a long time since she'd seen him have as much fun as he'd had this morning with the team.

She closed the phone and put it away again.

She'd let Oliver alone today for Roy's sake, not wanting to spoil the day for the teen with a confrontation with his adopted father and ex-mentor.

But so help her…! If she had to kidnap both men from their beds in the dead of night, chain them together hand and foot, and lock them in a windowless room until they worked out their ridiculous differences she'd do it!

And she was fairly certain that she could count on help from certain members of the league if she found that she needed it!

"Hey, who's is this?"

The team looked over curiously. Wally was halfway under the tree and was now backing out, dragging a massive handful of torn wrapping paper and an unopened gift out after him. Dumping the torn paper in a trash bag, he held up the gift for the others to see.

"Where'd you get that?" Robin asked curiously.

"Sure it's not one of yours?" Artemis added.

Wally shook his head. "No, it's not mine. I was just trying to get some paper that got kicked under the tree, and this was sitting in back behind the trunk."

"An oddly shaped package." Kaldur cocked his head. "There appears to be a label attached to it."

"Huh? Oh." Wally flipped the package over and grabbed a hold of the tag tied around one end of it. "It's for Conner. From…Santa?"

Roy raised his eyebrows. "Santa?"

Wally held up his hands, passing the gift to Conner. "Hey, I'm just reading you what's on the tag! It says 'To Conner. From Santa'!"

Conner looked curiously at the gift in his hands, and not for the first time, he wished he had x-ray vision like Superman! The package was big, probably about the size of a pumpkin, and very oddly shaped. A large bulge on one end, with a smaller bulge on the other end.

"Well, don't just sit there Conner!" Robin laughed, seemingly guessing Conner's train of thought. "Unless you've developed x-ray vision while my back was turned, you're not going to find out what it is just by looking at it!"

"Yeah, open it already!" Wally agreed, laughing.

Conner very carefully tore the paper away, noting with interest that it gave a little under his fingers. A half full garbage bag floated a little closer and he took M'Gann's hint, dropping the wrapping paper in the clone found himself holding a stuffed animal.

A coal black teddy bear.

He flipped the bear over to get a look at the front of it. His eyes widened. The bear had a bright red Superman shield on it's chest!

"Who gave me this?"

The others shook their heads. They hadn't brought it. Or they weren't fessing up to it!

So who did?

Recognize. Artemis. B. Zero. Seven.

"Conner?"

The clone looked up from the strange teddy bear in his hands to see Robin standing in front of him. Behind the boy wonder, Artemis had just left, and Wally was bidding the rest of the team goodbye.

"Yeah?"

A friendly concern crossed Robin's face. "You ok?"

"Yeah. It's just…" Conner bit his lip. How could he verbalize to Robin the feelings this mystery bear dredged up? So he quickly came up with another reason for his unease. "..isn't this supposed to be a kid's toy?"

Robin grinned. "That's what most grownups will tell you in public. But I can almost guarantee every adult has at least one stuffed animal stashed away somewhere! If you don't believe me, I've got one sitting in the middle of my bed back home!" he gave a conspiratorial grin and lowered his voice a little.

"I don't know who brought that for you Conner." He said, and Conner knew it to be true, he could hear Robin's heartbeat and he'd quickly learned that a liars pulse was anything but steady. "But no matter who brought it, I suggest you just accept it in the spirit of the season. Someone was thinking of you and wanted you to know it. People care about you Conner. Think of the bear as a reminder."

Grinning at the clone's startled expression, the ninja back flipped away, landing by the controls for the Zeta beams. Punching in the coordinates for Gotham he waved at the rest of the team and cart wheeled into the Zeta tube. "See ya later guys!"

Recognize. Robin. B. Zero. One.

Wally shook his head. "He always did know how to make an exit!"

"Merry Christmas Bruce!" Dick yelled at the top of his lungs, tackling his mentor from behind and clinging to the much larger man's back.

Bruce smiled, immediately reaching up behind his head, grabbing his ward's jacket and flipping the boy up and over his head onto one of the two couches.

Right next to a dark haired man with a notepad and pen in his hands and dark glasses perched on his nose!

Dick rolled over and off the front of the couch, looking up at the strange man curiously. It took him a minute to place the man's face. "Mr. Kent? What are you doing in Gotham?"

Clark smiled, pulling off his glasses and offering his hand. "Here on business. Lois is busy, and Mr. White wanted someone to interview Mr. Wayne on Wayne industries Christmas charity project with Gotham's Children Hospital. I'll fly back home as soon as I'm done here. How was the Christmas Party with the team?"

Dick grinned, taking Clark's hand and allowing the man to pull him up. Clark Kent was the only one outside of the Bat Clan who knew the identity of the Batman, and thus the Robin.

Well, Clark Kent and Wallace West!

But the fact that Wally knew was a secret, and Robin intended to keep it that way unless he had no other choice! Clark's knowledge of Robin's identity also meant that he could be open with the hero from Kansas!

"It was great!" Dick laughed. "And I hacked the security footage for some clips." He added to Bruce. "You've just got to see some of these! I'd say it's a total mission accomplished!"

"Mission accomplished? What mission?" Clark asked curiously.

"Ah. That would be the mission the team set themselves earlier this December. Would you care for some coffee Mr. Kent?" Alfred answered, entering the room with a tray of coffee mugs and a pot. He refilled Bruce's mug and looked inquiringly at the reporter.

Clark nodded and Alfred was quick to give him a mug and fill it. "And what mission was that?" Clark asked with interest, taking a sip of his coffee.

"To make Superboy's first Christmas a great one!" Dick answered, grinning when Clark nearly choked on his coffee. "You know he didn't even know what Christmas was? All the Geno-morphs ever told him was that it was a holiday! Not the when, what, or why!"

Clark shook his head. He'd gone a little paler. "No… no, I didn't know."

He left not long after. Dick waited until Clark's taxi was out of sight, then he looked up at Bruce. "So…is it just me, or did he not choke nearly as hard on his coffee as he usually would when you bring up Conner?"

Bruce shut the door before giving his ward a small smile.

"It's not just you." He reassured. He shook his head thoughtfully. "I don't know who or what, but something finally got through that thick Kryptonian skull of his. I don't know how far it got, but it's a start." He cocked a questioning eyebrow at his ward. "Outside of missions, you almost never call Conner Superboy…"

Dick's smile faded, replaced by a grim look that was almost alien to the usually cheerful boy.

"He's never been there for Conner." He answered simply. "I don't know about the rest of the team, but if he can't be bothered to even acknowledge his kid than I'm not telling him Conner's secret identity. If he wants to know that, he's going to have to suck it up and find out on his own."

Bruce inclined his head in approval, a wry smile twisting his lips. "Agreed."

"Mom?" Artemis called, entering the apartment.

Paula Crock rolled herself out of the living room and into the small hallway. "Artemis? You're home early! I didn't think you'd be home till after twelve."

Artemis kicked off her boots and shoved back the sleeve of her coat to look at her watch. "It's ten till Mom." She laughed, bending down to hug her mother. "What's a matter? Not finished with your gift wrapping?" she teased.

Paula smiled. "Of course I am! I've been finished since November."

Artemis straightened and shook her head. "No wonder you never go Christmas shopping." She said, shucking her coat and back pack.

Paula shook her head, rolling herself into the living room. "Christmas shopping after Black Friday? It was hard enough when I had my legs, I am not doing it in a wheelchair! Grocery shopping is my limit."

"You don't go grocery shopping, I do." Artemis answered, following her mother.

"Exactly." Paula grinned. She fished down one of the stocking's from their place and handed it to Artemis.

The blonde smiled and settled herself on the end of the couch closest to her mother and reached into the stocking, pulling out a white envelope with her name written on it in pen. She looked at her mother curiously, then opened the envelope. A folded paper slid out into her hand and she opened it, scanning the words printed on the page.

"It's a reservation." Paula explained. "The owner's a friend of mine, and you'll have the rink all to yourselves. Think your friends would be up to a little roller skating in a couple days?"

Artemis smiled and threw her arms around her mother in an exuberant hug. "Thank you Mom!"

Paula hugged her daughter back. "You're welcome."

Barry Allen grinned, kissing the tip of his wife's nose teasingly.

They'd had a great Christmas this year! Wally had gotten back a little before noon, and the Garrick's had arrived not long after that, just in time for lunch.

He felt a little bad for Iris and Joan, having to put up with three speedsters in the house at once! Granted, Jay was retired, but that didn't mean he'd lost his abilities.

And lord knew they had their work cut out for them providing for three speedsters appetites! He and Jay didn't have the sort of needs Wally did when it came to food, but they were all hearty eaters! You couldn't run that much and not eat a little extra!

"I don't know how you and Joan manage." He muttered. Iris gave him a questioning look. "What with feeding and putting up with three speedsters." He clarified.

"Joan's got it a bit easier. When she goes home, she only takes one speedster with her." Iris teased. "I get to keep the other two."

"Hm…Lucky you!" Barry teased. He pulled her out of the way of the kitchen door, making room for Joan to get past.

Iris giggled. "Lucky me." She agreed.

Barry grinned. "I didn't spot any mistletoe today. Are you admitting defeat?"

Iris shook her head. "Never."

He raised his eyebrows and his grin widened. "Well in that case, I look forward to next year. You lost this round."

Iris cocked her head. "Did I?" she looked meaningfully upwards.

Barry frowned and looked up. His eyes widened and darted down to Iris's smug face, before staring back up. Then all he could do was laugh.

Leaning out from the banister above their heads was Wally, a fishing pole in his hands.

Dangling from the end of the fishing pole was probably one of the largest sprigs of mistletoe Barry had ever seen. He didn't even know they cut them that big! And of course, it was dangling right over his and Iris's heads!

"I'm pretty sure that's cheating." He laughed.

"You get to use your powers, I get to use Wally's. Don't be a sore loser." Iris answered smugly. "Now pucker up."

"I'd do it Barry!" Jay Garrick laughed from the living room. "You can't turn a lady down under the mistletoe."

Barry chuckled. "What kind of hero would I be?" he agreed, and proceeded to kiss his wife very thoroughly. "..You win…"

Iris grinned and tightened her arms around his neck. "I told you I would. You owe me ten by the way."

Above them, Wally burst into laughter. "It was a bet?" he asked, reeling in the sprig of mistletoe and stowing the fishing pole back in the closet it had been hidden in before. "This is a story I've got to hear!"

Barry laughed. "Our second year of marriage." He explained as Wally came downstairs. "It was Christmas time and we were arguing the merits of mistletoe. I argued that mistletoe wasn't for speedsters, because it was almost physically impossible to catch us unaware. She disagreed. And I bet her ten bucks that she couldn't catch me under the mistletoe."

"And you two have been going at it ever since!" Joan laughed.

The two nodded.

"Cool!" Wally chuckled.

Iris smiled. "I think I agree with our nephew Barry." Seeing Barry's questioning look, she explained. "I'm gonna miss the challenge! So now that we know who's right, what do you say we make it for the fun now? Just make it a tradition!"

Barry grinned. "Like I said before, I look forward to next year!"

Conner smiled.

He was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching cartoons with M'Gann. Said Martian was currently curled up on the couch close to his side, his new bear resting in between them.

Roy had left earlier in the evening, and Kaldur had left not long after to visit friends in Atlantis. That left just him, M'Gann, Wolf, and Zatanna.

He glanced down at the magician, currently settled in a bean bag chair on the floor playing with Moxie. Wolf was lying at his master's feet, ears pricked forward and eyes following the kitten. He really seemed to like her!

M'Gann sighed happily and cuddled closer. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

Conner smiled again, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple. "The best…!"

Aaaand it's done! Rofl, yet another delivery from Guilt Trips R Us, recipient: Superman. Status: Delivery complete! Lol, this was so much fun to write, even if the plot bunnies just kept coming, and it took a heck of a lot longer than I was expecting it to.

Review please! I'm desperate to hear what you thing of this lil' darlin!

Stay traught!