Mercenary: The Early Years:
First Christmas:
Shorite by Lone Wolf
Narrated by Suzie DeSerpa

	Christmas has always been the nicest time of the year. It's the only 
time when the hate groups and the anti-Disgraced people take time off and 
leave us alone. We are never harassed during that one week the day falls on. 
However, there has always been the problem of being alone. My first few 
Christmas seasons on HQ were always spent alone with Amber.

	And then we met Crash....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Christmas morning had arrived. Outside it came with a flourish, a 
group of Mercenaries celebrating with - I'm still trying to accept this - 
caroling outside of our building. But in our apartment, it arrived with a 
groan and a sigh. Amber and I did NOT look forward to this day.

	We started it off with a small breakfast. It was nothing major - eggs, 
toast, and coffee. We exchanged the gifts we got each other and, afterwards, 
plopped down in front of the television screen to watch TV. We knew we were 
going to be there all day, as we usually were. However, this particular year 
was the worst case scenario for us. Nearly every channel was playing the 
same movie over and over throughout the day. We quickly turned it off once 
we came to this conclusion.

	Not fearing anything flying through it, I went over to the window and 
looked out. Below I could see the caroling Mercenaries - big muscles stuffed 
into small Santa suits. It's very humorous now that I think about it - 
enjoying themselves. Behind them, I saw a pair of nurses having a snowball 
fight (yes, it snowed on HQ). Everyone was happy. I shut my eyes and 
sniffled a little bit.
	"Suzie?" Amber asked. "What's wrong?"
	"Oh, nothing." I turned away from the specticle.
	"I don't think so. That's your 'something's wrong' face." I nodded. 
"You're upset about something. What is it?"
	"This stupid holiday, that's what!" I went to the fridge and pulled a 
bottle of beer out - something I NEVER did. "I hate it."
	Amber came over and took the bottle away before I could open it. 
"Why?"
	"Every year it's the same thing. Just you and me, nobody else. We have 
nobody to celebrate this day with, and it gets more and more depressing as 
the minutes, the hours, and the years go by." I folded my arms across my 
chest and turned away. "I just wish we didn't have to have this day."
	She put the bottle down and gave me a hug. "It'll be over soon. Then 
we can resume our normal, bullshitty lives." She gave me a kiss. "Okay?"

	There was a knock at the door.

	I blinked. "Who could that be?" Amber let go and went to answer it.
	"Merry Christmas ladies," I heard Crash's voice call. "How are ya 
Amber?" She smiled and leaned closer. Crash's face poked in and gave her a 
friendly peck on the cheek. He looked over to me and smiled. "And who do I 
see here?" He pushed the door open with his shoulder, balancing a number of 
packages in his hands and arms, and stepped in. "It's the lovely Suzie! 
But...she's not in her christmas best."
	"Ah...I don't have a Christmas best."
	He grinned. "I'm only joking. How are you doing?"
	"She's a bit depressed over the whole holiday season," Amber responded.
	"No," I retorted. "Things just got a little better."
	"Well, they sure as heck are." He put the four packages he carried 
down. "The boys at the Wrecking Crew chipped in and bought you two gifts. I 
did the same on my own." He handed two big packages to Amber. "Merry 
Christmas." She smiled and thanked him with a hug. Then he turned to me. 
First, he handed me a big package - the one from the rest of his unit. I 
opened that up and, upon seeing it was some actual literature that I was 
into, grew a smile. "And from me..." He handed a second package, much 
smaller than the one his unit gave.
	"Thank you Crash." I gave him a kiss on his cheek and started to open 
it.

	There was another knock at the door. Marcus was standing in the 
doorway looking in. "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.
	"Nah," Crash said. "Come in chief." The huge lion came in, his hands 
behind his back. "What brings you around here, boss?"
	"I heard you were coming here to deliver gifts to these lovely ladies. 
So I decided to bring my gifts personally." He pulled a large bundle of 
roses from behind his back. "This is for the two of you."
	Amber smiled. "Thank you sir!" She took them and took a sniff. 
"They're so fragrant!" She put them in an empty vase and filled it with 
water.
	"Thank you, sir," I said softly.
	He chuckled. "It's not over yet." He pulled two, small packaged from 
his coat. "This is for you, Suzie." He handed me one of the packages. I 
nodded my thank you and opened it. Inside was a beautiful gold necklace. My 
eyes widened as I gazed at it.
	"Oh...oh my!" I went over and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much!"
	He chuckled and returned the hug. "Anything for a friend of the unit."

	The two spent the entire day with us. It was the best Christmas I had 
experienced in a long while. Pretty soon, they had to go back to their 
bunkers. It was also then it hit me. "I still have to open your gift," I 
told Crash.
	He smiled. "Of course. Go ahead." I took his package, which I had put 
on the table, and opened it up. Inside was half of a tiny gold angel on a 
simple silver chain. "This is so beautiful," I said, holding it up to the 
light to inspect it. "But where's the other half?" Crash cleared his throat. 
I turned to look at him. Hanging around his neck was the other half. My jaw 
dropped.
	"Forever, Suzie," he said. "That's how long you've got my friendship." 
I looked at the tiny angel he gave me. My eyes started to flood. I clamped 
them shut and rushed into his arms. "Thank you Crash."
	He chuckled. "Merry Christmas, my Suzie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Marcus has been gone for five years now. But Crash is still here. And 
so is the Jade Wolf. Amber and I always go to their big annual Christmas 
party down at the Pub. There we see Crash and Stephanie, Mohammed and Roxy, 
Axen, Byrder, and Harris, all enjoying themselves. It's always fun, and for 
that period in time, we forget our problems. It always brings back very fond 
memories of that first Christmas with Crash.

	That angel half still sits in my jewlery box. I don't think I'll ever 
let it go.

End
Crash, Suzie, Marcus, and the rest of the Mercenary universe are © Lone Wolf 
and <([ Lone Wolf Studios ])>