All I Want For Christmas

Author: Mac Xavier <mac_xavier@yahoo.com>

NOTE: This Fic has no effect on any plots, planned or otherwise, by other authors. All characters have been returned with no harm done.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ETC!

Disclaimer: MGM, CBS, Halmark and some fella named John Watson own the Magnificent 7, and by extension one Mr. Vin Tanner. Rhyser, Panzer/Davis own Highlander style Immortality. Joss Whedon owns Tara, the big meany. Aaron Spelling and the WB own Paige Mathews. Jacks is Mine although her DNA belongs to Disney and Mr. Spelling. Summary: The girls celebrate the Solstice while Vin has a drink with an old friend.

A.N.: Thanks to my lovely girlfriend Evil Cordy. It was her idea to play with Babble Fish.

Rated: R-ish


December 20, 1997

"Usted es mi mundo, mi vida, mi amor. Usted es el sol, la luna, y las estrellas a mí,(1)" Vin whispered to the woman curled in his arms. Jacks murmured sleepily as she snuggled against his chest. He chuckled softly, grateful that his lover wasn't awake to hear his overly romantic comment.

She'd tease him to death. If only to see him blush. Which was one of the things she claimed to love about him, after living more than a century he could still blush at what she called the least little thing. Of course they had things to do so they'd be ready for Christmas. Which meant waking Jacks up. Which meant that she wouldn't be plastered against him as if she were trying to crawl into his skin. Hmmm. Hard choice there, get up and get things done, or stay in bed with the love of his Immortal life.

They had to get up, if Paige wasn't in their lives then maybe they could have stayed in bed ... But she was, which was a good thing because Jacks needed some connection to her human family, and Jacks had made plans to include Tara since she'd taken the young Wicca under her wing.

A small smile curved Vin's lips. At least waking Jacks up was going to be fun. He rolled Jacks to the side so she was laying on her back, then ducked under the covers. Jacks woke up somewhere between foreplay and orgasm. Then things got interesting.

They were still working out the ratio of Fey stamina to Immortal recovery time after all.


Faith shook her head when she saw Jacks, in adult form even to the point of being dressed in what the Slayer mentally called Elven Biker Chic. She also had the look of a woman who'd just gotten well laid. Faith hated when Jacks had that look, mostly because Faith herself didn't have it. "What's up, pixie?"

"I've come to kidnap Tara for a night of Wiccan debauchery," Jacks said innocently.

Faith almost choked on the thought but she remembered who she was talking to. Jacks wouldn't do anything that made Tara uncomfortable. And anything that could remotely be called debauchery would make Tara -very- uncomfortable.

"Tara, right, I'll tell her you're here," Faith said, shaking her head again as Jacks glided past her. Oh for the love of ... Couldn't the woman just -walk-? It was like her feet didn't touch the freaking floor.

Actually ... Faith glanced over as she headed upstairs to find Tara. Nope, Jacks' feet were firmly on the ground as she walked into the kitchen. Guess three hundred plus years of practice was a major help in the grace department.


Vin hummed softly under his breath as he climbed onto his bike. Jacks was going to be busy for the next twenty nine hours or so, and that left him free to meet up with an old pal for a bit. It had been a while since the last time they were close enough to each other to manage that. Years in fact, but now that he was settled in Sunnydale and his friend was stopping over in LA ...

It might even give him a chance to introduce his friend to Jacks. Or maybe not, the two of them would likely cause a lot of trouble together. Which actually, might be a lot of fun.

Maybe he and Jacks could vacation in Africa sometime. He'd have to ask Merlin if there was an old Kine'Iende base there that needed to be checked out.


Tara came hurrying down the stairs. Jacks and Jack were alone in the kitchen together. That had the potential to be either very good or very bad. Thanksgiving for instance had ended up with Jack Styles ejected from the kitchen magically. But from the scents that hit her as she came through the door this was one of those times that turned out to be very good. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger ... Christmas cookies of all shapes and in all stages of preparation covered the counters.

Including cookie crumbs. Jacks smiled, chugged down the last few swallows of a glass of milk and stood up. Both witches called their good-byes to Jack, Faith, and anyone else in the house who could hear them shouting.

Well, anyone who could hear Jacks' shouting, Tara hardly raised her voice. And Tara could tell the older woman wasn't using magic to amplify her voice. The tiny woman really did have that much lung power.

The white haired witch shrugged with a smile. "Professional singer for a little more than a hundred and fifty years. Builds up the ability to project my voice like nobody's business."

"Th-that must be useful some times," Tara giggled.

"Darling you simply have -no- idea," Jacks laughed.


Vin checked the address he'd been given again, then looked back up at the hotel. He shook his head. Naturally this would be the place his friend would book. The faded Victorian grander would appeal to the man's sense of the ... Actually, Vin wasn't entirely sure what to call that particular sense the man had. It was either slightly morbid, or very funny.

Depending on who you were of course. If she knew about the situation, it would probably appeal to the morbid side of Jacks' sense of the absurd.


Paige answered her fold com the first time it chimed.

"Yeah, I'm on my way, Aunt Jacks!"

She'd been expecting the call for a week. With a grin she orbed out of her apartment.

Aunt Jacks was grinning wildly at her when she reappeared standing in front of the smaller woman and the Earth Mother-ish blonde called Tara.

"Where are we going?"

Jacks tilted her head at the question. "Avalon. I want to make sure where we want to go is unoccupied."

"Okay, I guess," Paige said as she put a hand on each woman's shoulder.


Captain Doug Masters jerked back a step when three women appeared in a shower of lights right in front of him. He opened his mouth to call an alert when the youngest, a pretty blonde, smiled shyly. "Tara? Is everything alright?"

"W-we just need to check something," she answered, ducking her head slightly so that her hair fell across her face.

The white haired woman looked up, ignoring Doug. "Merlin? Is the area I asked about clear?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Standish," the A.I. replied promptly. "All maneuvers and exercises have been diverted from the area as per your request."

"Most excellent," the Lieutenant said, bouncing on her heels. "We'll be taking the ring transport to the surface."

"Of course, Lieutenant," Merlin agreed. "Will you, Miss McClay and Miss Mathews be sleeping here tomorrow?"

Standish frowned slightly. "I'm not sure yet. I suppose that it depends on how well things go tonight."

"Lieutenant? Lieutenant of what?" Doug blurted as the white haired woman turned to start ushering the other two down the corridor as if she knew exactly where she was going.

Lieutenant Standish turned around with a chuckle. "A Lieutenant of the Kine'Iende, Captain Masters. I am Kine."

Doug could only gawk as Standish swept the other two women along the corridor ahead of her. "Merlin ... what the hell is going on?" the pilot finally managed.

There was silence for a moment. "I believe that the Lieutenant, Miss Mathews and Miss McClay are going to perform an ancient ritual to in celebration of the Solstice."

"And they have to do that here?"

"Well, I doubt that Lieutenant Standish would risk taking her niece and her student to Fey Avalon," Merlin said flatly. "And she mentioned something about wanting to be somewhere tropical if they were going skyclad."

"Skyclad?" Doug muttered. His eyes widened when what that most likely meant sunk in. "Skyclad?" he squeaked.

A manly squeak.


Vin deftly avoided the concierge that was trying to subtly throw him out on his way to where his friend was seated. The Immortal Texan dropped into the overstuffed chair across a small table that held two glasses, an ashtray, a box of Cuban Cigars, and a bottle of Bourbon that still had dust on it. "Merry Christmas, Allen."

"Merry Christmas, Vincent," Allen Quartermaine said with a chuckle. "Now tell me about this young lady of yours."

The Immortal settled in for a long talk with the man Africa wouldn't let die. When most of the cigars had been smoked, and most of the bourbon was gone, Allen offered up a comment.

"She sounds a great deal like Mina."

Vin grinned. "And if she knew Mina she'd turn ya into a warthog." He tilted his head to one side. "Actually, from what ya've told me, Mina'd rip ya a new one for that, too. Well, if she knew Jacks."

"That's one example, taking a perfectly good name and shortening it," Allen chuckled.

"I wouldn't say that in front of Jacks," Vin advised.

"Oh? Why not?"

Vin gazed down into his glass, swirling the last few sips in the bottom, watching the light play off the cut glass base. "The last person who called her Jacqueline was Ezra, her husband. I think it kind of hurts her to hear anyone else say it."

Quartermaine arched an eyebrow. "Even you?"

"Never called her that," Vin pointed out, then threw back the last of his drink with a sharp swallow. "Come on. Let's go some place where I ain't gonna get dirty looks from the hired help."

"But it's been so much fun making them squirm, my boy," Allen chuckled.

Vin grinned a bit wolfishly. "Trust me, 'Pa', ya gonna like this place."


Merlin made sure that there would be no recording of the trio of witches at their activities, but Jacks took it on herself to make sure there would be no living witnesses to the party. Fey magics rippled out and for no reason anyone could think of, none of the people staffing Avalon Base felt like spending their off hours on the surface that evening.

Paige looked up at the stars and sighed. "You know, it's not quite the same looking at them now that I know some of what's up there."

"T-true," Tara agreed as she looked up as well. "B-but we know we can protect our world."

"From threats from the sky and from the Hells," Jacks agreed as she joined them. She grinned suddenly. "It occurs to me that we have right here the three main branches of good magic."

Tara smiled slightly. Jacks' version of a lecture was actually sort of fun.

The half-fey gestured at the two younger women. "You both have some skill at healing magics. Paige as a half-White Lighter, Tara through careful study and practice, and you both have a talent for defensive and protection spells. While I ... when I could fully access my powers had a flair for brutally offensive spells."

Paige frowned slightly. "Offense counts as a branch of good magic?"

"Of course it does," Jacks said patiently. "After all, what good is a weapon that can't be used to attack? It only becomes a question of good or evil when the intention behind the spell is questionable."

"And of course your motives are always pure and good," Paige said rolling her eyes.

Jacks just grinned at her while Tara giggled.


Allen raised his eyebrows and glanced at his young friend. "The Mixer?"

"Didn't figure ya'd take to singing for a room full of demons."

"The Mixer?"

Vin just grinned.


Three voices rose, spiraling up into the night on a wave of power that was all out of reasonable proportion to the spell casters. It wasn't just that three different aspects of white magic had come together, but that three entirely different type of magic had come together to celebrate a time holy to them all. Fey, White Lighter, Wiccan. Three different yet connected voices called on their Goddess ...

And She answered.


"I cannot believe you did that," Metatron muttered. He paused. "On second thought. Yes, I can."

She just smiled and turned her attention to other matters.


Dragan grit his teeth as his security team threw out Tanner and his pal. "And don't you *dare* come back in here without Standish! She can at least keep you on a leash!"


December 21, 1997 12:01 am

Tara sat where she landed and giggled. The giggle grew into a laugh. Later, Tara would try to explain to Jacks and Paige the feeling of absolute joy that had filled her after they cast their Solstice spell, but she would never be sure they really understood.

Paige laid back on the grass and stared up at the stars, a slight smile curving her lips. She was loved with a pure unwavering force that connected her with the entire world and with the two women beside her. And now she *knew* it, it hummed in every cell of her body, pulsing with her heart beat.

Jacks settled back, leaning on her elbows, a contented grin splitting her face as she watched two young women that were akin to daughters to her, and she knew that her family was at peace ... Colleen and the mortal members of the Magnificent Seven and their wives and children. Her Ezra was in Heaven and all was right with the world.


"Ah, motorbikes, the next best thing to a horse," Allen chuckled as he and Vin slowed down to make the turn onto Coastview Drive.

"Beats the hell out of walking," Vin agreed.


December 23, 1997 2:30 pm

Paige kissed Jacks' cheek before orbing out of the Standish/Tanner living room on her way to drop Tara off at the mansion.

"If I die of alcohol poisoning, I'll wake up in a few hours," she heard Vin saying from the kitchen. "Iff'n ya die of it, I'll have t'ship yer carcass alla way to Africa for you wake up."

"Good point," agreed a British accented voice. "Pass the coffee then would you?"

Jacks poked her head in the kitchen door. "Company, Vin?"

"Jacks, darlin! Come say howdy t' Allen Quartermaine, the only son of a bitch meaner that Larabee!"

"Chris wasn't mean, Vin," Jacks corrected with a laugh. "He was cranky. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Quartermaine."


December 25, 1997 5:45 am

Jacks stretched lazily before rolling over to plaster herself along the still sleeping Vin's side.

All in all, life was good. She had Vin, she had friends, she had a mission, she knew that Ezra and the others were in Heaven (Chris likely teaching the Archangels a few things about violence). Life was good, not perfect, but still good.

As lazily as she rolled over she summoned a faint image in the air. A child, a little boy, with sable curls falling around his shoulders, wide blue eyes filled with mischief, a small grin, and pointed ears knifing up through the curls.

She sang softly and, just a little, sadly, "All I want for Christmas ... is you."

The End

(1)Spanish - You are my world, my life, my love. You are the sun, the moon, and the stars to me.

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