Author: Andrew Burton Cover: Doctor Developer and Lady Lawful (II) are sitting in front of a Christmas tree. Lady Lawful has a wreatch wedged around her, pinning her arms to her side. Doctor Developer is offering her a gift to unrap. _____________________________________________________________________________ Coherent LL&DD Christmas Comics | ADY | AWFUL __ __ Special #1 Presents an |__ |__ & | \ OCTOR | \ EVELOPER copyright 2008 ASHistory Tale: |_/ |_/ by Andrew Burton _____________________________________________________________________________ [December 24, 1994 - Chicago, IL] "Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself," Doctor Developer groused. He paced back-and-forth across the warehouse floor, grumbling under his breath. "Months of planning. I had to hire those goons out of pocket. Then you kick down a door, and in two minutes, you almost ruined everything." Lady Lawful was only half concentrating on Doctor Developer. The post- taser throbbing made it hard to care about anything except the dull ache all over her body. Having her body pulled taut, at the wrists and ankles, hanging between a floor anchor and a pulley bolted into a ceiling beam, didn't help very much either. Doctor Developer stomped up in front of Lady Lawful, looking her right in the eyes, which was possible since she was suspended six inches off the ground. "I thought you heroes were into this kind of thing!" he snapped at her. "Into what kind of thing?" she snapped back. "Robbing toy companies, like you've been doing? Yeah, heroes go around doing that all the damn time!" She glared at him, wishing for some kind of heat vision as an early Christmas present. "You're off your rocker, Deedee! I have no idea what you're up to this time, but stealing toys at Christmas is pretty low." Doctor Developer threw up his hands and let out a small, strangle growl. "Do you want to see the toys I've been stealing?" he asked rhetorically. "Let me show you!" He stalked out of view. As soon as he was out of sight, Lady Lawful began to examine her restraints. Both her wrists and feet were bound with what looked like steel cord. Aside from that, a loop of chain kept her ankles bound to the floor, and a spring-loaded latch kept her wrists tied to either side of a heavy, metal hook. Even if she managed to move the latch out of her way, she didn't have enough slack to get her wrists over the hook. For the time being, she was trapped. On the upside, though, the throbbing seemed to be subsiding. "These are the toys I stole," Doctor Developer said angrily when he reappeared. He was carrying a handful of toy robots and baby dolls. He dropped them on the ground, at Lady Lawful's feet, once he was closer to her. As the toys hit the ground, she could see they were all broken in some form or another. Arms were missing off dolls. Robot heads were on backwards. It wasn't damaged caused by Doctor Developer's dropping them, but rather from problems caused during production. "You've been stealing broken toys?" Lady Lawful asked. "You wouldn't believe the number of toys that get thrown out because they don't meet production standards. Most of it is basic stuff, too," he explained, "things that only a quality control agent would care about. Yes, I've been stealing broken toys..." "And fixing them," Lady Lawful finished. It made sense. Most of Deedee's crimes centered on grabbing some new scientific toy to study and research. Stealing broken toys and fixing them fit with that. "So you're going to be Santa then, dropping off toys at orphanages and the like?" "Of course not, that's logistically impossible," he replied. "It's Christmas Eve, there's no way I could get to all those places...people are coming here to pick them up." He pointed to a table with half-wrapped boxes and spindles of ribbon. "We were quite literally wrapping things up when you broke in." "Look, I didn't know," Lady Lawful explained, "I'm sorry." Doctor Developer shrugged. "Can't be changed now. I think I can get everything else finished and wrapped before too late." "I can help," Lady Lawful offered. "No," Doctor Developer shook his head, "You've done enough. This is a pretty delicate operation, besides," he continued, "if you show up, people would get nervous...or talk to the press." He stepped behind Lady Lawful, beyond where she could see with her arms stretched above her head. "So...what then?" she asked. "You're going to let me go?" Before Doctor Developer answered, Lady Lawful saw her Enhancement Belt slide across the floor. "I can't risk you talking to your hero friends until after all this is done," he explained. She heard him rummaging through his coat. "I'll let you go once all this is finished, and we can settle up then, for now just...hang in there." Lady Lawful opened her mouth to let out sardonic laugh at the terrible pun when she felt something damp, with a sweet odor, pressed against her nose and mouth. She let out startled yelp, and reflexively gasped afterwards. That was all it took for the dizziness to kick in; within moments she felt herself began to get drowsy. As consciousness ebbed away, a dreamy thought floated through her mind. "Merry Christmas to all," a small, giggling voice said, "and to all, a good night." * * * * [December 24, 1995 - Chicago, IL] "So there I am, hanging from the ceiling," Jennifer Blair explained. She crossed her wrists over her head for dramatic effect. "I'm hanging there, and this guy says to me, 'Hang in there.'" She chuckled, shaking her head. "I swear, I half expect that to show up on a motivational poster one day." As far as Christmas parties went, the small Christmas Eve get together that Jack Striker planned for his team had gone pretty well. Sure, Jack had been in and out of his office in almost equal proportions; technically William and Moira Zimmerman celebrated Chanukah; but as the small group of co-workers, family, and friends sat around the lounge in the Four Strikes headquarters as holiday music played on a portable stereo Jennifer had setup, no one could be accused of not having a good time. Except perhaps Cameron McKay, who stood helplessly mortified as Jennifer recounted how they spent the previous year in their super-identities as Doctor Developer and Lady Lawful, respectively. Moira and William chuckled politely at Jennifer's retelling, until she reached the punch line. "The funniest thing about that story is the look on his face..." She pointed at Cameron. "...every time I tell it." At which point, Cameron's awkward expression turned into a reddened expression of pain. Causing both of them to blush reflexively, Moira and William let out choked snicker when they saw Cameron's face. Triumphantly, Jennifer crowed, "See! What'd I tell you." William reached a hand out and clapped Cameron on the shoulder. "If you think you've got it bad, you should hear some of the stories Moira tells about me when we visit her parents." Moira smiled devilishly, her green eyes twinkling, "I could tell him one now if you like." She gently poked William in the ribs with an elbow. "You could try, but I'm pretty sure I could cast a geas to compel you not too quicker." He beamed a smug grin down on Moira. "Would you like to try?" Moira gave her husband a mock look of challenge, which lasted as long as it took for William to see it and kiss her smirking lips. The kiss lasted a few moments and as it ended, Jennifer let out a small, "Aww." The comment caught the married couple's attention. "You two look so cute together." "A dragon said the same thing just the other day," William replied. "I'm pretty sure he said, 'You two would cook so good together,'" Moira corrected her husband. William nodded thoughtfully for a moment, Jennifer and Cameron both looked perplexed. "Long story." "Most dragon tails are long," Cameron chimed in, smiling at his own joke. Jennifer groaned at his pun, and William took the opportunity to steal another kiss from Moira. As the party wound down, Moira and William said their goodbyes. Soon after, Jack had to leave as well to handle an emergency at the DSHA, at which point Jennifer volunteered herself and Cameron to clean up the party, not that five adults made that much of a mess. "So, Deedee," Jennifer asked as she put the electrical for her stereo into its slot, "do you have any plans for the holiday?" She picked up the stereo from its spot on the counter and turned to look at the ex-villain trying to slide left over Christmas cookies into plastic bag. "Not really," he answered. "Jack was going to let me come in and work in the lab tomorrow, but since he's gone and I don't have unrestricted access yet...." He trailed off, not wanting to actually add: "because no one trusts an ex-villain alone in a lab." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just go home and wait for Jack to call." "You aren't handing out presents this year?" Jennifer asked. "Not me," Cameron answered, "I was going to, but Jack cut a deal with some toy execs. He keeps me from stealing their broken stuff, and they donate to several charities around the city. I guess it's what you call a win-win." He added, "I kind of liked fixing the toys, actually." After a moment's pause, he asked, "How about you?" "Mom and Dad are flying up after the New Year, so we're going to celebrate Christmas late then. I really didn't have anything planned. I might go out on patrol later. If you want to come..." "I'd just slow you down." "If you change your mind, you've got my..." "I got you something!" Cameron blurted out. He set the bag of cookies he was working with on the counter, and reached into his jacket. After a bit of searching, he pulled out a small present. "I just wanted to say...I don't know...a lot of things: thank you for vouching for me, sorry about last Christmas. That sort of thing." Jennifer set her stereo down and accepted the box. "This is awfully sweet of you," she said, "Thank you, Dee...Cameron." Jennifer made a point not to childishly rip into the present, but she also didn't take extra care not to tear the wrapping paper. After a few seconds of shredding paper, she reached the maroon box within the paper and lifted the lid. "This is beautiful," Jennifer gasped. Inside the box was a gold chain connected to a tear-shaped, red and blue crystal. Jennifer carefully picked the necklace up to examine it. "This is..." She looked up at Cameron who was smiling. "Tourmaline is your birthstone, right?" he asked. Jennifer nodded, looking back down at the necklace. "I kind of asked Jack what month you were born in. I didn't ask what year, though. I know that would have rude." "Put it on me," she said, extending the necklace out to Cameron. Cameron accepted the necklace, which feed up Jennifer's hands enough to lift her hair from behind her neck. It took a moment for the latch to catch, but once it was on, Jennifer let her hair fall back down. "I wanted to get a red, blue, and white gem, like your costume, but it would have taken too long to set three different pieces in a necklace," Cameron explained, "I hope just two colors will be okay." Jennifer looked up from admiring her necklace and grinned. "Two colors is way beyond just 'okay.'" She fixed Cameron with a hard stare. "I'm going to give you a hug, but don't ruin the moment by trying to knock me out, okay?" Cameron nodded and held his hands up to offer his surrender. Without further ado, Jennifer stepped forward and hugged Cameron. When she finally let go, rubbing a hand under her eyes, he added, "I really am sorry about last year." Jennifer sniffed a bit as she reached back to pick up her stereo. "I know," she assured him. Then, without warning, Jennifer arched an eyebrow. "Does this mean I get jewelry for every time you've knocked me out or tied me up?" Cameron's face drained of most of its color as he thought about such a prospect, which was exactly the response Jennifer wanted. She bumped him with her hip, flashing him a wink. "I love that look you get on your face," she told him, which was when he realized she was picking on him. As the two left the Four Strikes' headquarters, Jennifer headed to her car and Cameron followed, heading in the same direction that happened to point him at the nearest "El" station. Jennifer stopped at her car, long enough to deposit her stereo on the back seat and throw her coat over it. Cameron nodded good night as he passed her. "Hey, Deedee!" she called. He paused, turned, and looked back at her. "After I finish patrolling tomorrow evening, I was going to find some place that was open...I don't like to cook on holidays. If I find a place, you want to come and have dinner with me? My treat." She fingered the necklace. "I owe you a Christmas present." Cameron smiled and scratched the back of his head, nodding. "Sure, that sounds great!" "It's a date," Jennifer stated. Then, just before they both turned to leave, she added, "Merry Christmas, Doctor Developer." Cameron replied in kind, "Merry Christmas, Lady Lawful." * * * * [December 24, 1996 - Miami, FL] Ever since Cameron had discovered the plate of holiday sugar cookies June left out for guests, he hadn't been seen without at least one in his hand. Even when he finished off their plate and went with Jennifer to buy more, he returned with a small box from the grocery's bakery to hold him over until he convinced June to bake more. Despite his insistence that the bakery's weren't as good as June's, he continued to eat through his box, rationing himself as well as one might expect a five year old to do and only sharing with Jennifer when she twisted his arm...literally. "You know why those aren't as good, don't you?" June asked. She was laying slices of canned cookie dough onto a sheet as she asked. Cameron shook his head, stuffing another cookie in his mouth. Jennifer shook her head as well, although for a completely different reason. "They don't have my secret ingredient," she explained. "That's not why," Jennifer interjected. June sniffed and looked a bit hurt by her daughter's accusation. "My daughter," she said, "the skeptic." "What secret ingredient?" Cameron asked, genuinely curious. The mad scientist in him, the part that made him Doctor Developer, was already hooked by the prospect of some new, secret component that he'd never heard of. His mind was already trying to imagine just what occult spice June Hartworth- Blair might use for her cookies. "She's going to say that her secret ingredient is 'love,'" Jennifer explained before her mother could answer Cameron's question. Undaunted by Jennifer's skepticism, Cameron asked, "How do you put it in?" June smiled, and Jennifer let out a small groan. "I like to think it gets transferred when I put the dough on the sheet. That last little touch." Cameron nodded thoughtfully, watching as June put a disc of dough down in case there was a visible transfer. "You two are unbelievable!" Jennifer declared. "Think about it, Jenny," Cameron offered. "Remember Murray's blueberry pancakes in Detroit? [Seen in LL&DD #5 - Ed.] Maybe your mom has a secondary power that alters our perception..." Jennifer didn't let Cameron finish his hypothesis. Instead she threw up her arms, stood up from the kitchen chair, and stormed out of the kitchen. June and Cameron watched until she disappeared into the family room. When she was gone, June clucked her tongue and shook her head. Cameron looked back to see June smiling. "Sorry about that, Cameron," she said mischievously, "Sometimes I can't help pulling Jenny's strings like that. I appreciate you playing along though." She smiled and put down another disc of dough. To his credit, Cameron kept his face perfectly neutral while he watched June set the dough down, keeping a sharp gaze for any visible transfer of love. * * * * [December 25, 1996 - Miami, FL] Wilson Blair padded out of his study as quietly as his feet would carry him. He only had a few hours left before June and Jennifer and Cameron woke up, which meant he had fewer hours than that to finish working the bugs out of June's present. "At least," he thought with a half smile on his face, "we don't have any kids this year. That should give me a little more time." Jennifer had always been the kind of kid who stayed up as late as she could on Christmas Eve and woke up as early as possible on Christmas morning. Growing up had tempered her holiday enthusiasm, but he had a feeling that if...or when...she and Cameron had children, history would repeat itself. "Her enthusiasm, plus Cameron's curiosity..." Wilson let his mind trail off, and he couldn't help but smile a bit more. He was still smiling when he stepped into the kitchen and found Cameron standing at the counter. Getting closer, he could see that Cameron had used duct tape, cellophane, and what looked like an entire box of chopsticks to construct a clear, plastic tent on the counter. Inside the tent, sat a tray, empty for the moment. "Good morning, Doctor Blair," Cameron whispered. He didn't look up from his project, but continued on by setting a sugar cookie inside a metal pan, pushing a cellophane flap aside as he went. "Call me Wilson, Cameron." Wilson watched as Cameron very carefully and very quickly struck a match against the side of a matchbox, set the match atop the cookie, and them simultaneously both pulled the flap down and started the timer on his watch, which he was holding instead of wearing. "Mind if I ask why you're burning cookies?" "Hm? Oh, yes," Cameron replied, "I mean I don't mind. Mrs. Blair, ah, June said her cookies tasted differently from the bakery because she put love into them. I was testing to see if the addition of love affected the stored energy of the cookie by seeing how long it took to burn. It's kind of primitive, but the best I could do...without waking Jennifer up...until I can get back to my lab." Wilson stared blankly at Cameron for a moment, trying to decide if he should let Cameron in on June's joke, her open secret about how magically her cooking improved after she retired as Lady Lawful and took a cooking class. It was a harmless joke they mostly used to tease Jennifer, who for some unknown reason disliked it. Now that Cameron was almost part of the family, Wilson was debating whether he should tell him or let Jennifer. Instead of actively deciding, Wilson tried to change the subject, "What's the cellophane tent for?" "To keep the smoke alarms from going off," Cameron explained. Wilson nodded thoughtfully for a moment, before Cameron asked, "Did I wake you up?" "Me? Oh, no," he shook his head, "I'm trying desperately to work some bugs out of June's Christmas gift." He paused for a moment. "Cameron, I don't suppose I could impose on you to look at my work? I understand you don't have the Magene, but...you'll probably understand what I've been doing better than I do." Cameron shrugged and followed Wilson back to his study. Back in Chicago, after their engagement, Jennifer let Cameron keep a lot of his equipment in her garage. Even with her car pulled in, there was enough room to work on a medium-sized project. Wilson's study was sized somewhere between the full area of Jennifer's garage and the space left over when her car was pulled into it. It may have been a bit larger, but between the desk, desk chair, bookshelves, and photocopier, Wilson probably had less room to work. "I've been trying to partially duplicate Doctor Kirby's work," Wilson explained. Cameron recognized the name of Doctor Cosmo Kirby, the man who'd created the original Enhancement Belt that both June and now Jennifer wore during their tenure as Lady Lawful. No one had ever been able to successfully duplicate Kirby's work; as far as Cameron knew, that was when Wilson met June for the first time, when her belt was damaged during a fight. That was also the only time anyone else was able to come close to duplicating the belt. "I'm not expecting miracles," Wilson explained, "I just wanted to surprise her with it. If it just doubles her strength and endurance, I'll be happy...and I think so will she." Wilson unlocked his desk drawer and pulled out a small, gold belt and handed it to Cameron, along with blueprints that had faded into almost greyprints. "Does she miss being a hero?" Cameron asked, moving around Wilson so he could spread the blueprints out on his desk. Like most of the more extreme Violation Technology, the equations and notes written on the blueprints was a nonsensical mess. However, Cameron recognized a few numbers here and there, from studying Jennifer's belt, and was able to just barely follow from one equation to the next. "I don't think so," Wilson replied. That seemed to garner a curious look from Cameron. "Then why do I want her to have the belt?" Wilson asked in proxy, and Cameron nodded. "We met when her belt was damaged, you know. I thought it would be kind of...I thought...romantic." Cameron nodded. "I bought Jennifer a charm bracelet," Cameron replied, "And one charm for every deathtrap of mine she escaped before we started dating." He looked back down at the belt before Wilson's eyes had a chance to grow wide. "How many charms did you get?" Wilson asked weakly. "Ten," Cameron answered, "Actually nine. The bracelet came with one, a little bear." He kept staring at the schematics, comparing them to the circuitry housed between layers of the belt. "It was cheaper than her alternative." Wilson didn't ask what the alternative was, he didn't want to know. "Any idea about the belt?" Wilson asked after a minute. "I think you should give it to June as it is," Cameron replied with a nod. Wilson opened his mouth to protest, but Cameron raised a finger. "Trust me," he explained, "Just give it to her." * * * * [December 25, 1996 - Miami, FL] Christmas morning was almost ruined before it started when Jennifer found Cameron's cookie burning apparatus still set up in the kitchen, where he accidentally left it the night before. June couldn't stop smiling at Jennifer, and in turn Jennifer couldn't stop letting out small groans. All that seemed to be resolved when Cameron gave her a small box with a charm bracelet inside. After that, the tides quickly turned. "And this buzz saw," Jennifer announced sweetly and innocently, making sure she pointed out the gold charm to her parents, "That's when you strapped me to that log cutter. And this little choo-choo, the time you chained me to the 'El' rails." She leaned over and kissed Cameron on the cheek. "I love it, Deedee!" From the looks of masked horror on their faces, neither June nor Wilson could say the same. "Your turn, dad!" Jennifer called out. He shook his head slightly, clearing it from whatever terrible, fatherly images it was filled with before. After a moment, he reached over the side of the couch where he and June were sitting and pulled out a small box. After a quick glance at Cameron, who returned the look with a smiling nod, he handed the box to June. "They were all sold out of these at the store, so I had to make this one myself." June gave him a look that was one part skepticism and one part childish grin before she started to unwrap the present. It took a moment, but one all the paper was torn away, everyone could see a familiar, gold belt. June gasped and looked over at Wilson. "Try it on." June didn't need a second prompt. In a moment, she was on her feet, fitting the belt around her waist. If Wilson was at all concerned about the belt working, he did an Oscar-worthy job of hiding it as soon as June clasped the buckle. As soon as the buckle clicked shut, it began to glow a familiar glow. "Wilson Blair!" June exclaimed, tugging him to his feet with her refound strength. They both laughed at the movement, and soon Jennifer and Cameron joined in. "You are a genius, husband. I haven't felt this powerful in years! How did you do it?" Wilson shrugged. "Hard work, heavy research, and I had a little help." He nodded back to Cameron. "I'm not sure what he did..." Cameron smiled brightly. "The secret ingredient," he explained, "was love." * * * * [December 24, 1997 - Chicago, IL] December had been a crazy month. For some reason, the Solstice Crazies had been worse than any previous year Jennifer could remember. They seemed to be tougher too, but tougher or not they'd been handled by her and the other Strikes, which was all well and good as far as the safety of Chicago went. Unfortunately, despite Lady Lawful having things well in hand, Jennifer McKay was behind in her holiday shopping schedule. Mom and Dad weren't much of a problem, surprisingly Cameron had come through in spades finding some old kitschy stuff in Tinker Tom's collection that they knew both parents would adore. The office Secret Santa exchange went off okay thanks to a bit of creative re-gifting. The only real shopping dilemma facing Jennifer was finding something for Cameron McKay. Jennifer twisted the wedding band on her left hand as she waded through similarly hurried and harried Uberstore shoppers, guiding her cart around others. It wasn't supposed to be like this, she complained to herself. Their first Christmas, as an honest to goodness married couple, was supposed to better. Memorable. She doubted Cameron would know the difference, it was how he was, and what made him Cameron. It mattered to her, though. She could be honest to admit that. She wanted their first of many Christmases as wife and husband to be special. "And if I could just figure out what Cameron wanted, it would be perfect," she told herself. Shopping for Cameron was a trick unto itself. Most of the things her coworkers planned to get their husbands for Christmas...new computers, one of those new MP3 players, and the like... Cameron had already *built* for himself, one of the perils of marrying a super-genius. She considered getting him some sort of practical gift, like a nice shirt or a tie, but that idea went out the window when she went to look at what kind of ties he liked. Once she began looking, she realized that since both everyday clothes and his "costume" included ties, Cameron's tie collection bordered on the obscene. And a literally obscene tie really didn't fit the mood she wanted to set for their first married Christmas. Maybe an anniversary gag gift. Jennifer browsed past the clothing section of Uberstore, into the sporting goods section. The easy gift would have been something obvious. Tools. Climbing rope. Some random card for his computer. But none of those felt right. Jennifer continued past the sporting goods and found herself nearing the toys. It was while wandering through this section that she caught sight of an Uberstore employee strightening the shelves. Jennifer slowed down and looked at the toys: ASH dolls, a couple of Brightswords, and...Jennifer stopped. "Excuse me," she said to the employee, "are those Lady Lawfuls?" The employee...a twenty-something boy whose tag named him as Burke... nodded, thumping one of the dozen or more Lady Lawful dolls. "Yes, ma'am." "There sure are a lot of them," she said to herself. "Brightsword seems to be this year's big seller," the Burke answered anyway. "I think most kids got their Lady Lawfuls this spring, because of the wedding. Doctor Developer's the other big one, since they didn't have his figure ready then." As the employee was talking, Jennifer picked up one of the Lady Lawful dolls to examine it. She was vaguely aware that the DSHA managed the Lady Lawful brand, a word she never felt right associating with her mother's legacy. She signed off on the dolls every once in a while, but never paid that close attention to it. Most of her awareness of the dolls came from Cameron owning a couple, which he used when modeling traps. It was only when the Uberstore employee mentioned Doctor Developer dolls that she turned away from the doll in her hands. "Are there any Doctor Developer dolls left?" she asked. An idea was slowly forming in her head. Burke looked over the shelf for a moment, checking behind various other heroic toys. The Doctor Developer doll showed itself, hiding behind one of the Rad dolls that had been warming the shelf since the previous holiday season. "Looks like the last one," he said, handing Jennifer the box. Jennifer accepted the box, and stacked it atop the Lady Lawful already in her hands. It looked like Deedee. His nose. His tie. There was even a little net launcher included. The more Jennifer examined the box, the bigger her smile grew. She dumped the pair of dolls in her cart, grabbed another pair of Lady Lawfuls, and thanked Burke for his help. Then as she was about to head off, she turned back to Burke to ask: "Which way are the building blocks?" * * * * [December 25, 1997 - Chicago, IL] "Careful," Jennifer warned Cameron. "I can't be careful," he complained, "I can't see." Jennifer held onto Cameron's hand, slowly backing down the staircase into the living room. Before getting out of bed, she was able to convice Cameron to don a sleeping mask she picked up the night before at the Uberstore. "Can I take this off?" Cameron asked, almost whining. "Just a minute," Jennifer assured him. She continued to lead him until they were both in the living room. Once there, she let go of Cameron's hand, stepping back. "Okay, take it off." And so Cameron did, with such gusto that he didn't bother to keep the mask from falling to the ground as he shoved it over his head. "Ta-da!" Jennifer cheered when he could see. Sitting on the floor between Cameron and the Christmas tree was a medium-sized box. It was wrapped in green paper with a white snowflake pattern, topped off with a red bow. Cameron stared down at the box, then back up at Jennifer. "What is it?" he asked plainly. "Well, go on and open it," Jennifer encouraged him. He didn't hesitate to comply, dropping to one knee and ripping off the paper. "Just be careful, it's kind of fragile." Cameron nodded absently and continued peeling paper from the box. Once all the paper was gone, Cameron stopped and looked at the cardboard box that remained. He sniffed at being denied an answer by the lid to the box, and promptly removed it. "Whoa," he let out a quiet, awefilled gasp. Inside the box was a strange arangement of building blocks, a revolving service tray, remote controlled car, a spool of fishing thread, and pair of a Lady Lawful and Doctor Developer dolls. Doctor Developer was posed as if he were working some controls built from the blocks. Lady Lawful was leaned up against a stack of blocks that had been glued down to the tray, slightly wrapped in the fishing line. Cameron reached inside the box, fishing for the remote control to the car. He pressed the control forward, which did exactly what he thought it would. Once the car was activated, the wheels wedged against the tray caused it to spin, which spun Lady Lawful around, wrapping more and more fishing line aroud her. "Nice," Cameron whispered. He looked up at Jennifer. "You made this?" "Yup," she replied, grinning at him. "You're not the only mad scientist in this house." She paused to whatch him play with the controls again. "You like it?" "Oh, yeah!" Cameron replied. "This is so cool." * * * * [December 25, 2016 - Detroit, MI] "DOCTOR MCKAY!" The howling cry was the only warning Cameron recieved before he felt ninety-five pounds of screaming excitement crash against his legs and scramble up onto his stomach. Adrenaline and pain were always Cameron's best stimulants, and in a moment he was wide awake, propping up on his elbows. "Yes...Rachel?" he asked, trying to sound pleasant. "It's Christmas!" she cheered. She shook Cameron's arms. "There's presents! There's presents for me!" "Is Moira awake yet?" Cameron asked. He nudged Rachel off his stomach. Rachel took the hint and scooted onto the floor, stepping back to give Cameron room to join her. "Yes!" she nodded. Her face was all smiles. As soon as Cameron's feet touched the floor, she grabbed his hand and began tugging on his arm. "Come on!" "I'm coming...I'm coming." The morning had gone by in a whirl of wrapping paper, excited cheers, and children being children. Cameron smiled as he thought about Rachel playing with the old Lady Lawful action figure he'd discovered buried in his possessions. Somehow he'd managed to smile through it all, but once everyone had dispersed to put their gifts away, Cameron had made a quick escape back to his room. It was there, in his room, on his bed, he sat for almost an hour staring at the tourmaline necklace in his hand. In all the years since moving back to Detroit, he could never remember taking the necklace from Jennifer's jewelry box. He was thankful for its presence, though. When Jennifer vanished, her wedding band vanished along with her; the necklace, Cameron's first gift to his late wife, was one of the few things of hers he'd apparently managed to keep. Normally he kept the necklace in the end table drawer, next to his bed, which was where photographs from his and Jennifer's time together were stored. On days when he needed some tangible evidence to confirm his memories, Cameron would dig out the tourmaline necklace and hold it. It was never much of a comfort, but he was resigned to the fact that nothing ever really would be a comfort to him. "Doctor McKay," a small voice called from just outside his door. Rachel's head appeared through the crack in the door. "Is it okay if I come in?" she asked. Not completely trusting his voice, Cameron nodded and waved her in. As Rachel stepped into Cameron's room, he could see she was still carrying her Lady Lawful action figure. Cameron glanced at the ten-inch toy in her hand, smiling wistfully as he remembered why he had the spare toy to give. Jennifer had helped him find the perfect gift for Rachel, even though she wasn't here. While Cameron was contemplating Rachel's gift, she climbed onto the end of his bed, sitting with her feet hanging off the side and taking her own time to study the figure. "Is this what Jennifer looked like?" Rachel asked as she studied the toy. Cameron nodded. "Pretty much," he answered. "The people who made it were required to have her permssion before making them, and so they made them as life-like as possible." As he finished talking, Rachel focused once more on the toy in her hand. Cameron watched Rachel as she absently played with her toy. He hated to admit it, especially to himself, even though this was Rachel's third Christmas in Detroit, it felt as if this was the first Chistmas he'd really spent with her. "Doctor McKay, am I bad for being happy?" Rachel asked unprompted. Part of Cameron wanted to immediately reply with a, "No," but his curiosity overrode everything else. Instead, he found himself asking, "What are you happy about?" Rachel let out the kind of sigh that only an eight year old thinking heavy thoughts can let out. "I'm happy because of my presents, and you, and Moira, and everyone else." "That doesn't sound bad," Cameron told her. "But, shouldn't I be sad, like you?" Rachel asked. Her question was enough to drop Cameron's jaw, and before he could say anything, Rachel continued. "You're sad because you miss Jennifer," Rachel explained, "and shouldn't I be sad because I miss my parents?" Of Rachel, Harold, and Scarlet, only Rachel was really old enough to remember her parents from before the quake, the Big One of 2013. There were times when her memories troubled her, but Cameron couldn't recall any such troubles recently. "I...being happy doesn't make you bad," Cameron said carefully. He stopped for a moment, thinking. "Would your parents ever want you to be sad?" Rachel shook her head. "Then you're not doing anything bad, Rachel." Rachel seemed to think about that for a minute. After a moment, Rachel asked, "Would Jennifer want you to be sad?" Cameron smiled sadly at Rachel. "No," he answered, "she wouldn't want me to be sad." Cameron pulled himself up into a sitting position, and turned so he was sitting on the edge of the bed with Rachel. "She'd probably call me a big dork for being sad." He took a deep breath and let out deep sigh. "I guess I need to stop being sad." Cameron reached over to put Jennifer's necklace back in his end table drawer. As he pulled the drawer open, the tourmaline jewel slipped out of his hand and dangled for a moment. "That's pretty," Rachel said breathlessly. She slid off the bed so she could get a beter view of the necklace. "You think?" Cameron asked. Rachel nodded absently, keeping her eyes focused on the necklace. "This was the first Christmas present I ever gave Jennifer...it's her birthstone." Cameron looked at the necklace for a moment, then looked past it at Rachel. Her gaze was fixed on the necklace. Cameron wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden he found himself saying, "You know, I just thought of something. I was just going to put this up, but I think...no, I know...Jennifer would call me a dork for keeping it put away." Rachel tilted her head slightly to one side as Cameron spoke. "What if instead of just putting this away, how about if you wear Jennifer's necklace?" Rachel's face broke into a broad grin. "Really?" Cameron nodded, and began to undo the clasp on the necklace chain. "Why me?" As Cameron began to put the necklace around Rachel's neck, he answered, "Because, it's like you said, Jennifer wouldn't want me to be sad." He paused to finish closing the clasp. "And seeing you wear that makes me happy." Rachel looked down at the necklace, feeling the tourmaline between her fingers with the hand not holding her action figure. After a minute she looked up at Cameron, a smile on her face. "Merry Christmas, Doctor McKay," she said. Cameron smiled back. "Merry Christmas," he paused mid-sentence before continuing, "Merry Christmas, Lady Lawful." ============================================================================ Author's Notes: A few quick notes: * Rodney "Rad" Baines is Dave Van Domelen's character. * Deedee's originally shown playing with dolls in LL&DD #8. * This was originally supposed to be last year's Christmas special. Then it was going to be the Christmas In July special. Now, well, it's a Christmas special again! Wooo. * The cover for this was actually drawn last year by Andrew Willmore: http://studiobueno.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Tis-the-Season-71466327 Editor's Notes: Rad was not named Rodney Baines in the original ASH campaign. In fact, I can't remember what his secret ID was. But his *player* was named Rodney, so I made it an homage of sorts. :) His toys were shelfwarming because, as of December 1997, he'd largely been shunted aside by the growing influence of godly avatars on ASH (as pointed out in Coherent Super Stories #8) and was in a sort of semi-retirement until called back into action days before the whole thing hit the fan on July 6, 1998. MP3 players were not commercially available in the real world until 1998, mainly due to the RIAA blocking them. It has not been revealed exactly why MP3 players emerged earlier in the ASH Universe (since it's not purely a technological issue), but I like to think that the RIAA was revealed to be a plot by a supervillain, who was subsequently defeated. It'd make for a possible Time Capsules story were anyone interested in writing that.... ============================================================================ For all the back issues, plus additional background information, art, and more, go to http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH ! To discuss this issue or any others, either just hit "followup" to this post, or check out our Yahoo discussion group, which can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ash_stories/ ! There's also a LiveJournal interest group for ASH, check it out at http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=academy+of+super-heroes ============================================================================