It's Time For Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Nikita characters. I merely love the friendship between Birkhoff and Nikita and want to give that relationship some time to shine.

Four large tires cracked against a snow-covered driveway as a black jeep wrangler made its way down the winding path. The scene was that of a winter wonderland. Large oak trees lined the driveway, their limbs outstretched to make a canopy and held still, regardless of the constant breeze, by the immense amount of heavy snow that covered them. The driveway split and circled in front of a large wooden cabin, the chimney still and silent.

Nikita stepped out of the vehicle as the engine went silent and shivered when a chill went down her spine from the sudden gust of cold air. She pulled her black coat closer to her torso and rubbed her gloved hands together, her breath clouding the air in front of her chapped lips. She would have to put another coat of chap stick on soon. The atmosphere around the home was completely silent aside from the gentle falling of slow flakes.

The dark-haired assassin jogged to the back of the jeep and heaved the back open, scooping up the bags that littered the inside of the car. Grunting, she carried the heavy load towards the front of the house, letting out a small gasp as her boots caught a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow and lost their grip. She slipped and slid a foot or two before finally regaining her balance, her brown eyes wide with relief that she hadn't busted her butt.

She started forward more carefully and ascended the porch, struggling to balance all the bags as she reached for the key in her back pocket to unlock the door. As it finally swung open, she lost her grip on the bags and they all landed in the doorway, the contents scattering everywhere.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nikita growled, heaving a large sigh of annoyance. She kicked the door closed and leaned down to collect the spilled items, only to pause when she heard a scoff from the couch. "What, Nerd?" she griped sharply, glaring at the figure slouched lazily in the lounge chair.

"Having trouble, Nikki?" Birkhoff countered, a sideways smirk playing on his lips. The room was dark aside from the flicker of the television screen, which illuminated his face and reflected off his glasses.

Nikita casually placed her arms upon her bent thighs and arched an eyebrow. "You could get your lazy ass up and help…" she countered thickly.

"Or…" he continued, "I could keep sipping on my Christmas cocktail." He reached forward and picked a glass up from the coffee table, taking a sip of the red beverage.

"Birkhoff!" The sharp, sudden sound of Nikita's voice caused the tech. geek to jump, some of the alcoholic liquid soaking his white lounge shirt.

"Dammit, Nikki!" he growled, leaping up from the sofa. He set the drink down and huffed loudly, glaring at the woman who was now smirking smugly at him. "Fine."

He made his way over and helped Nikita scoop up the fallen items. "Are these Christmas decorations?" he asked, a tad shocked.

"Yep," Nikita responded. "Wanna' help put up the tree?" she asked nonchalantly.

Birkhoff set the bags down on the coffee table and stared incredulously, his mouth hanging open limply. "You're kidding, right?"

"You might want to close that thing before flies get in it," Nikita commented as she tapped the bottom of his jaw with her palm. He swatted her hand away and glared.

"Division agents could pop in any minute and you want to put up a tree?" he tried again, scoffing. "You're crazy, Nikki," he remarked, putting emphasis on her nickname.

"Stop calling me Nikki, Nerd," she retorted, pausing to move a few strands of damp hair out of her face. "We're celebrating Christmas. We all need this…" she trailed off, her chocolate orbs meeting Birkhoff's hazel ones for a serious moment.

He sighed and picked up his drink, quickly chugging the rest of the beverage, his face contorting momentarily as the vodka taste invaded his senses. "Fine, but-"

"-nothing on the outside and no fire in the chimney. It might give our location away," Nikita finished for him, rolling her eyes. "I got it, Nerd."

Birkhoff mimicked her tone in a sarcastic manner as he bent down to grab a box of lights to open. "Where's the tree we're supposed to be decorating anyway?" he questioned with a slight tilt of his head.

"The roof of the jeep. Come help me." Nikita motioned for him to follow as she headed back out the front door, her boots leaving deep footprints in the growing snow. "And watch out for the…" She turned around to warn Birkhoff about the ice, but it was already too late.

Birkhoff screamed as his shoes hit the slick surface and due to a severe lack of coordination on his part, he went down hard, losing breathe from his lungs as his back hit the tough ground. He let out a single cough and laid there for a moment, stunned.

"…ice," Nikita finished, holding in a laugh as she spoke the word. "You, um… need some help?" she asked as she extended a hand to him, covering her mouth with the other to hold in laughter that was threatening to come flooding out.

Birkhoff grabbed her hand and winced as she pulled him up. "Thanks," he muttered in slight embarrassment as he brushed the snow off his black sweat pants. Nikita nodded to him and turned to start making her way towards the jeep again. She hopped up on the door step and began undoing the bungees that held the tree in place. "I'm going to slide it towards the end of the roof. You guide it down, okay?"

Birkhoff ran a hand through his growing hair unsurely. "Don't you think Michael would be a better helping hand?" the computer genius questioned.

"He's out making rounds with Alex and Owen. They won't be back until later. Just grab the trunk of the tree and help it down so it doesn't scratch up my car," she griped.

"Sure, you don't want to scratch up your car but it's fine if the tree scratches me," he muttered under his breath as he stood on his tip-toes to grab the trunk of the tree. "I got it," he said more loudly.

"Good, now just guide it down slowly. It's a little heavy so be careful." Right as she finished her sentence the bottom branches of the tree slipped over the edge of the roof and the full weight of the tree suddenly became apparent in Birkhoff's embrace.

"Holy s**t! This is more than just a little heavy!" he heaved, tumbling backwards as the tree came with him. Nikita hurried to grab the other side of the tree and steady it, relieving Birkhoff of some of the weight.

"You need to work on those pecks, Nerd," she laughed, watching as he frantically searched the snow for his glasses that had been knocked off his face by one of the branches.

"Sorry, but monitoring ShadowNet 24-7 because I made the insane choice to start helping you guys kind of takes up my time," Birkhoff remarked. "Ah, ha!" His hands finally clasped around his second pair of eyes and he slipped them on happily, eager to see more than just blurs again.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," he retorted, shooting Nikita the bird as he stalked by and made his way towards the house again.

"I feel like I'm dealing with a 2-year-old," the slender woman remarked, her voice straining slightly as she started pulling the tree towards the front porch. "You know, you could still…"

"…help," Birkoff finished for her, appearing in the doorway with a base for the tree, a smirk on his lips. He shook the object as if it had been apparent that he would come back with it.

Nikita gave him an approving grin. "Good boy, Birkhoff," she said as she patted his back—a little too hard for the tech's liking— and grabbed the base from his chilly hands.

Birkhoff sighed, exasperated, and moved to hold the tree upright while she secured the base to it. Then they both worked to get it through the door and to one corner of the room. "Thanks, Birkhoff. You're a good friend, Birkhoff…" he ranted on sarcastically.

"Go get some lights, Birkhoff," Nikita muttered as she finished putting the tree in place.

He gave her a quick glare and moved to toss her a box of lights, which she caught with ease. "Thanks, Birkhoff," she replied, mimicking his tone from earlier.

He chuckled and shook his head, running a hand through his damp, dirty blonde locks. They spent a good two hours or so decorating the tree. Birkhoff would begin to untangle the lights, only to get frustrated and have Nikita finish the job. About half-way through, Nikita assigned him to ornament duty, which didn't involve untangling or patience.

Nikita weaved her way out from behind the fluffy branches after plugging the lights in and stood back with Birkhoff to admire their work. "Looks pretty good, Nerd, if I do say so myself," she remarked with a smug grin on her face. He nodded in agreement, matching her expression. "We're not too bad at this whole Christmas thing," he added.

The tree was mostly golden, complete with gold LED lights, tassel, ribbons that ran the length of the tree, ornaments, and a glowing star that sat right on top, comfortably surveying the living room. There were a few colorful ornaments mixed in to give the tree some variety. The scene really brightened up the quiet safe house.

"I need a drink after all that," Birkhoff heaved, turning to walk towards the kitchen. Nikita glanced over her shoulder at him for a brief moment, her arms crossed over her chest, before deciding to follow.

"Would your drink happen to include rum?" she questioned as she jogged to catch up with him.

"I have the perfect drink for you, babe," he remarked without even a pause, giving her a sly grin. A questioning look overcame her features as she took a seat at the island and watched the master of liquor at work.

He pulled out six martini glasses and made a white drink mixed with vodka, rum, hazelnut liquor, and a tad bit of vanilla ice cream. "If only you were this efficient with weapons…" Nikita remarked, arching a lone eyebrow at him.

"Do you want your drink or not, Nikki?" he shot back, arching an eyebrow of his own. She raised her calloused hands in surrender and went back to watching silently.

Birkhoff finished the drinks off with two cinnamon sticks and a cherry for a red nose. "Its called a Rudolf-tini," he explained, a very proud grin accompanying the words.

"Ah, very festive," the assassin agreed, moving to take a small sip of her drink. "Mhmmm," she sounded while giving Birkhoff a thumbs up. "It gets a 10 from me." Nikita grabbed a cinnamon stick from the drink and took a bite, enjoying the sweet taste.

The two friends glanced towards the living room as they heard the front door open, Nikita's hand poised over the gun hidden in her boot, but both relaxed when they heard familiar voices.

"Wow, what's all this?" came an accented voice from the living room. Birkhoff smiled gently at the sound of Sonya's bewildered tone.

He and Nikita made their way back into the living room, tray of drinks in hand, and met the rest of the on looking group.

"It was all her idea," Birkhoff remarked, pointing a thumb in Nikita's direction. She chuckled and moved towards Michael, enveloping him in a quick hug, their lips meeting briefly for a welcoming kiss.

"How did everything go today?" she asked him as they pulling apart. The "mother" of the group quickly assessed everyone, glad to see no injuries or signs of distress.

"Everything went fine. No signs of Division around the property and Sonya found no indication of them through ShadowNet," Michael replied soothingly, his voice rough like usual. "It looks like this safe house is still safe for now." His light green eyes roamed the room and finally landed on the tree. "So, this was your idea?" he questioned, his orbs falling back on Nikita.

She nodded once as Alex and Owen came through the door, completing their little family.

"Hey Sensei," the young Russian greeted with a smile, briefly hugging the woman she considered a mother. Nikita welcomed the embrace and chuckled as her face became damp from Alex's snow-covered tendrils.

Owen crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brows, impressed at the sight of the tree. He grabbed a drink from the tray Birkhoff had brought in and took a swig.

"Nice technique there Birkhoff. A little girly though, don't you think?" the rogue guard scoffed, giving Birkhoff a devilish grin. The response he got was a slap on the back of the head from Nikita.

"We worked very hard on that tree, thank you very much," she snapped, glaring at Owen.

"Ow!" He glared back and raised his hands in surrender, lowering one to the back of his now sore head. Birkhoff held back a scoff, earning another glare from Owen.

Nikita moved to hand out the remainder of the drinks and held up her own to "cheer" with the others. "We all need this. Just some time to ourselves to take a moment and breathe. We've all been going non-stop. This is the perfect time of year to pause for a minute and be thankful for what we have."

"Which is?" Birkhoff countered, taking a sip of his martini after everyone's glasses had met.

"Each other…" Alex trailed off, looking from person to person in the room. Nikita smiled approvingly at the younger agent and grabbed her in a side-hug, kissing her forehead.

"Exactly," Nikita finished. "Now, enough about Division and no more ShadowNet for the evening. We can get back to it tomorrow. Tonight, our mission is Christmas cookies and movies." She eyed the group, waiting for their reactions, and was glad to see smiles and nods of agreement from everyone. Even Nerd didn't give her any grief.

Later that night after attempting to bake cookies, which ultimately had resulted in a war of flower, leaving the kitchen and everyone in it a white mess, everyone sat together in the living room, hot cocoa in hand. Nikita was pretty sure Birkhoff had spiked his own with more vodka.

A Christmas Story played quietly on the television, illuminating the dim room with the help of the Christmas tree. Nikita was perched on the couch, Michael sitting behind her, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. He chuckled at one of the scenes and kissed Nikita on the cheek before working on another Christmas cookie.

Birkhoff sat on the lounge chair beside the couch, Sonya on the floor in front of him with her back propped against his legs. They were engrossed in the movie, smiling at the antics of the characters.

Alex and Owen were laid out in the middle of the floor playing some kind of card game. Apparently Owen cheated on a move because Alex gave him an incredulous glare and punched him on the shoulder, earning a wince and series of curse words in response.

Nikita shook her head and chuckled, leaning further into Michael's comforting embrace. This was exactly what she had hoped to achieve by putting up the tree. Even if it would only last for a brief time, everyone was enjoying themselves and pushing the stress of Division to the back of their minds. For tonight at least, they could enjoy being the messed up, crazy family that they were.

I hope you all enjoyed this one-shot. This little section of stories will be dedicated to the Birkhoff/Nikita friendship, of course with all of the other characters mixed in. If you have any ideas for future plots, feel free to send me your ideas and I'll try to write some of your requests.

If you haven't read it before, my story "Get Well Soon" is also based on the Nikita/Birkhoff friendship. Check it out if you'd like!

Please feel free to leave a review as well. Your reviews inspire me to write. :)

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and wish you all the best in the coming new year!