Disclaimer: Shotaro Ishinomori's, not mine.
Author's Notes: Number three of my one hundred Cyborg 009 fics (the prompt this time was, appropriately enough, 'Christmas'). There are mild spoilers for 'Christmas Eve Mirage', but that's it warning-wise.
Albert Heinrich heaved a sigh as he brushed stray pine needles off his shoulder with his right hand and steered with his left. Chang was in the middle of getting ready for the Holiday season, and had no qualms about drafting his teammates in making the tiny restaurant appropriately festive. After pulling a scrap of paper from the chef's hat, Albert had been given the job of bringing home a tree to trim.
I don't see why I have to do this. It's not like I have anything left worth celebrating, he thought bitterly, and immediately hated himself for it. That wasn't true, at least not anymore. He had his freedom and he had his friends. And while he wasn't exactly happy about becoming Chang's gofer, this Christmas was turning out much better than last year's, which had been spent with the shadow of the Black Ghost organization threatening to swallow them up again. It was just... the tree farm had been crowded. Young couples celebrating the season and each other, a harried-but-happy looking woman with a child on each arm, an old man with his grandson on his shoulders. They were all reminders of what he had once had, what he could have had, but had lost.
Albert was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't notice the young boy standing in the road until the very last minute. He swerved the truck quickly, violently, nearly crashing into a tree. All of that didn't even register as he bolted out of the vehicle and towards the child. "Hey! Hey! Are you all right?"
He couldn't have been anymore than ten years old, but there was an earnestness in his expression that usually wasn't found in kids his age. He looked up at him with wet eyes. "I can't find it." He sounded like he was about to break into tears.
You do realize I just nearly hit you with a truck, right? Albert made his voice a little softer this time. "What's wrong?"
The boy wiped his nose with a frayed coat sleeve. "My mama's gift. I tripped, and it fell in the snow, and I've been looking, but..." He sniffled once more time before kneeling down, ungloved fingers digging through the snow.
Albert looked in the direction of the truck. Chang's Christmas tree waited for him patiently. He's going to kill me for being late..
"I'll help you find it. What does it look like?"
"It's in a white box."
A thick blanket of snow covered everything he saw. This could be awhile.
He wasn't entirely sure how long they spent, neither of them saying anything as they both searched for the lost present. He did know it was long enough for him to grin in relief when he noticed a plain-looking white box near his ankle.
"Is this it?" The child's face lit up.
"Yes, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" He hugged the tiny package to his chest with tiny red, raw fingers.
His flesh glove was back home-- he had never felt comfortable wearing it, and could pass as human with the work gloves he wore everyday. If he took them off...
"Here, kid. Wear these-- unless you want frostbite." He waited for the recoil.
But the boy just blinked, confused. "Are you sure?"
He must have noticed it by now. "I'll be fine. Just be sure to watch where you're going on the way home, okay?"
The gloves were roughly twice the size of his hands, but he beamed gratefully. "Thank you!" And with that, he was gone, but not before shouting "Merry Christmas!" as he dashed off.
As Albert walked back to the truck, he tried figuring out what had just happened. He never noticed. He just... acted like I'm as normal as he is.
But as he turned the keys in the ignition, he supposed it was only fair. After all, he had given the boy a gift, and he had given him one in return.