Disclaimer We own very little, especially not CSI New York

Notes Welcome to the first story on this account! We are lily moonlight and Blue Shadowdancer, and this is our first collaborative project, based on the song, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Each chapter will be based on one verse, and posted daily. We very much hope that you enjoy reading, and please do review and share your thoughts on it with us!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree

Christmas day

Stella washed into Mac's office, borne on a tide of Christmas songs which gushed out of an unknown speaker system. On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me... She shut the door firmly behind her, and shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake the sound from her ears. A long scene inside a convenience store playing a 'festive' six-track loop the day before had left her with little tolerance for the music.

"What is that?" she asked, staring at Mac's desk.

He grinned. "It's my Christmas present from Danny. Isn't it… nice?"

"Yes. Yes, it's very lovely." She gingerly poked the stuffed polar bear, sporting a Santa hat and scarf, both of which were gratuitously decorated with glittering fake holly.

"Squeeze its paw."

"Do I have to?" She complied reluctantly. From somewhere within the bear's body emanated a tinny recording of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, and its head jerked in time with the rhythm. "Mac, I think it's having a seizure."

He laughed. "Glad that it's not just me to think that. I'm sorry that you're stuck in the lab over Christmas."

"No problem. Someone has to be, after all. Anyway, it's been nice and slow all morning; I've done a lot of catching up." She glanced around, out of the window, into the grey sky, and told herself that she wasn't missing anything by not sitting alone in her apartment, watching Christmas Day television.

"Same." He glanced at his watch. "It's gone three. We should stop for lunch."

"What do you suggest, Christmas dinner in the break room?"

"Well, there are turkey sandwiches in the vending machine. That could count as festive…"

Stella raised her eyebrows, as the telephone on his desk rang. He lifted the handset. "Taylor." His body stiffened and he straightened up. "Thanks," he said finally. "We'll be there."

"We've got a case, haven't we?" Stella asked as he hung up.

He nodded. "Afraid so. Downtown, home invasion."

"Well, I suppose at least now there's a reason for us to have been in."

Mac was pulling on his coat. "When we get back, you can open your present from Danny." He gestured to an inexpertly wrapped parcel sitting on the windowsill.

Stella sighed. "I can hardly wait."

-

"The street seems so..."

"Empty?" Mac suggested.

Nearly all of the citizens of New York were apparently enjoying Christmas day inside, and the two of them had the streets almost to themselves. The light was already dying, and thick clouds the colour of a fading bruise hung heavy over the skyline, weighted down with the promise of snow.

As predicted, the home invasion had not taken long. Merely a matter of collecting photographs and smeared fingerprints, both knowing that there was very little chance that the perpetrator would be caught unless he was already in the system. "I feel sorry for that couple," Stella said sadly. "To have your Christmas wrecked like that."

Mac stopped, and turned face her. "What did your Christmases used to be like? When you were younger?"

She shrugged, and her eyes clouded with the distance of memory. "They were... busy. I mean, there was a tree, of course, but it was for all of us to share. And so were presents that hadn't come from our friends. I spent so long, just imagining what it would be like, having Christmas with my parents, and brothers, sisters..." She paused, and smiled sadly. "It's funny, but I always assumed that by this time I'd have a family Christmas of my own. You know, tree, presents, roast turkey, carols on the radio, all that sort of stuff." She smiled, and spread her hands, as if shrugging off a foolish idea, but something of it still lingered inside her holly-green eyes, a thorn that had not yet lost its sting.

Mac's eyes were quietly understanding. "It's a bit late for a tree, I think, but I've got you a present, back in my office."

She grinned, light returning to her face. "I've got one for you, too. It's quite similar to Danny's, actually."

"Liar."

"Well, perhaps you're right, " she conceded. No longer walking, she balled her fingers into fists to try and keep them warm. Her breath puffed out in white tendrils of mist. The bitter coldness of the air sharpened the sounds of the city around them, but also seemed to isolate them from it, the two of them alone together within a frozen forest of metal and concrete.

He put a hand on her shoulder, cautiously, almost nervously. "Stella..."

"Help!" someone yelled. "Help me!"

The two of them spun around instantly, hands flying instinctively to their holsters, as their eyes scoured the street for the source of the sound. "What..."

"Help!" came again, and this time they saw the man, racing headlong towards them down the sidewalk, chasing headlong after something that was a brown blur ahead of him. "Catch it! Someone!"

A glance sparked between the two of them, and they both moved to intercept, Stella crouched in the object's path with her hands outstretched, and Mac poised on the balls of his feet. Now they could see what it was - a brown bird, head pumping in and out of its neck as it made its break for freedom. Hurtling straight for them.

At the very last second, it swerved away. Mac threw himself forward in a rugby tackle. His hands closed around the ball of feathers as his body hit the paving slabs, and he rolled sideways. Into the road.

"Mac!" Stella screamed, and lunged for him, grabbing one of the lapels of his coat, and pulling him backwards. A taxi sped part, its front wheel almost clipping his skull, and its horn sounded furiously. "What on earth were you doing?!" she yelled furiously, over its din. "You could have got yourself killed!"

The man had now reached them, and was bent double, panting for breath, and managing to look rather shamefaced at the same time. Mac straightened up, the bird cradled within his palms. "It's yours?" he asked.

"Yeah," the man gasped out, between gulps of air. "Sorry. It was the centrepiece at my party. You know, in a pear tree. It's a partridge..." He trailed off. Stella was still glaring, her eyes bright with indignation, and Mac appeared to be trying not to laugh.

"Well, you'd better have your partridge back."

The man took it, carefully. It seemed completely unconcerned by all that had happened. "I need to be getting back home with it. Before it tries to escape again. Thank you very much!"

"It's fine," Mac said. "Just keep a closer eye on it!"

"I intend to! Merry Christmas!" He set off at a jog, back towards where he had appeared from. Mac and Stella watched until he was out of earshot, and then turned to each other.

"That was… interesting!" Mac exclaimed, laughing.

"What do you think the others will say when we tell them about it?" Stella asked, smirking slightly.

Mac began to dust down his coat. "I'm sure that Flack will say something about a bird in the hand..."

She laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, we should be getting back. It'll be dark soon."

-

It was dark by the time they arrived back outside the lab. The snow that had threatened was finally beginning to fall, thick white flakes fluttering down through the darkening skies.

"I'll get coffee, shall I?" Stella suggested, noticing an enterprising vendor's stall still open for business. She released Mac's arm. "I'll meet you inside."

He turned and waved to her as he climbed the steps, his hair and shoulders now speckled with white. Someone had hung a wreath on the door. As if it were a home.

The snow continued to float down, spreading a thin quilt over the ground, as she paid for the coffee and wished the vender a merry Christmas,. From somewhere, perhaps an open window, a snatch of music drifted, one of the Christmas songs which she had become so infuriated with over the recent days. But something about the setting made her stop, listen to this one, appreciate it. On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me...

Her cell phone beeped, and she pulled it from her pocket and read the text message. It was from Mac.

Where are you?

She looked up, through the dark night sky, to the lighted windows, yellow as pears. One in particular.

"I'm coming," she whispered.

Please review! Next chapter up tomorrow, we'd love to know what you think! Thanks, Lily and Blue