Christmas in the Swamp
JoeR
A/N Joe (and Allie) say thanks to Beta Gil
December 24, 2006

"It's not fair," Lucas said. "The Manor is all decorated for Christmas and we can all decorate our own rooms if we want, but she hasn't got anything. And even if she did have decorations, she couldn't really put them up herself. Can't we do something to surprise her?"

Joe smiled at his mate. "Your soft heart is one of the things I love about you, baby. That and your unique approach to life. I think this falls into both categories." He grinned. "But you're right. It's not fair. Let's gather some supplies and go and spread some festive cheer. Get Lockheed to come and help and I'll pack some food while you get the decorations." Lucas kissed Joe happily and then ran off to get his share of the supplies.

They met up in the foyer an hour later, and Lucas took advantage of the mistletoe hung there to grab Joe for a quick but thorough kiss. Then he whistled to Lockheed and they headed across the grounds towards the swamp.

Allie was indulging in her favourite hobby, playing log, when she heard some splashing coming from the edge of the swamp. Swimming over to see if some of her friends had come to visit, she saw Lucas and Kitty greeting Nessie. Joe was watching and Lockheed was hovering and scanning the swamp. He merped happily when he saw her coming and flew down to greet her.

She wasn't sure what they were doing there, but she swam over and climbed onto the bank so Joe could scratch between her eyes just the way she liked. He opened a nice smelly basket and tossed her some steak.

"Happy Christmas, Allie," he told her. "Lucas wants to decorate your swamp for you so it's all Christmassy; is that all right with you?"

She roared happily and slapped her tail in the edge of the water.

"I'll take that as a yes," Joe said with a grin. He tossed her some more food. "You just sit there and enjoy your food and we'll do the work. Growl if we do something you don't like."

Lucas started pulling decorations out of the box he'd brought with him. He started by handing Lockheed sprays of holly and strings of ivy to wrap around the bare branches on the trees. Then Joe helped him hang popcorn strings and cookie decorations from the branches they could reach, so that as well as looking pretty Allie could help her bird friends by feeding them.

"Lockheed, if we let you help with this, can you promise not to eat them?" Joe asked.

The dragon nodded eagerly and merped. Fluttering down to land on Joe's shoulder, he whispered, "Don't you trust me?" Then he giggled and flitted off again. Joe shook his head and grumbled about pesty dragons, but gave him some of the decorations to hang anyway.

"OK what else did we have, Lucas?" he asked.

"I asked Jack if he would bring some of the heavier stuff," Lucas smiled. "I know he likes Allie, so I thought he'd help."

"Which Jack?" Joe asked. "There's way too many Jacks in the clans."

"Bauer. He likes talking to Allie," Lucas explained.

Joe looked back towards the Manor and sure enough the big, bad, CTU agent was dragging something large towards them and had strings of Christmas lights strung around him like a belt.

"Man, I wish I had a camera," Joe said softly. "No one is going to believe this."

"Where do you want the stuff, kid?" Jack asked. "Hey, Allie. Having fun?"

The gator splashed her tail again and Lucas started directing Jack and Joe like a general directing his troops.

First they set up a tree in a large pot, which was the large thing Joe had seen Jack dragging. Then Lockheed helped them string the lights around it.

"How are they going to work?" Joe asked. "We're not going to find a plug socket out here."

Jack just grinned and pulled a really long extension cord from over his shoulder. "We're gonna use this. Just have to unroll it. He connected it to the lights and then tossed it at Lockheed, nearly making him fall off the branch he was perched on. "Fly that back to the Manor, unrolling as you go. Plug it in in one of the garages; Nick won't mind."

A few minutes later the pretty silver lights came on and Allie growled in pleasure.

"You like the shiny lights?" Joe asked. "And now that you have a tree, there's somewhere for Santa to leave your presents." He smiled and pulled some packages out of the bag. "These are for you and this one is for the gator hubby; a little bird told me you have one hidden in the swamp somewhere. Happy Christmas, Allie. We'll come and visit over the holidays, I promise. It's not fair to just because everyone's busy up at the Manor." He tossed Allie the last of the steaks and kissed Lucas gently. "This was a good idea, love. See you later Allie."

They walked back to the Manor, leaving Jack talking to the alligator, the lights on the tree twinkling in the growing darkness and Allie's growls echoing in the swamp.

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