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The thing about making plans, especially with the lives they lead, is that you have to make them assuming everything will inevitably go to shit.
And it does.
Why wouldn’t it? Why would they suddenly catch a break now of all times? Men like them, soldiers in a specialized taskforce, don’t get to enjoy something as mundane and unimportant as Christmas. Not when the fate of the world is, once again, in their hands.
And after they, yet again, keep fate at bay, they can’t just go home and rest together, curled up next to a twinkling tree with warm mugs in their hands as they watch a movie. No, that’d be too good of fortune for them. Instead, they need to be stuck in a safe house in the middle of the forest, high on a mountain, with a blizzard preventing exfil from reaching them.
But Gaz will be damned if he lets any of that stop him from celebrating the holiday with his partners. He prepared for this exact possibility the moment Price let them know it was wheels up an hour before the clock struck midnight Christmas Eve. Add on the location and time of year? He figured they wouldn’t be making it back to base before Christmas morning.
So he squeezed a few nonessentials in his gear after a frenzied 20 minute arts and crafts session, nearly taking a chunk out of his finger with the scissors. The decorations are nothing fancy, but they’ll do.
Now, after hiking away from the enemy base Soap left empty and smoldering, and finally shut in the cozy cabin they’ll be occupying for the foreseeable future, Gaz sets to work.
He’d managed to cut down a sizeable branch from one of the many evergreens on his quest for extra firewood to let dry while they used the pile already in the house. The others were busy boiling water and preparing dinner when he returned, shivering and covered in snow, allowing him to sneak the ‘tree’ into the corner of the one bedroom in the place with the excuse of changing his wet clothes.
He hangs the paper ornaments he made before they left base on the twigs of the branch, now leaned on the wall and tapes some snowflakes up around it. He also strings some small fairy lights, complete with batteries around the pitiful thing. Last touch are the five small stockings he brought, each containing the favorite candies of him and his partners, that he places beneath. It’s not much, but it’ll hopefully be enough to become a fond memory down the road.
With a final check to make sure everything is in order, he turns to get the others.
They’re still in the main room and kitchen, MREs ready to eat with cups of tea steaming next to them. Soap gives him a small smile when he joins them, resting his head on his shoulder when Gaz stands next to him.
“No’ quite the Christmas dinner I was hopin’ fer, but it’ll do,” he says, kissing Gaz’s cheek.
Gaz returns one to the side of his head, arm wrapped around his waist.
“Just glad we’re all together in one piece,” he replies.
They eat quickly, not having much to savor and hunger ripping at their stomachs. Once finished, Gaz clears his throat, standing.
“I have something for you all,” he says, oddly nervous once all eyes are on him. The others stand too as he starts toward the bedroom, following silently.
He opens the door, letting them enter in front of him. He heart leaps at the quiet gasps that filter out of the room.
“It’s not much,” he says as he joins them, frowning as he notices the ‘tree’ has slid a bit down the wall it’s propped up on. “But I didn’t want us to miss out on our first Christmas together”.
Price wraps him in a warm hug, lips pressed firmly against his head.
“It’s perfect,” he whispers, eyes suspiciously shiny as he smiles at him.
“Can’t believe you did this for us,” Roach adds, joining the embrace.
Soap and Ghost follow suit, the lieutenant nodding, words evading him. Gaz squeezes his hand behind Soap’s back, aware what this gesture means to him.
It's not what they imagined their first Christmas would be, but as they lean against each other, passing candy back and forth, talking and laughing as they admire their little tree, they can’t help but feel this is the best one any of them have ever had.