Not quite a date but a Caesar/Beverly story for Christmas.

I do not own.

Beverly and Circe sat in Providence cafeteria looking through gift catalogs.

"Ugh, he's so hard to shop for." Beverly groaned as she tossed her catalog onto the table. "I've got no idea what to get him for Christmas."

"Rex is easy to shop for." Circe told her. "He's just happy with anything you give him."

Beverly rubbed her eyes. "What do you get a guy who wants nothing?"

"That's not true." Circe replied.

"Huh?" Beverly looked at her quizzically.

"Everyone wants something. It just might not be something you can buy." Circe pointed out.

Beverly thought about it for a second. "You know you're right." She jumped up. "Thanks! You're a genius."

"Tell that to Rex." She called out as Beverly disappeared through the sliding the doors.

"Tell me what?" Rex popped up behind her.

"I'm a genius." She said in deadpan voice.

Rex burst into laughter but then stopped when he caught her look. "I mean… of course, you're a genius. Not like Doc but in your own special type of genius of not science-y things but like… Oh hey, there's Six. Isn't it time to train?" Rex hurried to his mentor who had just stepped into the room.

Six didn't answer as Rex grabbed his arm and ushered him out of the cafeteria. His look, however, was withering.

"Either I'm going to kill him or Six will." Circe grunted as she went back to looking at her catalog.

0o0

One week later:

Holiday always set up a communal tree in her lab. She had been doing it ever since Rex showed up at their doorstep. The number of ornaments that hung on the tree grew over the years as some of the grunts started bringing in their own ornaments to hang on the tree.

On the request of her sister, she recruited Caesar to help her decorate. She had no idea why as Caesar did not have any aesthetic sense. She also wondered where her sister was. Caesar was starting to work her try her patience as he insisted on placing the ornaments in a symmetrical pattern. She tried to explain that it would look better if the ornaments were placed randomly. But he had started to sort the ornaments. Holiday left him to his devices as she strung the lights around the tree.

"Hey, sis!" Beverly bounded in. Her arms were behind her back. "Oh, the lights look good."

"Hello, Bev." She stopped short of asking her where she had been.

"Caesar," She said coyly.

The scientist looked up to see a package in front of his face. "What's this?" He asked.

"Usually, I'd wait till Christmas but I couldn't wait. And I think you could use it right now." She said mysteriously.

Caesar looked at her curiously as he took the gift-wrapped box from her hands. Beverly impatiently watched as he meticulously pulled the take from edges and carefully unfolded the paper from around the box. When the paper had been set aside, he opened the box. He looked in the box.

"Do you like it?" She asked nervously at his expressionless face.

0o0

Earlier that week:

Beverly rummaged through a box of knick knacks that she kept under her bed. She pulled out an old rusty tin star. She had forgotten about it. Abuela had given it to her. She said it was Caesar's when he was a little boy. It was his special Christmas ornament that they had picked up at a local artisan shop. They left it with Abuela when they traveled and whenever they came at Christmas, Abuela brought out his special ornament for him to hang on the tree. Over the years, it had gotten banged up, the string had been replaced several times, and the color faded.

She lifted it to the light. The light reflected over the few shiny areas it still had. She smiled.

0o0

"Abuela gave it to me last Christmas. She said it was yours. I had it restored so you can hang it on the tree again." Beverly babbled anxiously. Caesar hadn't moved from his spot and his face didn't change.

Beverly stopped talking. She wasn't sure if she had somehow offended him for touching a childhood relic or if perhaps it brought back any painful memories.

After a while, he looked up at her.

"Mami, Papi and I were in town at a tianguis*. They were shopping for Christmas presents. I wandered off and got lost. I was scared. An ambulante* found me and kept me calm until my parents found me. Before we left, he gave me this ornament to remind me that I'll always be found."

Beverly nodded. Caesar rarely talked about his childhood.

"That's nice of him." She said quietly trying not to break the mood.

"Si, I never saw him again. The next year he wasn't at the market." Caesar said.

"But you always have the ornament to remember him by." Beverly said.

"Whenever we go back to Abuela's, I would hang the ornament on the highest branch that I could reach." He stood up and placed the ornament on the tree. "Every time I saw it, I knew that I was ok." He stood looking at the star that glittered in the light.

Beverly stepped next to him to get a better glimpse at the tin ornament she had restored. She felt his arm slip around her waist. She snaked hers around his.

Rebecca knew it was a special moment for them and had slipped out.

"Gracias*." He said turning to her

"De nada." She replied with a smile.

He bent down and kissed her while the lights on the tree twinkled.

* tianguis is an open market in Mexico.

*ambulantes: merchants at the the tianguis

*gracias: thank you

*de nade: you're welcome