None of the Hallmark Christmas movies had helicopter rides that Moonie had seen. She sits with Maverick, hand combing through his tangled, wet golden hair in the darkness as they wait for Benedict, Marcellus, and Darlington to return from the roof.

Callie coughs, wet and loud. She coughs and coughs and starts to puke again.

"We're almost there," Moonie whispers, her voice to quiet to be heard over the sound of Callie's sickness. "We're so close."

The door opens, and the three men return. Tempest pulls herself to her feet and steps closer. Darlington doesn't approach her, holding the door open. Two paramedics follow behind them, entering the room.

One approaches Moonie. She leans in close, "can I have a look at him?"

Moonie nods, leaning back. Maverick's head is still in her lap. Her eyes flicker across his face as the paramedic places the back of her hand over his lips, and then begins to rub his chest with her knuckles. Maverick groans, makes a pained attempt to push away the hand.

The other paramedic begins to assess Callie. Galilee stands nearby, body pin straight. Jerry whistles and she turns her head. He nods, and so she approaches him. He pats the spot next to him, and she joins him on the ground.

"It's not too late for me to throw you out a window," he grins. "Maybe a bit too late for a pipe bomb."

Galilee smiles. She's shivering, arms covered in goosebumps. Jerry grabs the blanket on his lap and tosses half of it over to her.

Before this, they never the RAs of 6E and 6W never had slumber parties. Famously, Jerry didn't have slumber parties before now. With the building in this state, they might not be able to come back after Christmas.

"After the break, you should teach me how to play some of your video games," Galilee says.

Jerry doesn't nod. He blinks blankly. He grabs a coat he had balled up to make a pillow and chucks it at Galilee. She catches it, barely, and then wraps it around her shoulders.

It won't be fun to play with her. She'll suck, surely, but at least she will be there.

Just a few feet away, Marcellus and Elodie stand shoulder to shoulder.

"Do you think it's still Christmas?" she whispers to him.

Marcellus nods. The paramedics had wished them all a happy holidays when they first got off the helicopter. Marcellus had snorted, and in response Benedict had glared at him. Then, Marcellus looks over at her, "does it matter?"

She shrugs, "just trying to decide if this is the best Christmas in my life."

The guilt washes clean off him, as clean as he can get when the smell of flood water lingers on his skin, when he's in a shirt that has stopped smelling sweet like Elodie and has started to reek of his own sweat. This is her best Christmas too.

"Not many presents top a helicopter rescue," he agrees. He leans closer to her, bumping his shoulder against hers. She bumps it back.

"Once we are out..." Marcellus trails off. He swallows.

He's worried about the fishbowl. The snow globe. How everything in it is so contained, how the snow sparkles inside of it the way it doesn't once you leave. Breeching containment. He doesn't know what he is with Elodie, and before a few days ago, it didn't matter what they were. Suddenly, it does.

"You don't have to trail off," she leans in close. "I want to hear it."

"It's just sentimental garbage."

She grins, "finally. I was worried we didn't have it in us."

Leaning against the wall, Ro watches the others around her. Jerry and Galilee sit across from one another, sparkles in both of their eyes. Paramedics attend to Maverick and Callie. Maybe Elodie doesn't think anyone can notice, but Ro sees her pinkie finger wrapped around Marcellus'. Still propping the door open, Darlington's back is turned to her. Ro can make out the tight eyebrows on Tempest's face.

Ro gets up and walks over to Benedict. She stands beside him neither initially making a move to speak. She clears her throat and he sighs, "what?"

"They don't have room for us all, do they?" Ro asks.

Benedict shifts his weight between his legs, grimacing. It doesn't help the pain. The paramedics saw the blood stains, but he insisted there were people in worse condition.

"Right now, they are only going to take people in emergency need while they fly between the buildings," Benedict whispers. "They've already been to Burns Hall, but they've still got Webster and Townsend, and Hadley's in Food Services."

Ro clenches her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering. So, it is not soon. At the very least, it is not now. She walks down the hall. With no one watching him, Benedict allows himself to wince at the sharp pain in his knees. Ro slams the lounge door shut behind her.

Out of the windows, she stares at campus. It is dark now, and so the snow isn't blinding. From here, Ro should be able to see the place where they all jumped outside and played in the snow. There should be the snowman that she made, even if it is covered in ice, but it's buried now, certainly. They are making it out, but not now.

Only does Benedict finally move when the paramedic starts to get Maverick on his feet. Moonie and the man aren't strong enough to lift the goliath of a man. The other paramedic comes too, and tries to prop them up.

Darlington doesn't help. He's facing Tempest, still holding the door open, as she stares at him.

"You're being stubborn," he insists. "Go with them."

"Martyrdom sucks, Damien," she shoves her hands into the pockets of her coat so he can't see them shake. "I only have room for one martyr in my life anyway."

He tries not to smile, but she makes it so hard. He leans forward and kisses her forehead, "I just... if I leave with you, Marcellus is going to tease me for the rest of my life."

A week ago, Darlington wouldn't have imagined implying that he'd know Marcellus forever. Maybe, he won't. In all likelihood, after Damien graduates, he'll have no reason to talk to the coworkers in this building, most of whom don't like him. Some part of him thinks that even though he doesn't really know Marcellus, none of them will ever really be strangers again.

Tempest takes Darlington's hand. Each of her fingers intertwines with his as she holds it. She should have thought more before she agreed to all of this. The pair of them together are so committed to suffering on the behalf of others that all they ever will do is suffer together. Maybe that's all she can ask for.

It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be.

In the end, Callie and Maverick are the only ones who board the helicopter. There are a few from Burns Hall and Greer House already there, and Callie says hello. Maverick is too out of it to respond. During the rides between the next few buildings, she holds his hand and peers out into the dark night. The lights on the helicopter illuminate the snow. It glistens, sparkles, and Callie wishes Galilee were here to see it, because she'd understand what Callie means when she says she wants to create things that are beautiful despite how they destroy, things that are beautiful because they are ruinous, and to ruin all beautiful things herself. She wants to make a portrait of their isolation and contain it. And then she wants to break it.

~~~~~

This was short, but it was just meant to be a writing exercise. Thank you to the request from brokenglvss ! I'm also incorporating golden-rebel , ceaseless-watchr , and ladyqueenish 's ideas here, so thank you all! I've missed my Defeatism peeps so much haha