Vin Tanner stared at the item resting on his desk pad and a small frown furrowed his brow. He looked about the empty, dimly lit area and his frown deepened slightly. It was the day after Christmas and while the team had the week off until New Year’s, he had stopped on his way to his Purgatorio apartment to retrieve the bill for his auto insurance from his desk.
He moved closer and eyeing the item, cautiously reached out to run one long finger over the rough reddish surface. His observant gaze quickly swept the large room. The windows were all intact, so it had not been an instrument of vandalism. It intrigued him for it looked as though it had been deliberately placed in the center of his work space.
Moving around it cautiously and seeing no trip wire, no signs of a trap or any way for the object to cause him harm, he carefully picked up the item. It was heavy and cold in his hand and he turned it over, seeing the faint hint of green on one side. Vin continued to stare at the heavy object for several long moments shaking his head in puzzlement before he noticed the small square of paper which had been tucked under the item.
Placing the item aside, he picked up the page and unfolding it, immediately recognized the precise, exact scripting which lined the page.
"He had nothing to give, so from the wall he lived behind, he found the bricks which were the greenest with moss, and cut them out with a mason’s bit and gave the most beautiful to his friends, a green sided brick for each friend, and soon his wall was gone...." **
His blue eyes misted and a smile tugged at his lips as he whispered "Merry Christmas, Ez."
*******
Ezra Standish, remembering he had left his briefcase and files at the office when he had stormed out the previous week, slowly made his way from the elevator to the oddly quiet headquarters of what had privately become thought of as the Elite Seven.
It was the week after Christmas and all fences had been mended and he had to admit, if only to himself, the holiday had been truly wonderful.
Still smiling, he approached his desk and his steps slowed. Something was on his desk. Something under a draped piece of plain paper. The others teased Ezra about the fact even when buried under a mountain of paperwork his desk somehow looked immaculate so this strange object was definitely an attention getter.
A frown came to his face as he moved closer, and seeing no signs of trip wires or other hurtful devices, he pulled his chair out and sank into it, his green eyed gaze still centered on the covered item.
Gifts were still an oddity to him and he was puzzled about who would have left something here. The team had their gift exchange at Chris’ and surely, no one else would have bought him a present.
Even if he could think of someone who would have left him a Christmas present, only the men he worked with had access to these facilities.
Realizing he would receive no answers from staring at the item, he reached out and gently tugged the paper away. It fell free to the floor and there, settled on his desk was a small circular chrome item, with smaller circles set inside each previous ring. Touching it, they each spun independently.
With a soft smile he realized there were seven rings....
The corner of a piece of paper peeked from under the base and he withdrew it, unfolding it. The words were block printed, as if the writer had tried to disguise his familiar handwriting, but Ezra recognized the stationary immediately.
His green eyes softened still further.
"He thought friendship was an item to flout,
He drew a circle that cut me out.
But love and I had wit to win,
We drew a circle that took him in..."**
He glanced over at the Texan’s desk and smiled at the sight of the old red brick placed next to the tracker’s monitor. With gentle fingers, he moved to place the circles beside his own monitor. It had been a wondrous Christmas, and one he would never forget.
THE END
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**Authors’ unknown but due credit is given. I learned these years ago and have never forgotten them