Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ya'll. Hope everyone has a great holiday. Next time I talk to all of you will probably be in 2016, so that'll be pretty cool... Thanks for all the reviews and thanks as always FGaT for cowriting and probably pulling more of the weight than is your job. Sorry I never have too much to write. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!
When he was young Ezekiel often wondered what an actual Christmas would feel like, as the most of a Christmas he'd ever had was for show in front of others for good publicity. His father didn't allow his mother and himself indulge in such joys as Christmas, or any joys for that matter.
In his youth, he quickly grew to despise Christmas. Ezekiel was always hearing the other children in school chattering about it merrily about expected presents while knowing when he returned home it would be a holiday from hell. He had learned not to expect anything from anyone because it only led to disappointment. It was still that way for him now, even as an adult.
The past two weeks had been very stressful and uncomfortable for Ezekiel, who was avoiding Stone whilst in a silent, unspoken battle with him. Jones wasn't able to go without his painkillers and quickly assured that he replaced the pills Stone had taken from him. Most nights though, when he returned to his room to take them, he would find them missing, despite his increasingly difficult hiding places. If Jake wanted him to feel awful, he was doing a great job.
Increasingly more often, a thought pushed at the back of his mind: What if he needed to replace the pills with something else? Something stronger? Would he be able to keep it from Stone? And keep Stone from telling the others? He ignored the thought pushed through his splitting headache to focus on preparing for their most recent mission.
He was currently helping Cassandra decorate the Annex. By helping her decorate, he was actually just holding the boxes of decorations, but she seemed happy so that was enough for him. He turned away for a moment but when he turned back, he saw Jake wink at Cassandra as she smiled at him in excitement. Ezekiel felt a fire rise inside of him as he thought of them in a relationship. Ezekiel's increasingly dark and gloomy thoughts were pushed away as Baird stormed in complaining of Christmas cheer and messy desks.
"Oh no, really?! We have to do this here? Why are you all so into...this anyway?" She asked with a wave of the hand around the decorated Annex.
"By this do you mean, the most joyous holiday of the year?" Cassandra asked.
"It's good family fun. Nieces and nephews ripping through presents, Grandparents singing. I get to see my cousins once a year. Go out, play some pool, maybe get into a bar brawl or two on Christmas Eve." He smirked while he continued to wrap presents.
"A Christmas Eve bar brawl?" Cassandra asked curiously.
"Yeah. Oh I miss it." He smiled as he reminisced about the past.
"My parents felt that it would stunt the development of my intellectual rigor to expose me to supernatural fallacies during during my formative years." Colonel Baird chuckled lightly. "They told me Santa wasn't real at a very young age." Jake looked up at Cassandra questioningly. When she held up a three on her fingers, his eyes seemingly popped out of his head in disbelief. "I just wish that I had at least a little while to believe."
"Jones, don't tell me you're buying into all this?" Sourly asking Ezekiel, Baird looked at him questioningly.
"I actually love Christmas. All of those valuables lying around. Clearly marked by wrapping paper and bows…" Jones retorted dreamily as he picked up one of Jake's perfectly wrapped presents. He might hate the actual Christmas part of Christmas but the thieving opportunities were helpful. Since he had been stabbed by the thief he was much weaker, though still a very good thief, therefore the valuable things sitting around was much easier on his body.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Stone glance at him in disbelief as he smacked a gift out of Jones' hands. Apparently since he had figured out one of Ezekiel's weaknesses he thought he was secretly 'sensitive' or something? Jones almost laughed. He'd like to see Stone go through what he had in life and try to give a damn. No, the world could use some payback for the way it had treated Li J- Ezekiel Jones. Then again, if he were the world, he probably would have treated himself the same way.
"Oh come on, that's all just an act. I know there's good inside of you." Cassandra told him with a slight smile.
"Yeah, there are days where I…" He put down a present as Stone spun his scissors threateningly at him, "Wish I could see what it's like to be the good guy…" Trailing off Ezekiel thought it odd of himself to have told the others that, but dismisses it as a disgruntled Jenkins enters and makes for a distressed visage. They listen in concern as he rants about Christmas being canceled to the three confused librarians and the one excited Baird.
"…Because Santa Claus has disappeared, follow me." Finishing his sentence in one breath, Jenkins hastens to a different room.
"What!?" Cassandra exclaims joyously in a very high pitched voice, and the three scurried after Jenkins. Baird trailing behind unenthusiastically.
As always, Jenkins debriefed them as Cassandra was nearly crying with her excitement at finding out that Santa was in fact real, and Baird avidly protested to the credibility of his name. Ezekiel thought it was cute how excited she had been. Every kid deserved the magic of Santa, even if it was only for a very short time like his.
Cassandra and Stone went off to the 'scene of the crime' and Ezekiel did his best not to let his temper on that get the best of him and take it out on the innocent Colonel Baird and Jenkins.
Quickly hacking into security cams of the soup kitchen, Jones discreetly checked Baird's and Jenkins' reactions to see if they were shocked by his actions. Their faces were impassive so he decided he had not just revealed an important hidden talent. He searched the tapes for a while, trying to find anything odd.
"What exactly are you looking for, Jones?" Baird demanded of him, not enjoying not knowing something.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm looking for any discrepancies, anything outta place and all, y'know? Something like someone dragging a big man with a white beard out the door…" Jones responded absently, his seemingly practiced eyes glued to the screen. The last part was muttered under his breath, but both of the other occupants of the room heard it anyway.
"It is highly unlikely that Santa Claus is actually a large man with a long white beard. No, more likely than not, he is just a normal looking man, with the spirit of the Santa Claus that the world has grown to know and love." Jenkins explained in his normal logical frenzied speech.
"Still not calling him Santa." Baird interjected exasperatedly. Jones snorted in amusement at her comments. He still didn't look away from the screen though, skipping forward in the videos a bit. Cassandra and Stone stormed through the doorway and came closer to them.
"Santa's not missing, he was grabbed." Stone told them gravelly. Typing more things into his keyboard, Ezekiel frowned as he came up with nothing yet again.
"Local surveillance cameras use wifi, so I popped up the hard drives… There's no sign of him." Jones told them quickly, still banging commands into his keyboard.
"People that grabbed him. Tattoos. Joe Blakes. Snakes." Grim expressions set on all of their faces at Stone's words.
"Serpent Brotherhood." The word was uttered by Colonel Baird to a stunned room. Ezekiel found another file he hadn't checked yet and pulled it up. There were two people on it; he chose to study the man on the right, committing his features to memory and looking for anything suspicious or telling about him.
"It's him…" Cassandra stated in a hushed tone.
"Him who?" Ezekiel asked. His focus still on the dark haired man to the right.
"From the Serpent Brotherhood… You all met Lamia, but I'm the only one who meet him… He's the boss. Um… Dulaque." She informs the others breathlessly. Glass shattering covered Ezekiel's horrified gasp. His attention shifted to the other man on the screen, a hat pulled low on his face, but sure enough… It was him. It was Dulaque. The thief.
"Dulaque! Of course that's what he's calling himself.. Of course." Jenkins exclaimed. He ignored whatever he had shattered and stomped over to the computer, wrenching the screen towards himself.
"Uh, quick question Jenkins… What the hell are you talking about?" Baird demanded of him. Jenkins' face took on a grave appearance as he thought of how to explain it. Ezekiel tried to hide his tremoring from the other librarians and hoped that if Stone noticed it he'd just think he was dealing with withdrawal.
"If Dulaque and the Serpent Brotherhood have Santa at least we know what happens next. Dulaque kills him. He kills Santa Claus!" Jenkins told them in disbelief.
"If they're going to kill him, they don't have to move him. They're still in London." Eve told them.
"Do you remember where Dulaque's office was the first time you were there?" Jake asked Cassandra brusquely.
"I didn't see his address. I was in the car. I was blindfolded." She told him, ignoring the accusatory tone coming from the man due to her past betrayal.
"Well that's a start. Better than a start. One thing every thief knows, London is the most heavily surveilled city in the world. Average person gets caught on camera at least 300 times a day." Ezekiel informed the group as he continued typing.
"But I think they'd be pretty careful not to catch Santa on camera." She told him as though it was obvious.
"Yeah, but what about you? On your first trip." He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of her face. "Were they that careful with you?" He smirked as he input the image into the security camera scanner. As it analyzed her face, Colonel Baird reached out and touched his shoulder gently. Jake noticed the man stiffen and smiled slightly.
"It's good having a thief." Baird told him warmly.
"Yeah, but there is still half a million cameras in London. We're going to have to narrow it down." Jake said doubtfully. Ezekiel rolled his eyes, naturally, Jake couldn't let him have his one moment in the spotlight.
"You've got a photographic memory. What did you get from your first visit?" Baird asked Cassandra.
"But I didn't see anything!" Cassandra retorted.
"Skip sight. Other senses." Baird told her whilst shrugging. Cassandra looked up at imaginary numbers and pictures.
"Okay…" She began. "We landed at Heathrow. We took a helicopter into the city."
"Not too many helicopter landing spots in the city." Ezekiel mumbled as he started to set the location.
"Helicopter… whirly bird…. Renewables Principle." Cassandra grew more and more unfocused.
"Cassandra listen. Focus. You've got this. Don't see it, just listen." Jake instructed her. Ezekiel glared over at him, but no one noticed due to the excitement.
"Okay…" She breathed. "We were high up. Then we drove! For five and a half minutes. And there was a bridge in the middle!" She told them, realization sparking through her voice.
"North or South." Ezekiel asked.
"The car was warmer on the right hand side, in the morning, so we were going North!" Jake smirked at the synesthete.
"Got a radius! And nicely for us, most of them are police and city cameras and they do not wipe their hard drives. So we're going to the police service-" Ezekiel was cut off.
"Is that even legal?" Jake asked monotonously from behind him.
"Not even remotely." Ezekiel let out his breath angrily at the man, but the others didn't seem to notice, however, Jake did. As the computer came closer, the street highlighted and blinked red.
"Got a street, not a building." Baird shook her head.
"It was really, really old." Cassandra informed them.
"Then we got it." Jake told them. Ezekiel didn't like how he said 'we' when it was him and Cassandra who did all of the work. "That's the Chamberlain House right there on that street. It's classic victorian, it was designed by Bevins. Very historical building."
Colonel Baird walked behind him, "Thought you were art, not architecture." Ezekiel chuckled slightly as he and Cassandra followed behind their guardian.
"Architecture is just art that we live in. Why doesn't anybody get that?" Jake grumbled as he zipped up his jacket, before following them to the back door. They decided that Jake and Baird would try to distract Lamia and Dulaque while Cassandra and Jones found and rescued Santa.
"Okay so here's the only problem, there is only one way into the room where Santa is…" Ezekiel looked up at the entrance before he groaned.
"Ladies first." He offered Cassandra his hand before helping her jump into the chimney. He followed suit. It was a tight squeeze but eventually they both tumbled from the chute, their clothes covered in ashes and soot. In the center of the room sat a man wearing a gray suit and a large red hat. He was tied to the chair with a gag in his mouth. Cassandra removed the gag while Ezekiel untied the man.
"Down the chimney. Well done!" The man laughed to Cassandra.
"You're Santa Claus!" Cassandra responded joyously.
"Indeed, Cassandra Cillian." He smiled warmly.
"Santa knows my name!" She giggled.
"You don't look like the pictures." Ezekiel finished untying his hands.
"Santa doesn't look like any of the pictures, but the pictures look like Santa, Ezekiel Jones." He said as he stood. Ezekiel looked at Cassandra in amazement.
"Santa knows my name." He told her, slightly confused.
"Oh you're in Santa's book." The man sort of intimidated Ezekiel, but he had no idea why. He almost felt as though he had to impress him.
"Same book as her?" Ezekiel nodded his head towards Cassandra. Santa looked at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to him, all while smiling in amusement.
"You've been a little naughty." Ezekiel looked down. Of course. No matter what, he would always be seen as the bad guy. The Santa that he dreamed about as a child would be the only person who truly understood him, and now Ezekiel discovered that even that was false. Just like everything else that he dreamed of as a child, it ended only in disappointment. Suddenly, they heard footsteps walking towards the room, so they ran out the door. Cassandra linked arms with Santa while Ezekiel walked ahead of them. They soon ran into Baird and Stone.
"It's Santa Claus… like the real one." Cassandra told the others giddily. Jake reached out to shake his hand, while Baird rolled her eyes.
"Jacob Stone, sir." Ezekiel snorted at his formality.
"Santa knows you. Both incarnations of you." Jacob's face fell slightly.
"Alright, get him to the nearest door Jenkins can open." Baird told them.
"No." Santa said suddenly. "Santa needs to be in the North Pole tonight. Santa needs his sleigh.
"Okay Santa, where'd you park your sleigh?" Baird groaned as she thought of all of the weird things she was saying now that she had taken this job.
"Santa hid it nearby. By the railroad tracks." Santa told her.
"And you're going to talk in the third person all day. Awesome." She said sarcastically before turning to team. "Alright, standard asset protection. They already believe you two have him," She pointed to Ezekiel and Cassandra. "Draw them off while I run the escort for transport." Jake and Cassandra took off, but Ezekiel remained where he was standing.
"How do we get their attention?" He asked. Baird grabbed the hat off of Santa's head and placed it on his own.
"Oh… This should be interesting." Santa chuckled but Ezekiel didn't notice. Baird nodded at him.
"You suck at being subtle. Work with that." She told him before pushing him towards the direction the other two walked in. Ezekiel had to laugh to himself. If he sucked at being subtle, she would have known that he had a troublesome past. Apparently he was better at being subtle than Colonel Baird had known. Suddenly, he felt an odd feeling from his head. It was warm and it sent a chill down his spine. He didn't think much of it as he loaded the car. Just as they drove away, he saw Lamia scramble out the door from the corner of his eye. She said something into a walkie-talkie before going back inside. They drove for a bit before they got out of the car and began walking.
They passed an older, homeless man who was asking for money. They had all walked by him when Ezekiel felt himself stop. Against his own will, he turned and walked back the man. The others watched in confusion as he pulled out his wallet and flung his money at the man. He smiled unconsciously as he felt Jake grab his wrist. Jake noticed that he didn't flinch or stiffen. Magic.
"What-what are you doing?" He asked. Ezekiel shook his head in an effort to clear his mind.
"Uh… I don't know." He followed back to where Cassandra was standing. She waved her arm behind them impatiently. He felt a slight twinge from his forehead. He would've taken the hat off, if they still weren't trying to lose Lamia. They walked around the block before running into a group of children who were skipping around a flight of steps while caroling. Before he even knew what was happening, Ezekiel had joined them. Jake watched with an obviously confused expression while Cassandra stood with a joyful smile on her face. As he round the corner, Ezekiel grabbed onto Jake's shoulder.
"Please. Kill me." He said, he could feel the tight smile that forced its way onto his face. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't frown.
He started skipping again as his legs worked against him and the words of the song flowed from his mouth like vomit. He hated being forced into things against his own will. That was literally his childhood in a nutshell. Cassandra worked her way between him and the children and managed to keep him moving on with the mission. She couldn't help but laugh as they walked. He couldn't stop being joyous, it was almost adorable. Jake didn't think it was quite as cute. He was actually a bit concerned. Magic was working its way over Ezekiel's mind was dangerous. Especially when his mind was in as fragile as a state as it had been in for the past few weeks. When they finally arrived at the Annex he burst through the door with a cheerful smile on his face.
"Colonel Baird got Santa out of London, but there's no way to get him to the North Pole in time." Jenkins huffed at them.
"How about we all just hold hands, bow our heads, and be grateful that we're all here safe, together." Ezekiel smiled as he grabbed Cassandra's hand. Jake pointed at him as if to ask what they should do about him. Jenkins just smiled in amusement. Ezekiel suddenly felt nauseous, the twinge in his head had turned into a full throbbing headache. "I don't feel so well." He dropped Cassandra's hand and walked away from the group. Suddenly, he felt himself smile again, rather than going to his bedroom to lie down, he felt his feet leading him to the kitchen. He suddenly felt the urge to make some cookies and hot chocolate.
"It's the hat… Christmas magic. You might want to tell him to take it off." Jenkins told Jake and Cassandra as they watched him march away in determination.
"Nah." Jake smirked. Now that he found out that the magic was harmless, he was okay with letting Ezekiel suffer a little.
"Wait does it have to be the North Pole?" Cassandra asked suddenly. "I mean, this is about ley lines, right? Santa releases the power at midnight, that power travels through the world using the ley lines."
"Yeah… and the northern ones are the most powerful, hence the legend of Santa, the North Pole, pole, polarity-" Jenkins informed her. Jake interrupted by trying to activate the globe by throwing it in the air and yelling 'FLYNN!'
"Okay." Cassandra chose to ignore him. "Um… I have an idea. But I'm gonna need satellite maps, a farmer's almanac," Cassandra breathed in deeply. "Plasma Quantum Dynamics charts…" She breathed in again, growing confused. "Also some of that… I'm sorry, do you smell hot chocolate?"
Jenkins smelled the air himself before noticing the man entering the room. Ezekiel was carrying a tray full of mugs of hot chocolate. He was wearing a very festive apron with white polka dots on the red background and a large holly berry on the front. As he placed it in front of the group who was trying to hold back their laughter, he smiled.
"Don't forget the cinnamon sticks." They heard a ding from the kitchen. "Ooh! Oven's ready for the cookies." He said excitedly, voice cracking with youth. Jake laughed to himself.
"Where do you reckon he got the apron?" He asked Jenkins who made a face that shouted 'Huh? That apron? I have no idea. What's an apron?' Ezekiel went back into the kitchen, put a tray of cookies in the oven, then slumped down at the table. Jake came into the kitchen and chuckled at the pitiful site.
"Haha. It's hilarious. My head's splitting." Ezekiel groaned.
"Doesn't that suck? If only you could be trusted with some advil. Luckily for you, I'm going to help you out. Here. Try not to take them all at once." Jake handed him a bottle of aspirin for babies.
"You're an ass, you know that?" Ezekiel put his head against the cool table.
"Yeah, but you're healthy. I'm doing my job properly." Jake patted his shoulder roughly, frowning at the flinch from the young man. "So… you know what my biggest Christmas wish is? For you to talk to me. Tell me what is going on."
"I don't know what you want me to tell you. You've figured out how I feel about Cassandra, you know a lot about my parents, although my dad-" Ezekiel was cut off by Jenkins.
"Mr. Stone, Winky the house elf, we've got Colonel Baird on the phone discussing the plan with Ms. Cillian so you might want to go listen." Ezekiel seemed all too happy to be out of the situation. Jake glared at Jenkins before continuing to walk away.
"I don't think we need to go all the way to the North Pole. I think we can tap in using the Northern Lights as a plasma conductor into the ley lines." Cassandra shouted into the line, knowing how difficult it was to hear using one of Jenkins' old phones.
"Why can't I stop stuffing?" Ezekiel asked in a clearly distraught voice. Jake couldn't help but smile at how terrified the kid seemed of Christmas spirit.
"We need the strongest possible aurora borealis," Jenkins ignored the cheerful thief. "Which happens…?"
"There." Cassandra pointed to a spot on the computer that zoomed in on a specific spot. "Somewhere over Alaska."
"How exactly am I supposed to get to Alaska." Baird could be heard from the phone receiver.
"No no no. It's alright. There is a commercial shipping airport near you." Jenkins told her.
"What part of 'out of gas' are we unclear on?" Baird asked.
"Colonel Baird, I will send Cassandra and Ezekiel ahead to arrange a plane to transport you to the site of the aurora borealis, and Mr. Stone will you…" Jenkins tapped the screen once again. "Here. Very small town, near you. He'll get a car and he will transport you to the airport. Good luck." He hung up. Cassandra grabbed Ezekiel's hand and together they made their way to the back door. Ezekiel tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach from the touch of Cassandra. The door opened to a snowy town in Alaska. Ezekiel drew his light jacket closer to his body.
"You're not really used to the cold, are you?" Cassandra laughed as she watched him blow warm air into his hands.
"We don't have a traditional winter in Australia. The weather is pretty much equivalent to your fall temperatures. I don't do snow." He smiled back at her. They found the airport and walked through the door. Unfortunately, Ezekiel could feel his mouth stretching into a fake, joker-like smile once again.
"Hi! Um… is that the plane being held for Colonel Baird?" Cassandra asked the man who stood waiting at the desk.
"Yeah it is. I'm your pilot." He said glumly. "Midnight flight on Christmas Eve, eh? Trying to see the sleigh? People do that sometimes." When Ezekiel saw the man's face he felt his own body bouncing in anticipation.
"Something wrong there mate? You don't seem to have the traditional holiday spirit." He heard Cassandra sigh from beside him.
"I promised my fiancee that we'd spend the evening together… then I got called on this flight." The man said sadly.
"Oh! Well we won't be long, so you'll have plenty of time to celebrate afterwards." Cassandra smiled, knowing what was going through Ezekiel's mind and praying that he would keep his mouth shut.
"Yeah, you're right. And I need the cash for the wedding." The man put on a fake smile and Cassandra shrugged in agreement. Then the only thing she didn't want to have happen, happened.
"But you'd really love to be with her right now, eh? I mean that'd be your Christmas wish?" Ezekiel asked with a large smile.
"More than anything." The man answered, full of passion. Ezekiel laughed to himself.
"No…" Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." He was arguing with himself.
"Ezekiel… Ezekiel no." Cassandra told him firmly, knowing the stakes.
"Go be with the one you love." He shook his head. "Don't listen to me." His face lit up again with false cheer. "Yes! We're okay without you." He said with a shaky voice. Cassandra smirked in amusement next to him, knowing that there was nothing she could do now.
"Are you sure?" The pilot asked.
"Absolutely." He furiously pulled out his wallet and handed the pilot a fat wad of cash that Cassandra knew belonged to Jake. "Love is the supreme power. It trumps everything." Cassandra laughed quietly in the background. "Why am I doing this? Go be with the one you love. Take this as a wedding gift." He hugged the man. If anything was known about Ezekiel, it was the fact that he was not a hugger.
"How nice." Cassandra mumbled in the background, not believing the sight of the man in front of her. Ezekiel was out of breath and shaking by the end of the ordeal.
"Oh my gosh. You're the nicest guy in the world. Thank you!" The pilot grabbed his bags and rushed to the exit. Ezekiel put his hands on his knees to catch his breath and regain control over his own body. The headache was becoming unbearable now. Cassandra patted his back to comfort him, although she was slightly irritated.
"Did I do it again?" He asked her.
"Yuppers." Cassandra answered. Ezekiel groaned as he sat back down on the seat.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." He mumbled to her. She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his knee.
"It's not your fault. It's the hat. It's exhorting its magical will over you and forcing you to do whatever it wants you to. The only person we should be worried about is Baird." Cassandra smiled at him fondly. She watched as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, his dark hair falling across his eyes.
It was nightfall when Baird, Stone, and Santa joined them at the airport. Ezekiel couldn't help but laugh at the way that Jake was limping slightly with bruises peppering his chin. Serves him right.
"Somebody's doing what they're supposed to. Thank you Ezekiel, thank you Cassandra. The pilot in the plane?" Baird smiled at the two as she asked.
"Not exactly." Cassandra's voice raised slightly.
"He is spending this most glorious of holidays with his fiancee. Merry Christmas." Ezekiel gasped in surprise as he covered his own mouth, surprised at the words that came flowing freely from his lips. Words he had never said before. He saw Colonel Baird's shocked expression and heard the snicker from Santa. "You said hold the plane. Well the plane's right there, so we did." His voice raising in fear. "Merry Christmas." He stopped smiling once again and frowned for the first time that day. Jake did a double take at him in shock.
"There's no pilot?" He asked, moving from shocked to annoyed. He should have told the thief to take off the hat before.
"It's actually kind of positive if you choose to look at it that way. Y'know like the glass is half full instead of half empty." Cassandra tried to cover for her comrade.
"Unless there's a pilot in the glass that can get this bird in the air, there is no positive because I'm pretty sure that I'm the most likely person here to know how to fly a cargo plane, and I do not know how to fly a cargo plane!" Baird shouted in an annoyed voice, directing her anger mainly at the hat wearing librarian. Santa reached out and tapped on her shoulder.
"Santa can fly large objects through the air." He gestured to the plane on the runway. The rest of the team smiled in relief.
The plane took off smoothly, while the Librarians sat in the cargo part of the plane. There was suddenly the sound of jingling bells.
"Santa's sleigh is missing, right?" Cassandra asked with wide eyes.
"That's what Baird said." Jake answered.
"I think I know who stole it." She informed the group darkly. Suddenly there was a big gust of wind and the back door opened. From the outside.
"Well. That was new." Dulaque announced to Lamia who sat beside him on the sleigh. Ezekiel felt his blood run cold when he locked eyes with the British villain from his past. Dulaque was the thief who had stabbed him in the back when he was fifteen. Cassandra and Jake stood quickly, bravely, while Ezekiel stood with more caution.
"What kind of a person steals Santa's sleigh?" Cassandra spat at him in disgust.
"A very talented one." Dulaque gloated as he stood. He had the same ego that Ezekiel remembered he had. "Now, hand over Santa. Blah Blah. And you won't be harmed. Blah Blah. A patently transparent lie, of course. I'm going to kill you. Blah Blah. What was it? Oh yeah. Blah."
"Well I see only one of you's got a weapon so…" Jake smiled in victory. Ezekiel knew what to expect, wishing the cowboy hadn't been so cocky. Dulaque pulled on the tip of the cane he was walking with and pulled out a sharp sword. He smirked as Jake's confident countenance fell. Then, the plane pitched sideways, knocking them all to the side of the plane, reminding Ezekiel why he hated heights. The plane leveled suddenly. Dulaque and Lamia stood. Lamia fought with Jake and managed to tie him to the wall, while Dulaque corralled Ezekiel and Cassandra. He tied them to the wall as well, but held Ezekiel at the tip of his sword.
"Miss me?" Dulaque smiled charmingly.
"Not particularly. I got the book you sent me." Ezekiel told him through clenched teeth.
"Good. How's the back doing?" With that little jab, Ezekiel lunged at the man, but didn't get far due to the rope attaching him to the wall.
Jake and Cassandra watched with confused curiosity. Colonel Baird crashed through the door suddenly, with Santa, or Nick as she dubbed him, leaning heavily on her shoulder.
"Guys! Nick is-" She cut herself off as she saw Dulaque and Lamia holding her charges hostage. Lamia held her blade to Jake's throat.
"Santa's been poisoned with holly, mistletoe, old hedge magicks. Hand him over. Or I'll show you how very good I am with a blade." Dulaque promised her with a sinister voice. He watched Santa and Baird exchange glances. "I've killed more Librarians than you've seen stars guardian. Do it." Baird pushed Santa forward towards Dulaque, deciding that the lives of her LITs wasn't worth it. Lamia released Jake from her hold.
"Lamia! Disable the plane." Dulaque ordered, not removing his eyes from Colonel Baird. Lamia pulled out a blade and stabbed it in the side of a control panel. The plane shuddered and shook as it began to descend. "Prepare the sleigh. We shall remove Santa and kill him at our leisure." He spoke in a very charming manner, exactly the way he did when Ezekiel was a meer teenger.
"Jones, give Santa his hat." Baird ordered. Ezekiel gave her a confused glance and mouthed 'what' to her.
"Why?" Dulaque hissed, sword pointing dangerously towards Cassandra.
"It's his. He needs it." Baird answered, when Ezekiel saw that even Santa was confused he understood. She was bluffing to try to trick Dulaque.
"To regain his power." Dulaque sighed in realization. He wore a smug smirk that showed that he clearly thought that he had won.
"What? No." Baird didn't seem very convincing.
"To fight off the poison. It's a talisman isn't it." He chuckled slightly. When he did, Ezekiel knew that he had bought it. "Give it here, boy. I'll take that power now." Ezekiel took a quick glance at Baird, who nodded at him. He reached up and removed the hat from his head and handed it to Dulaque. The second it was off of his head, it felt as though a hundred pounds of pressure had been removed from his skull. The headache had gone from a migraine to a splitting headache. It may not seem like it, but that was quite an improvement. He couldn't help the tiny smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched him put the hat on.
"Hmmm. Don't feel a thing." Dulaque smirked before going to join Lamia in the back of the sleigh. "I'll be off to kill Santa now."
"Actually, it would make us very, very happy if you would just kill Santa right here." Eve smiled, her plan going into motion. "All of us. So happy."
"Well…" Dulaque shook his head a few times, trying to clear his own mind of the thoughts bubbling their way to the surface. "I'll kill him here then!" He turned to Lamia with a cheesy grin. "Go ahead and take the sleigh. I'm going to kill him here, on the plane!"
"What?! Are you sure?" Lamia yelled, the wind blowing through her hair.
"Well it would really make my Christmas if you sent Lamia right along." Jake laughed, catching on.
"Yes Lamia! Go! Take the sleigh and go!" He told his henchwoman with glee.
"Dulaque, what are you talking about?" Lamia hadn't realized that it was the hat controlling his actions.
"My tippy-top Christmas wish is for her to go!" Ezekiel willed the man. Dulaque bent over a bit, his voice was more gruff, more normal.
"Go." He ordered her. Lamia took the sleigh and left.
"Actually it would make us all very happy if you exposed all the secrets of magic and told us how to stop the Serpent Brotherhood's plan!" Cassandra tried. Ezekiel couldn't help but snicker at her obvious wish. Dulaque ripped the hat off of his head and Ezekiel grabbed it quickly.
"Bit too much?" Baird asked sarcastically.
"Just a touch." He was slightly pale but angry in realization that he had been tricked. He ran at Baird who kicked him towards the open door. Eve grabbed his hand and held on tightly, not allowing him to fly out of the plane.
"Tell me how to help Nick!" She demanded.
"Or what? You'll let go?" Dulaque jeered. "Colonel Baird I know something you don't!"
"I know I'm holding you in this plane!" She responded matter-of-factly.
"To what end?" Dulaque released his hand from her grip and fell to the ground, laughing. The door closed behind her as she walked back to her team. Something felt strange about his death. Something about it seemed fake to Ezekiel. Too scripted. Baird took the hat from his thieving hands and placed it on Santa's head.
"How is he?" She asked them all.
"Santa…" The plane lurched to the side, throwing them all against the wall. He went to open his mouth again, only to cover it as he turned to throw up.
"Ain't gonna fly this plane." Baird finished for him. She walked toward the cockpit, Jake followed behind her closely. After roughly landing the plane, the group trudged through the snow into an airport hangar. Ezekiel shivered deeply as they got the lights turned on. He didn't believe in having to wear a heavy jacket. If it wasn't above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, he wasn't there. He tried to get Jenkins on the phone.
"Alright, do your thing, Nick." Baird smiled at the weak man.
"I… can't" Nick answered in the first person for the first time that day.
"What do you mean 'I'? When did you stop referring to yourself in the third person? Nick you're freaking me out." Baird sounded a little freaked out, to be honest, but who could blame her. They had come all that way, suffered all day, and were about to fail.
"The poison. The separation from my talisman." He breathed, his voice weak.
"But I gave that back." Cassandra could hear the guilt in Ezekiel's voice. She knew he was blaming himself. When she glanced up at him, she couldn't help but smiled at how cute he looked with a red nose and snow in his dark hair.
"It's too late. I contain the energies. The goodwill of all mankind. I can't focus. We've failed." Nick breathed heavily. It was beginning to warm in the bunker after Jake lit a small stove. It was almost peaceful until Nick said the words that Ezekiel uttered to himself on his first Christmas without his mother. His only wish was for her to come back. Nick simply said, "Santa has failed."
Green lights glowed above them as they sat in sadness. "The aurora borealis is going nuts." Jake informed them from where he stood, gazing out the window.
"C'mon Nick. Ho! Ho! Ho! Fire up some Christmas cheer." Baird urged the man.
"I can't." He sighed in disappointment. "The poison weakened me. I possess the power, but not the will to deliver the gift."
"We can't have come all this way to have failed. We can't." Cassandra protested as she looked to Ezekiel for support, but he remained silent.
"We need a new vessel. Someone else must channel the power. Someone else must be the Santa for just this night, but there's not guarantee that a mortal will survive." Nick told the group.
"Look, we're the Librarians. We'll take that risk." Jake spoke for them all.
"No. We need someone more attuned to the night. Someone more bound to Christmas." Nick told them. Cassandra stepped forward.
"I love Christmas." She volunteered herself.
"Or me. I wore the hat." Ezekiel stepped up, which surprised Jake.
"There is no one more in tune with Christmas than the baby born on the last stroke of midnight. So named by her parents as the girl born on Christmas…" Nick trailed off.
"Eve." Colonel Baird sighed and stepped forward, stretching out her hands. Nick stood and connected palms with her. Ezekiel watched as he told her that she would splinter across the world. He warned her of her impending doom. The normal Tuesday for the Librarians. There was also a really epic pep talk about goodwill from Santa, but Ezekiel wasn't really paying much attention because he was overwhelmed by the smell of strawberries that flowed from Cassandra. There was a flash of green light and Eve gasped as she fell back into Jake's arms.
"But she didn't go anywhere! Did it work?" Cassandra asked, panic slightly evident in her voice.
"She went. Everywhere." Nick assured her.
"You okay Eve?" Ezekiel asked, feeling confident.
"Call me that one more time and we'll be picking up pieces of you off the ice floor for a year." She threatened. He laughed lightly.
"She's okay." He said, mainly to Cassandra because no one was really listening. They were focusing on Colonel Baird.
"Ho! Ho! H-" Nick began but Eve held up a finger in warning but winked at the man as though they shared a secret, which they sort of did. He sighed in response.
After Nick had gone back to the North Pole, the team returned to the Annex. Ezekiel laid with his head flat on the tabletop, sleeping. Cassandra smiled as Jake entered the room.
"We should do something for her birthday." She whispered as they stood by the table at which their teammate slept.
"Do you wanna try to do a last minute surprise party?" Jake whispered back.
"Sure. You decorate, I'll get the cake. The only issue is the present." Cassandra thought for a moment. Jake held up a finger in realization. He grabbed an air horn from Flynn's desk and gestured for Cassandra to cover her ears. She shook her head at his childishness but complied. Jake pushed the tab as the loud noise emitted from the horn. Ezekiel jumped up from his seat in surprise. He must've leapt pretty hard because his chair flew out from behind him.
"What the hell?!" He groaned angrily to the cowboy.
"Oh good. You're awake. Go find Baird a birthday present." Jake chuckled as he caught the young man off guard. Ezekiel rolled his eyes and went out the backdoor, in search for a present for the Colonel.
A few hours later, Eve was chatting with Jenkins.
"-Any plans for the holidays?" Jenkins asked her as they rounded a corner.
"Nope. Just gonna have a nice day in peace and-" She began.
"SURPRISE!" The Lits interrupted. They had a lovely party where they shared stories about happy holidays in the past. Jake noticed that Ezekiel hadn't said anything about his past childhood holidays. He didn't push it though.
After the party was over, Ezekiel went back to his room in search of his pills, only to find they were all missing. He would have killed Jake if he hadn't felt so nauseous. He fled to the bathroom where he threw up the two slices of cake he had just digested. Jake, who was standing outside his door, snickered quietly as he pulled out the last of Ezekiel's pills from his pocket. Detox was going to be a bitch.
Can't wait to hear everyone's reactions on this chapter!