Marinette walked along idly, no urgency despite the million and one things demanding her attention. A flash of movement caught her eye and then Alya was there ducking under the umbrella, her curls limp from the rain and her glasses speckled with water. Hurriedly she wiped them off.

"Mari! I'm so glad I caught you. Tell me everything that happened last night. C'mon." And with that Alya grabbed her arm and Marinette was dragged along behind her best friend.

They ended up in Alya's room which looked more like an investigation room at the FBI than somewhere suitable for sleeping. On a cork-board there were photos of elves pulled from CCTV, strings connecting them and post-it notes in chaotic disarray.

"Okay, before you spill the deets I need to tell you some things that I've found out."

Pulling out her phone she flicked her finger across the screen several times then turned it to face Marinette. Swiping across again and again she showed her picture after picture of elves, some of them on the board but many more not.

"These are all the elves that have gone missing over the past week. There's no pattern; age, gender, race, orientation, nothing to connect each victim to another. One minute they're there, they talk to themselves, there's static and they're gone."

Marinette nodded along – she expected nothing less from Alya. "We already know all this, Alya. Although that's a lot more missing that I thought. How many is that now?"

Alya adjusted her glasses and gave Marinette a hard look.

"That's twenty-three missing. The last one was this morning." She pulled up the last image again to show her the most recent victim. She hadn't realised when she'd been flicking through the pictures.

"Nathanael!"

Alya continued on.

"We've been investigating. Everyone who's gone hasn't taken anything with them. Their rooms are just as they left them and there's no physical evidence at the places they were seen to disappear. But the real question is how it's happening. How are they getting out without triggering the alarms?"

Marinette sat down on the bed. Alya was really good at this stuff. She wasted no time in launching an investigation. She knew all the right questions to ask and where to go to get the answers. She was confident and strong, intelligent, resourceful and brave and Marinette had no doubt that she would jump into danger at a moments notice to save someone. Surely-

"Marinette! I need you." Alya's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "We need a plan and no one thinks outside the box like you do."

Biting her lip she looked back across to the board of faces, all blank, emotionless.

"You're right. I can't let everyone down. I can do this. I can save them."

"Of course you can," Alya said, no doubt at all in her voice.

"Sorry, Alya but I've got to go. Please keep investigating for me. But, ah-" She was already out the door but turned back, worry pinching her features. "There's no time, and with more and more elves going missing we really need you back in production. I'm really sorry about this and I know finding everyone is important and I'm going to, but getting the toys ready for Christmas is important too. Alya, I need you to do this for me."

Alya put her hand on her hip.

"Don't worry about me, oh fearless leader. I got it. But I'm gonna keep investigating."

Marinette smiled.

"I know," she said. "It's what you do best. Maybe you can start by questioning the friends of the missing people? It can't hurt to ask around. Good luck and I'll catch you later." And she rushed off.

"But what about-" but Marinette was already gone, leaving Alya frustrated but with a purpose.

Adrien's shift in mechanics was hard work and the day was long but he found the work fulfilling and interesting. Everyone at the Pole was so friendly as well. Whenever he needed help someone was always ready before he even needed to ask. By the end he felt competent in the role and like he had made a few more friends.

None could be as special to him though as the first people who had taken him under their wing. He left the building waving a cheery goodbye only to find Nino and Alya waiting, a steaming hot chocolate thrust towards him.

"Come on, Adrien, my man. Let's go."

And without another word they went. Adrien smiled at their intertwined hands then took in the wonder of the village as he followed them. Each house was decorated in a way that he had been brought up to believe was gaudy and over the top and he loved it. It was perfect and filled his heart with the joy of Christmas. In the centre was a tree, bigger even that the one that took centre stage - tastefully decorated of course – in the foyer of the mansion. This one glowed with a million twinkling lights, baubles of every colour and one giant star at the top, shining brightly enough for people to see right from the very edges of the compound.

When they got to the mess hall Nino let go of Alya's hand and threw his arm around Adrien's shoulder.

"Dinner time, dude," he said.

To Alya's credit she waited until they were sat with their food before she started her interrogation.

Before he knew it she had all the details of the meeting with Fu and Sabine from the night before. She nodded her head sagely, arms folded, food completely forgotten in her quest for information.

"So it's just as I thought," she mused, not looking at Adrien any more – he was glad to be released from her penetrating stare – but focussing instead on something none of them could see.

"We need to do more to help," she said now, looking at Nino. "I know Marinette and she's determined once she's made up her mind but this is bigger than her, bigger than all of us."

Nino and Adrien nodded along."But what can we do?" Nino asked, taking off his cap to scratch the back of his head and replacing it again. "It's not like we have any idea of how to find the Krampus. I mean, I didn't even know the dude was real."

Alya tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"For now, obviously, Adrien just has to start training with Marinette-" The boy in question got suddenly to his feet.

"Shoot! Training. What time is it?"

Nino pulled out his phone.

"It's a little after six."

"I've gotta run. I'm late already!"

Alya stood as well, reaching out a hand to stop him.

"Wait! Adrien!"

But he had already gone. Nino shrugged and she dropped back into her seat.

"Why do people keep doing that to me?" Alya whined.

"What can you do?"

She pointed a finger at him, a smile starting to spread across her face.

"That's a really good question, Nino. What can we do? And I think I know exactly where to start."