Time Flies
Author's Note – This chapter is, again, short, but more important plot stuff happens. More is revealed about what happened to Ebony, and there are several fieldtrips.
Disclaimer – All characters from The Santa Clause, both the original and the sequel, belong to Disney. Any and all quotes used are cited at the end.
Chapter 7 – Blue Christmas
"What do you mean, she's no longer in this dimension?"
"Didn't you know she was following you?"
"What's going on?"
Oblivious to all these questions, Bernard just stared forward with unseeing eyes, trying to get a grip on himself. He had to calm down – had to be in control – had to do something! But he couldn't get past the thought that Ebony had disappeared – it didn't seem real. He didn't even realize that he'd started shaking.
"Bernard? Bernard!" Scott waved a hand in front of the elf's face. Bernard didn't respond. "He's not answering. What's wrong?"
"Looks like shock," Neil said, frowning. He glanced around the room and spotted a glass of water. "Step back," he ordered, just before throwing the water into Bernard's face.
"What – " Bernard coughed, startled. He wiped his face off, a little dazed.
"Bernard," Neil said gently, "do you have some idea of what's going on?" The elf nodded. "Good. And can we do anything about it from here?"
"I don't think so," Bernard had to admit.
"Then let's get back to the North Pole." Neil looked over at Scott. "Could you take us with you? I think…" He trailed off, glancing tactfully at Bernard.
Scott nodded. He couldn't take one of the other three, but the ability to teleport one's family members came with being Santa. "Should we go, then?"
"Wait." Quentin took the hands of Bianca and Sherwin. "Can you take Dimitri, Bernard?"
"What – oh." Bernard tried to focus. "Yes, I think so."
"Good. We're ready, then."
Everyone disappeared in a shower of golden light.
But when Bernard's eyes cleared, they were standing in the midst of a snowy wasteland. He looked around blankly.
"Is this the North Pole?" Dimitri asked, concerned. "I don't see the others."
"This isn't where I was aiming," Bernard said, shaking his head a little, to clear it. He must not have been concentrating properly. "I – I have to try again."
The scene dissolved. Suddenly, they were surrounded by a crowd of people – human people.
"This can't be right!" Dimitri said, as the terrified people began gabbling in another language. "Bernard, where are we?"
"I don't know." Bernard raised a trembling hand to his temple, swaying slightly. "I can't – I'm not – " He stared at Dimitri desperately. "It's like I can't think straight!"
"Well, you'd better try harder," Dimitri said grimly, "or we'll never get out of here!" He gripped the elf's shoulders. "We've got to get out – no one but you knows what happened to Ebony!"
Those were exactly the words Bernard needed to give him the concentration to get to the North Pole. In fact, his mind snapped into focus so clearly that it was physically painful. Trying to ignore it, he snapped his fingers anyway – and they were there, in a shower of ominously black sparks.
"Bernard!" Scott was the first to get to his Head Elf, catching Bernard as he nearly collapsed. "What happened?"
"He missed," Dimitri said. "Twice."
"Twice?" Scott was horrified. "Bernard missed a teleportation spell to his home – twice?"
"But he's never flubbed a teleport," Quentin said, frowning. "Not since he was seven hundred."
"Well, he flubbed this one," Dimitri said impatiently.
"Can I see him?" Without waiting for an answer, Neil took the elf from Scott's arms, sitting on the floor beside him. "Bernard? Can you hear me?"
"Of course he can hear you," Scott snapped. "Don't be stupid."
Neil gave Scott an extremely disapproving look. "This is part of my job, Scott. I don't tell you how to deliver toys. You can trust me to know how to deal with emotional trauma."
"What emotional trauma?" Curtis asked, as he and Judy hurried out. "Is everyone back – " He and Judy both froze, catching sight of their Head Elf. "Bernard?"
"Oh, no!" Judy shook off her paralysis and ran forward. "What happened? Is he ok?"
"He's in shock," Scott explained absently, watching Neil anxiously. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" When Neil ignored him, Scott shook his head and turned to Judy in frustration. "Is Father Time on the way?"
"What – oh, yes." Judy stared up at Scott, eyes wide. "Who did this to him?"
"If I understand what Neil's told me about emotional shock, I think he did it to himself," Charlie spoke up. "He heard something that he couldn't cope with, so his mind sort of shut down."
"And he was teleporting like that?" Judy's voice rose to a higher pitch in her panic. "But teleportation is all in the mind – he knows better than to try it when he's upset about something! What was he thinking?"
"I don't think he was really thinking much at all," Dimitri said. "We visited a snowy desert, and what looked like Japan, before he finally managed to get us here."
"Bernard made mistakes teleporting?" Curtis looked like his world was crashing down around his ears. "But – he can't mess up like that! He doesn't make that kind of mistake!" He turned to Scott beseechingly. "He'll be ok, won't he? He has to be!"
Bernard groaned. All eyes snapped back to him. The elf seemed to see the room he'd teleported to for the first time. "Did we make it?" he asked unsteadily.
"Thank God!" Scott crushed Bernard in a fierce hug. "Are you ok?"
Bernard shook his head slowly. He mumbled something unintelligible.
"What was that?" Scott released him.
"Ebony." There was still a half-glazed look in Bernard's eyes. "She's missing."
"That's right, Bernard," Neil said kindly. "Do you know what happened to her?"
"The Time Flies," Bernard said, as if speaking from a great distance. "They must have found her – it's the only thing that could have happened."
"That's what I was afraid of."
Father Time entered the Entry Hall of the North Pole, looking decidedly grim. "I knew as soon as the Time Flies were released," he continued, approaching Scott and the others. "Unfortunately, once they escaped the confinements I placed on them, I had no way to know what had happened to them."
"What are they?" Scott asked, frowning. "Why do they want your daughter?"
"The two questions are related, as a matter of fact," Father Time said. "The Time Flies rebelled against my authority long ago. They were Moments, my servants, once, but instead of arranging Time to suit mortals, they chose to feed off it. They can devour Time, in a sense, by turning it to their own purposes. People refer to subconscious memories of the Time Flies when they speak of 'stolen time' or a 'lost moment.'"
"What does that have to do with Ebony, sir?" Charlie asked politely.
"She is a creature of Time," Father Time said. "When she dies, her magical powers, all relating to Time, will be naturally released back into the Workings of Time. However, the Time Flies want to stop this, stealing her power for themselves."
"They want to kill her?" Bernard finally showed some real interest in the conversation – even if that interest was sheer terror.
"They can't kill her directly," Father Time said. "She's still half human, so they've probably taken her somewhere to die a natural death."
"Where? I've got to find her – I can't leave her alone – " Bernard's voice broke.
Father Time studied the elf carefully for a moment before answering. "I don't know where. As many Moments as I can spare are attempting to track her through all the dimensions."
"How long?" Bernard's words were barely a whisper.
"Three days," Father Time said. "That's the fastest I can manage and still be accurate."
"Three days – she'll be dead!" Bernard looked like he was going to burst into tears.
"No – no, Bernard, listen!" Judy took her friend's hands. "You've forgotten your lessons about other dimensions. It takes longer to die there. The dimension of reality brings death the quickest, but you know she isn't there. She could be here, in the dimension of Christmas, or in the Underhill dimension of the Sidhe, or somewhere else! She'll last at least three days easily!"
Bernard didn't look convinced, but he no longer seemed on the verge of tears. Scott was relieved. There was something wrong with the idea of clever, capable Bernard weeping like a small child.
"Look, everyone, Bernard needs rest," Neil interrupted the conversation. "Is there a clinic we can take him to?"
"I don't need rest," Bernard objected. "I have to help Ebony!"
"You need to rest if you expect to be in any condition to help in three days," Dimitri said sternly.
"I'll go with him to the Hospital Department," Judy said, biting her lip. "But – if one of you could come with us? In case he needs help walking?"
"I don't need help – " Bernard stumbled, trying to get to his feet. Neil caught him. "Thanks," the elf said grudgingly.
The three of them headed off, trailed by Laura.
"So… what exactly is going on?" Sherwin asked at last.
Dimitri and Bianca exchanged glances. Then Dimitri turned respectfully to Father Time. "I think you'd better explain, sir."
"So – how is he?"
Jason, the head of the Hospital Department, looked up as Carol entered. He didn't have to ask which patient Mrs. Clause was referring to.
"Do you want the honest answer, or the comforting one?" he asked.
Carol winced. "Aren't they the same? Better be honest."
Jason sighed. "He's not doing very well. That human psychiatrist is in there with him, and I've sent for the Elfheim Hospital for one of their healers. But – I don't know. We just aren't prepared to deal with a serious trauma of this nature."
"It must not happen very often here," Carol said.
"Hardly ever," Jason agreed, his distress plain. "It takes a lot to shock an elf this badly." He sighed explosively. "I just wish someone would explain to me why!"
Carol frowned. "Why what?"
"Why he reacted like this!" Jason said in frustration. "From all accounts it was hearing what happened to that girl that drove him into this, but it just doesn't make sense! He barely knew her, after all. Regret, guilt, those emotions I could understand – but this!" Jason grabbed Carol's hand in his earnestness. "He's grieving, Mrs. Clause. It's like he lost a close friend, or a sister – or a beloved. But she just didn't have the time to be any of that!"
Carol laid a hand on Jason's shoulder comfortingly, as she mulled over what he'd said. She'd noticed on Thanksgiving that Bernard had a peculiar fixation on Ebony – emotions were some of the things she could pick up by virtue of her role as Mrs. Clause. But Jason had a point. This reaction was far too intense for a mere infatuation, and there hadn't been time for Ebony to become more than that.
"May I see him?" Carol asked, once Jason was calmer. "Maybe there's something I can do."
"It can't hurt," Jason said, not sounding at all hopeful. Despite his pessimism, he led Carol back to where Bernard was seated on a couch, across from Neil.
She caught her breath on seeing the Head Elf for the first time after his return. Bernard was pale, and he trembled slightly, as if he didn't even realize he was doing so. His eyes seemed to look through the world, not seeing what was right before him, focused on images inside his head. For the first time in year that Carol had known him, Bernard looked as young and vulnerable as any of the other elves – and it scared her.
"Carol." Neil looked up at her, a little relieved. "Would you like to talk to Bernard?"
"Yes – " Carol hesitated, looking at the elf. "If you don't mind, Bernard."
He shook his head wordlessly.
"All right, then." Neil stood. "Jason, why don't we go and – um – pretend we have something better to do?"
The two males went back to the front of the hospital, leaving Carol alone with Bernard. "Hi, Bernard," Carol said softly. "Can I sit down?"
He slowly turned his head to look up at her. "You don't have to talk like I can't understand you," he said. "There's nothing wrong with my hearing."
"All right." Carol took this to mean that she could sit beside him, and did so. "How are you feeling?"
"Like part of me disappeared with Ebony," Bernard said, his voice sounding dead. "You know, I think I knew something like this was going to happen. I'm absolutely rotten at foresight, but I think I knew anyway. I told her to go somewhere safe. I told her not to follow me. I just couldn't stand the thought that she might get hurt because of me."
"It isn't your fault," Carol tried to tell him.
"No?" Bernard raised his eyebrows. "Just before I had to go after Sherwin, she tracked me down with her magic. She said – things – " He stopped for a moment, briefly closing his eyes. "I should have known she'd follow me. It's exactly the sort of reckless, brave, stupid thing she'd do."
"You mustn't blame yourself," Carol said firmly. "You couldn't have known she'd follow you after you told her not to. You did everything you could have."
Bernard looked down. "No. No, I didn't. I could have told her…"
"Told her what?" Carol probed carefully. She could sense that she was getting close to the source of Bernard's real pain – if she could just get him to reveal the rest of it.
"We were talking," Bernard said, speaking for all the world as if he were alone in the room. "I said it was impossible, but she wouldn't listen."
"What was?"
Bernard met Carol's eyes, and she nearly gasped at the emptiness she saw in his gaze. "For us to be together," he said simply.
"Oh." Carol's jaw dropped. "Oh. That explains a lot."
"She wanted to follow me." Bernard bit his lip in an effort not to cry. "She didn't want me to be hurt. She came after me to try to keep me safe – that's why she got caught. I never even told her…" His head dropped down, as if he could no longer bear to hold it up.
Carol frowned a little. Bernard was mourning what he'd never said, that much was clear – but it didn't sound like he wished he'd warned her. This was more emotional… almost as if…
"Bernard?" Carol tilted his chin up so that the elf had to look into her eyes. "Were you two in love?"
Bernard jerked away as if he'd been scorched. "No! I can't – we can't – it doesn't make sense! She's human – a mortal – she'll die – I can't lose someone else! I can't! I told her, but she wouldn't listen. She said – we were connected – " Bernard's words abruptly turned to sobs, racking his body with their violence. The pent-up tears rushed forth so powerfully, so relentlessly, that he began coughing, in between the sobs.
"Jason!" Carol yelled, terrified that the elf would seriously hurt himself. "Neil! Come quick!"
The two came running before she even finished the words, with Scott half a pace behind. Jason, being a physical doctor, began issuing rapid orders, with Neil as a temporary assistant.
"What did you say to him?" Scott demanded of his wife, caught up in panic at seeing his Head Elf in such agony.
But Carol was too deep in thought to respond. "I think I understand," she murmured, watching as Jason and Neil got Bernard slowly calmed down.
"Understand what?" Scott asked, bewildered.
"Scott," Carol turned to her husband, her eyes grim, "if we have any hope of helping Bernard, we've got to get Ebony back."
Author's Note – Again, a cliffhanger. I hope you all enjoyed Psychotic!Bernard. Anyway, Carol has now uncovered all the secrets of the universe – or at least a good part of the remaining plot. Next chapter – the rescue mission is planned.
Added Disclaimer – "Why don't we go and pretend we have something better to do?" – Charmed
Thank you everyone who reviewed!
ShadowGraffiti – Yep, Bernard is definitely hurting himself with his personal issues – though probably not quite in the way you meant. ^_^
Melena Marquis – Ebony is pretty much out of the picture for a little while, but your questions should be answered soon.
Zhai'helleva!
- Mystica