Dark Prospects

A/N: Nobody listen to my best friend Amanda (Criminally Insane) who will review every chapter saying bad things about me. She is crazy and should be locked up. Not to mention she's a total deadbeat. Or else she's just a greedy pig… You rock Amanda! Lol.

MTG: Really? My older brother use to act like that, but Noel isn't modeled after him. That'd just be weird… *cringes* Thanks for the review.

Criminally Insane: Go crawl under a rock somewhere. No one likes you. And what exactly do you mean you're not giving me 20 dollars?

Sanely Challenged: Thanks, that's a really nice review. ^_^ Yes, I really can't stand Mary Sues, so it would be horrible if my story had one in it.

Chapter 3: Charlie

"Charlie!" Santa exclaimed as his son appeared in his office. "How'd you get here?"

The boy pointed to a gap in his mouth where a tooth had once been. "I know you said not to, but Mom and Neil are in this huge fight that started over a sweater. It's really annoying."

"Great to see you, Sport," Bernard said happily. "Santa, surely you don't want poor Charlie's impressionable young mind to be subjected to—"

"We're not dumping her into the ocean, Bernard, and that's final." Scott stated firmly.

Charlie furrowed his brow. "Who?"

Scott turned to him. "This girl showed up at the workshop a week ago and she's been staying here—" he failed to notice the violent gestures Bernard was making behind his back "—You will probably want to observe her from a distance."

"Or not at all." Bernard suggested helpfully.

Charlie had to laugh at the elf's antics, as it was uncommon for him to get so annoyed with an individual. He'd have to meet this girl.

Bernard probably would have rather eaten one of the reindeer than introduced Charlie to Noel and he was sure Santa had given him the task for exactly this reason.

The girl was again talking—or, more accurately, communicating—with Judy. They were seated on a couch near the clothing department. The latter didn't look very comfortable, but, ever polite, she continued to talk. She smiled widely when Bernard and Charlie came over. "Charlie! It's wonderful to see you again!"

Charlie grinned and nodded at her. "You too."

"Well," Bernard cut off any further reunion. "Charlie, this is Noel. Noel—"

"Wait. Don't tell me! It's Charlie." Noel said sarcastically. But she was looking at the 15-year-old very oddly. It was a look neither of the elves had seen on her before, but it wasn't fondness. Bernard couldn't quite place it, but it gave him the odd desire to hire Charlie as a body guard against her.

"How could you guess?" Bernard deadpanned.

Noel shrugged. "Just a thought."

"I thought we've been over the fact that you don't think." Bernard retaliated.

He wasn't quite prepared for the water that suddenly splashed in his face. He winced and wiped it out of his eyes only to see Noel sitting exactly where she'd been with a smug expression.

Charlie and Judy both looked like they were torn between laughter and grimaces.

"You know one day soon I'll convince Santa to just toss you out into the snow." He said seriously.

"I can hardly contain my worry." She didn't look even remotely concerned by the threat.

The soaked elf stormed off angrily and thanked everything good in the world that Noel didn't like hot cocoa.

Over the next few days Bernard noticed something about Noel. She seemed to hate Charlie even more than him, but differently. When she said cruel things to Bernard, he could see pure venom in her cold, blue eyes. But when she looked at Charlie there was something else there, something besides a deep-rooted hatred.

Charlie, for his part, handled her very well. He put up with her snide comments and just shrugged or played dumb when she was sarcastic. It seemed to drive her insane, which was a positive point for Bernard at least.

And for almost exactly three days, it had worked. But of course, nothing good can ever last for long.

"No, I'm not eating that. You know cookies make you fat and diabetic, but then with your father being Santa Clause I suppose that's inevitable, really." Noel remarked.

"Shut up." Bernard and Judy both turned to Charlie, as it was highly uncharacteristic of him to say anything like that to the pale blond.

She'd hit a nerve, and she knew it. She smirked haughtily. "You know, I heard from the other elves that you were on the naughty list last year and your dad completely hated you. Considered disowning you, they said."

Charlie looked her dead in the eyes. "I'm serious. If you don't shut up right this second I will personally make sure you live to regret it."

Noel was silent.

"Charlie, she's lying. You're dad would never do that," Bernard tried to calm him.

But Charlie would have none of it. He got up and walked out of the room.

A/N: Another boring chapter. Sorry, but this chapter is very important later in the fic. This is NOT a Charlie/Noel fic; they won't ever get together even though this chapter might suggest that. Just wanted to clear that up.

Also, should I put Mrs. Clause in this? She might not come in for a few chapters, but it's set after SC2 so technically she should be around. There just hasn't been anywhere to put her in yet.

Again, if there are any spelling or grammar errors in this please tell me. As I said before, English isn't my first language so I imagine there are some.