Disclaimer: I own nothing, my writing is for amusement and sanity.

Here's my Take Three! Or is it Four? I've messed with my other story "Reindeer to the Rescue", from edits to deletes and redo tries...I'm not satisfied with it, and can't make myself fix it at this point so let's try this!

Read and Review please!

To Sometimesweshineoverybright, YoungWritersUnite,

To Guest: The Mrs. Claus Coat? Not as far as the credit scene in the second movie. But there will be bonuses, subtle at first, but definitely interesting. Thank you for your review!

To Guest: Here's the update! I'm so sorry for the delay! Thank you!

Chapter Seven

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February 15th

02:04am

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Yawning behind a hand, Charlie waited for the stoplight to turn back to green so the line of cars could proceed. While normally he wouldn't be even conscious at this late or rather early hour, tonight had been different. A few hours ago, Charlie Calvin was dancing with Danielle Eisen at the Valentine's Day Fair within the Rec Center. Scheduled to stop at midnight, the Friday night dance had crept past the cut off time even with chaperones trying to wrap up the event.

Mr. Callahan in the math department had let Charlie use his phone to call home so he wasn't late for curfew. Especially since Charlie had just been released from his grounding punishment, a few days early for good behavior, and the promise that Charlie would drive Danielle home immediately following the dance and then report back himself.

Being so late,, Danielle was asleep in the passenger seat, her best friend Emily as equally silent in the back next to Rachel-Danielle's little sister-and Emily's date Wayne-Rachel's brother. Easing into full motion at the green light, Charlie fought to keep both hands on the wheel and not lean on the door of his mom's minivan. He'd been up ridiculously early to babysit Lucy and clean out the minivan before the Fair, and now Charlie was so grateful Danielle only lived about ten minutes from the rec center, and everyone else in the vehicle was staying at the Eisen house as well.

Wayne shifted in the back row, his deep breathing turning into soft snores, and while Charlie's gaze flicked to the rear view mirror…the minivan engine choked.

"Umm…" The loud clicking of the hazard lights woke Danielle first, the jerk of the vehicle as Charlie forced it into the nearest parking lot woke Emily and Rachel, "Oh crap…" That woke up Wayne, or the loud choking noise as the minivan died.

"Charlie?"

"Yo dude, what the hell Calvin?!"

Groaning softly, Charlie turned off as much as he could with the vehicle dead, before trying the ignition.

And heard the tell-tale whine of a damaged engine.

"Well…" Wayne leaned over the middle bench, smirking in the rearview mirror at Charlie's almost panicked irritation, "Now what?"

Both teenage boys climbed out of the vehicle to check under the hood, the steam billowing out was not as bad of a sign as the shredded belt tangled around the pulleys. Scowling at the dark compartment only lit by the parking lot streetlamp, Charlie shoved Wayne when the fellow junior tried to make a joke. Shivering a bit from the cold, Charlie clambered back into the driver's seat ten minutes later and looked to Danielle, shaking his head at her raised eyebrow.

"It's dead."

Rachel sneered, "Are you serious?!"

Scoffing under her breath, Emily's cell phone lit up the back of the vehicle, "So Josie and Lily are still having their party at their dad's house, and Spencer is going to come pick us up."

"Wait, what?" Charlie spun in his seat.

Wayne smiled, "That's a great idea!"

"Oh hey, that means the Hanson's aren't home and they've got the good stuff in their basement!" Emily said.

Rachel smirked, cutting of Charlie's complaints, "Yeah totally, and mom's not even awake Dani, so we're good to go. You coming Calvin?"

"Guys I can't!"

"Live a little!"

Charlie scowled, "I just got out of lockdown and you want me to go to a party?!"

For a second, the Danielle who had danced with Charlie even after a couple cheerleaders had mocked the graffiti artist, had looked like she was going to turn down the party and stay with her date.

And then the Camaro pulled up and honked so loud next to the minivan, even Emily who had been watching for it had jumped.

"C'mon Charlie, it'll be fun!"

"Yeah…" Charlie sighed, his cell phone completely dead after the long day, "I'm not getting grounded again…hey Emily can I borrow your phone? Gotta call my parents."

"Ew no!" She jerked away a little, "And let Principal Newman get my number?! So not cool, everyone knows who she married Charlie, not gonna happen."

Shaking his head, Charlie slumped into the driver's seat of the slowly cooling van that got even colder as all the other doors opened with the passengers leaving.

Engine revs echoed outside the minivan, and by the time the Camaro was off and gone, Charlie had fallen forward to lean against the steering wheel in defeat. He was in so much trouble, late hour or not, there was no way he'd be able to pass off going to the Hanson house to use a phone, not if there was a party raging. His parents would kill him.

Considering he'd already called at the rec center, Charlie had about another hour before anyone would go looking, and knowing his track record…he'd be lucky if his mom didn't call the cops anyway.

The gossip mill had roared when Principal Newman came back from Christmas break with a wedding ring and a name change a week after classes started. It had taken the student population only three days to put the pieces together and realize their cold-hearted administrator had gotten hitched to Charlie's absentee father. Usual high school mocking aside, Charlie was almost praying his parents never found out about the fist-fight under the bleachers the one day he had to stay late at school and Neil was tardy picking up the teenager. Defending the principal who had made Charlie's first two and a half years of high school a living hell…had earned a serious bruise on Charlie's ribs when he'd dodged the face punch.

Hunching into his coat better, Charlie glanced around out the side windows, trying to see if any of the nearest stores were open or if the gas station was lit up.

*Knock-knock*

"Charlie?"

Spinning around to the driver's side window, Charlie almost hit his head on the roof at the person on the other side of the door.

Sarah Vaughn was still decked out in the makeup and hair jewels from the dance, and likely beneath her fluffy coat she was still in her dress as well and looking ridiculously cold.

Charlie motioned for her to step back, exiting the minivan with a shudder at the freezing temps. The shadows cast by the streetlamp and the arrival of headlights made him squint, a dark pickup truck having pulled up behind the dead minivan.

"Are you okay?"

Scowling at his mom's car, Charlie shook his head, too exhausted to try and fake it, "Van died, my date and all her friends left, and my phone's dead."

Sarah winced, bouncing on her feet a little and making the bottom of her blue dress shake, "Well come get out of the cold at least, you can use Kate's phone to call someone okay?"

Following the new student's lead, Charlie quickly locked the van and then climbed up into the back of the crew cab, shuddering at the hot interior while Sarah settled in the passenger seat and passed back a phone from the driver.

"Sorry, the battery is super low, so talk fast if you can."

"I will."

Barely glancing at him, Kate Anderson simply turned down the radio so Charlie could call, fidgeting with the neckline of her red halter top in her seated position to get her trailing curls to stop tangling in their pins.

Four minutes later, Charlie wanted to scream, both his mom's and Neil's cell phones were dead ends; and before he could try the house number and risk waking Lucy up as well, the cell phone beeped in his hand and died.

"Oh no…"

Snickering a little, Sarah took the device back before Kate could, "Rough night, huh Charlie?"

"You could say that," Charlie sighed, yawning behind his hand, "Thanks for letting me try though, gonna wait here til someone-"

"Not happening," Kate cut him off, "No way are we leaving you here alone."

"I can't have you wait here! That could take all night at this rate!"

"So?" She threw the truck in reverse, backing away from the minivan and heading out, "I'll take you home then, not like I wasn't heading across town anyway."

Sarah's light chuckle earned a faint smile from Charlie, "Girl, you are lucky my aunt likes you, we are so late."

Snorting softly, Kate simply flicked the radio back on to drown out Sarah's teasing, heading back towards the Rec Center by a few blocks to the new student's house.

Judging by the shopping bags on the bench seat next to Charlie, the pair had been at the grocery store before finding Charlie and the minivan dead in the parking lot. The ten minute drive was in almost pure silence, besides Sarah flicking the radio to a new station when the news reel started up instead of music.

Her aunt's house was barely lit when Sarah climbed down from the truck, waving off Charlie's help when he'd jumped out. Her smile was worth it though, even if they were both blinded by the garage flood lights blaring to life with the motion.

"See you in school Charlie, hope your weekend gets better."

"Thanks," Charlie grinned, "Have a good weekend too!"

Sarah waved over her shoulder, half-running up the front walk in her heels to the warm house and her aunt waiting in the doorway.

Climbing into the passenger seat at Kate's impatient wave-the girl yawning behind a hand-Charlie rubbed at his eyes to remain awake. "Hey, thanks for this."

Shrugging, Kate drove off without a word until back on the main road, "You may be Mr. DeMarcos' least favorite student in English class Calvin, but no one deserves to be left on the side of the road. Except maybe my mother, but you know…"

Her trailing off earned a slight glare, but Charlie waited until the truck was stopped at a red light, "Is any of the school gossip true?"

"Which part?"

"Your mom in jail?"

Kate snorted loudly, "Some of it, she's got a drinking problem so there's that. I don't really care what the rumors say to be honest, she hasn't been in my life in two years so why bother."

Charlie nodded, at least understanding the gossip issues of a parent not fitting into the cookie cutter design of the school PTA image, absentee or not.

"So, where am I going here?"

"Oh yeah," Charlie pointed at the upcoming intersection, "My stepdad's house is down on Eighth Street."

"Thought you were heading out of town with your dad this weekend?" Kate asked, brow furrowed as she began to slow down.

"Where did you hear that?"

"From the Principal," Kate gestured over her shoulder in the direction of the groceries, and upon further inspection a duffel bag, "I house sit whenever she's out of town and she had mentioned that all of you would be gone for the four-day weekend."

Charlie was almost in shock, but that might have been exhaustion. He and Kate had two classes together and this was honestly the most they'd ever spoken in four years of public school together. Carol had said her house sitter was arriving after the Valentine's Day Fair, but the original plan was for Charlie and his dad to already be at the Millers' house before Carol turned over the house to the sitter so Bernard could come get the three of them.

After the dance ran late, Charlie had been told to just come home and he'd figured that meant his dad and Carol were already gone.

"She might have left already, my dad's schedule is pretty tight."

Kate brushed off his concern, "Well I need to get my freezer meals put away so why don't we check, if the house is empty I'll drive you to your stepdad's. Sound good?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She nodded, and went back to straight silence, both too tired to carry on any further conversation. Instead of turning towards Eighth street, the truck eased over to Hickory avenue and continued on to the high school principal's house.

While the rest of the block was almost completely dark in late night slumber, Carol's was still well-lit, including the front porch. Easing to a stop on the side of the street, Kate yawned widely before climbing onto the driver's seat and leaned over to the back instead of exiting the truck and using a door.

"Okay?"

"Too cold and I'm short."

Snorting softly, Charlie did the same, hefting the girl's duffle bag and a couple groceries, surprised she was bringing in food if she was house sitting. Then again, most weekends Carol wasn't even home anymore so it was likely her pantry was a little low for guests.

Scott Calvin was waiting on the porch when the pair trekked up the walk, grabbing the rest of Kate's shopping bags when she swayed in her heels.

"Was wondering where you were Charlie, what's up with the minivan?"

"Dead in the FoodMart parking lot, died on the road and I found one of the belts destroyed." Charlie replied, setting Kate's duffle down just inside the front door.

Shaking his head, Scott sighed loudly, "I told your mom it sounded like that engine was whining, but no! Won't listen to me."

This time, Kate's snort was echoed by another, one Charlie was extremely familiar with from his childhood.

It was probably a good thing Scott had been watching out the front door at their arrival, it had given Bernard time to shove his hat over his ears since he was apparently part of the group waiting for the teens to get there.

"Took you long enough Sport."

Ignoring the elf, Charlie headed for Carol's kitchen, smiling when he found his dad's new wife already there and ready to put away the food.

"Glad you are safe though, how was the dance?"

"Good I guess."

"Yeah?" Carol looked him over, brow furrowing a little in concern, "Weren't you taking Danielle home? Where is she?"

Charlie shrugged, "They all bailed on me when the minivan died, some friend of Emily's picked them up. Kate saw the car and helped."

"Nice timing then," Carol winked slightly, "We'll head over to the Millers' in a few minutes, might as well get out of town before morning traffic."

"It's after four am, it's morning traffic now." Kate's whine earned a chuckle from Scott in the entryway, the teen having gotten stuck in her coat, before her heels clicked towards the kitchen, "Besides, not like you have to catch a flight outta here, now that would suck and-"

"Whoa!"

Charlie dropped the loaf of bread he was putting away, not seeing where it fell as he spun to face Kate's approach and then Bernard's yell.

The teenager was…crooked…as in one of her heels had slipped and she was hunched over awkwardly. But instead of being on the floor or scrambling for something hold on to…Kate was stuck.

As in the bobby pins on the side of her head holding her hair in place had somehow gotten tangled into the pin on Bernard's beret and made an even bigger knot when both parties tried to yank apart. For suddenly finding himself tangled with a teenager in a red halter dress and a broken shoe, Bernard was at least polite enough to try and keep both of them upright as Kate was seriously about to fall.

"Not sure if I should take a picture or help here." Carol teased, swinging around Charlie to start plucking at the mess of hair pins and stuck curls to free somebody from the tangle, "What on Earth did you do?"

"I hate heels…" Kate grumbled, trying not to lean on Bernard as they both struggled not to hinder Carol's progress.

Scott snorted from the threshold, watching it all with a grin. "How did this happen?"

"I slipped! I'm innocent!"

Sighing softly, Bernard grabbed at his hat to keep it in place, "I'm just caught in the crossfire."

"There!" Carol dropped a handful of pins on her dining table, "Slowly you two."

In hindsight, Charlie wished he'd been slightly less tired, he might have noticed the eventual disaster a lot sooner. But in reality, it was after four am, Charlie was cold, hungry, and utterly exhausted. A slipped heel broke once Kate placed her full weight on it, and she went down as Bernard stepped back.

"Ow!" Kate cringed, wincing as Carol helped her stand off the busted shoe and balance to get out of the dangerous footwear.

Bernard jerked his hand off Kate's hip trying to catch her around the flailing limbs, his hands flew to his face with a grunt, ducking away with a low growl Charlie was really glad Kate was too distracted to notice.

"Bernard?"

"I'm good-"

"You sure?"

Carol cleared her throat, "Kate, let's get you out of this dress before we leave; Scott go warm up the car, hmm?"

While the two women left the room, Scott ignored the request and went to Bernard who hadn't turned back to Charlie, "Wanna try that again?"

Huffing softly, Bernard straightened just enough that his dark curls fell away from the eye he was holding, "I'm bleeding."

"What?" Charlie's dad jerked forward, pulling the elf's hands away from his reddening nose that was dripping crimson, "How?!"

"She caught me with an elbow, didn't duck fast enough."

Scott sighed, accepting the paper towels Charlie grabbed, and trying to see the damage around Bernard's fingers, "Wow…she got you good!" Scott backed off at Bernard's sharper growl, a noise not entirely human, "You okay?"

"Yeah…" The elf huffed irritably, "It's almost stopped, I'm gonna start the car, rather not explain this to Carol's house-sitter."

Xxx

February 18th

8:30pm

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Charlie rubbed at his face as he paused outside Bernard's apartment, having been attempting to track down the head elf almost the entirety of the four-day weekend at the North Pole. School had been closed for two days for teacher conferences, and per her school board agreement; Carol did not need to attend, but like Charlie, she was due back at the school Wednesday morning. Bernard had gotten them all to the Pole just after five in the morning on Saturday, and had disappeared almost immediately.

While partially occupied with homework and a few friends around the workshop, Charlie had admittedly been bored, especially with Danielle completely ignoring his messages. He spent more time down in the stables, playing with Chet and helping Larry keep the baby busy during the slower season for the team. Now, he was trying to find Bernard before it grew too late to hook up the small transport sleigh in the head elf's place.

Knocking softly, just in case Bernard's neighbors were already in bed, Charlie waited silently for a response and hoped the head elf wasn't off someplace else instead.

The lack of response drew a slightly louder knock from the teen, "Bernard?"

"Come in Charlie."

While not quite expecting an unlocked door, then again this was the North Pole, Charlie slipped inside and blinked at the sudden light difference between the bright hallway and the dimly lit head elf's apartment. All the male department heads and Bernard had lodgings on one floor of the apartment building closest to the main side of the workshop, the ladies all lived on the opposite end of the workshop in another building.

"Bernard?"

"Hmm?"

Charlie turned to see his literally oldest friend on the couch, leaning back into the cushions so his head remained tipped and kept the icepack over one eye.

"That bad?"

Sighing heavily, the elf turned enough for the ice pack to shift, the dark bruise tracing along one side of his nose and up around his eye, "Bad enough, couldn't let the elves see."

"Was wondering why you were hiding," Charlie settled on one of the armchairs that rarely saw visitors, as a young kid he'd spent some time in Bernard's home, but just as much as anyone else if they were honest, Bernard just didn't have people over, "You okay?"

The elf shrugged, "It's not as bad as it was, but I have a headache trying to heal it enough to not look this bad."

"Didn't you tell me healing just took quiet and concentration?"

Bernard grunted, replacing the pack over his eye and wincing, "Only if I was good at it, never have been. Good at a lot of things, not this."

Charlie hummed softly, standing once Bernard trailed off in either focus or what the teen suspected was continued pain. If the elf was trying to heal the bruise, and not succeeding, then all he was doing was aggravating the tender wound. Judy had taught Charlie pieces of elven life, enough to avoid awkward situations, but a bit of reading in the archives had helped the human a bit more.

And Bernard, the hiss he let out when the ice pack was removed turned into a low hum when the hot cloth took the cold's place, the elf sighing softly in relief.

"Better?"

"Yeah…thanks."

Charlie settled back on the armchair, watching the tension fade from Bernard's shoulders as the pain left him. It took several minutes, but eventually the elf was almost dozing off for what was likely the first time all weekend if Charlie guessed. There would be no shock from the teenager if it was true, even if he was rough at something magical, Bernard wouldn't rest until he'd succeeded. Especially if it came to ensuring the well-being of the other elves. Even if he wore himself to exhaustion in the process.

Someone banging around further down the hall, the sounds distant but still loud enough to be heard through the door, startled Bernard from his dozing.

"…time is it?"

"Almost nine," Charlie leaned forward on his knees, "My dad's looking for you."

"Figured," Bernard sighed heavily, finally sitting up properly and hiding a yawn behind his hand, "You and Carol ready to go?"

"Are you? Can still harness up the mini sleigh, let you get some rest."

The elf shrugged, "I…yeah…my magic is too unstable with trying to heal and doing so badly, don't want either of you hurt in the process."

Charlie's brow furrowed, watching the elf tip sideways to lay out on the couch with a heavier sigh as he draped the warm cloth over both eyes, "You okay?"

"Other than the killer headache?"

"Bernard."

"I know Judy told you about the books in the archives, the magic lessons. Trying to force a skill or task beyond one's skills usually leads to consequences."

"Still not carry over from December?"

That got a glare, but Bernard didn't move more than tip his head enough to meet Charlie's gaze, he almost replied instantly, hesitating when he actually saw the concern on the human's face, "Nah…this isn't that. Just stress and my inability to fix this bruise. And a bit of embarrassment to be honest."

"You?"

Smirking at Charlie's tease, Bernard gestured towards his face, "I heard your friend's heel snap, it didn't register until she started to fall. Guess I was too tired to properly focus. I'm just glad she wasn't hurt."

"That's not the first time she's done that," Charlie shrugged, "Pretty sure Kate was the one who fell at our freshman homecoming dance, I wasn't paying attention. Not really a friend, she works for Carol when she's out of town. Gave me a ride. Honestly I don't think she'll even talk to me again. But we were all pretty tired."

Bernard grunted softly in response, "You better get going, Dancer and Blitzen don't like to be woken up and will need time to warm up for travel."

Xxx

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Dreary Lane

Xxx

"…it's started…"

"…'bout time."

"Patience my dear."

"It's been so long…"

"These things take time."

"Time you say?" A dry laugh, almost a raspy hiss, "Time bows to no one."

Thank you for reading! Review Please!