HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The Emissary Clause has hit over 1,000 views this month! Woot!

Ahem.

So right off the bat, I want to say: YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! And have totally earned this chapter, all 6,520 words of it. Honestly, I didn't expect such a response. Thank you, all of you for your kind words and valuable input. A little secret: every time I post a chapter I wonder if you guys are gonna hate it. So it's really nice to hear otherwise. Spurs me on to write more, and quickly!

I would like to inform you all that my indecisiveness back in Chapter 1 has been resolved: The Emissary Clause will remain T rating. (It wasn't really going to be bad, you know; even if I rated it M was only for precaution. I can't stomach writing lemons or limes about Bernard…it's just so wrong!) Hooray! I'm changing the intro to Chapter 1 to reflect this. Thank you, XXPay4XtraShippingsXX for reminding me that I even said that; I'd sort of forgotten… /:)

And I was happy to hear that Destiny's Gem was interested in my alternate Messageboard fic idea. Any other takers?

I don't own The Santa Clause 1, 2, or 3 (insert usual disclaimers here.)

Also: I am proud to announce that all mistakes are my own.

Wait…what did I just say?!

o.O oops.

So here's Chapter 7. Obviously some more, more intimate E/B moments , the Jack creepiness develops past random hints of future wickedness, and Annise and Curtis have a really cute moment. J In other words, hope you like it. ;)

Cheers!

-Ana

PS this one is looooonng. Let me know if you guys want shorter chapters.

7. Telepathy and Mental Angst

ELLINGTON'S CHOICE: Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) by Florence + the Machine

"Welcome to the family, Ms. Small," Santa had said, as he was assigning her to her position in front of the elves. The elves, who had (thankfully) been overjoyed to learn that Ellington would be Curtis' replacement, had given a big 'Awww,"at this.

Ellington had smiled…and then her eyes had fallen on Annise, standing next to Abby in the crowd. She still had trouble facing the fact that the day would come when she would be forced to say goodbye to that little girl she most loved, forever. Ellington knew that she would find ways to show her sister she cared–like, for starts, making her the best toys ever for Christmas every year–but knowing that she virtually would never have existed was quite a blow for her. After all, she had been an intricate part of her family; now that would be gone forever. Also, she knew, she would have to live through the days when her parents, and sisters, and sisters' children, died. She would never age beyond seventeen years old; had she been any older and she wouldn't have been able to become an elf at all (something Bernard had told her. Only children could become elves; since they were frozen in time upon their transformation, and all the elves looked like children, it was rather apparent. So Ellington was lucky.) But the anticipated pain of that parting was a sharp stab in the chest every time she saw Annise; it made her want to spend more time with her, yet she almost couldn't bear to. She was even grateful that they had become a bit further apart since they had come to the Pole, as calloused as that seemed. It hurt too much to spend too long around Annise, and when she was around her, she needed to be doing something, to distract herself.

Which was yet another reason she was glad to be the Number Two: it kept her busy.

It was actually more fun to work with someone, Ellington found, especially when that someone was Bernard. For some reason, he didn't give her quite as much crap about things as she had expected…maybe it was because of what she was having to give up to stay. It was always hard to tell motivations with Bernard. He had his moments, of course, when he slipped back into his old ways; cutting her off, ignoring her…or treating her like a child. Like when she had been helping Joey with the static-free tinsel (yes that still hadn't been solved.) It only took her half an hour of observing their current efforts to realize that the problem was basic: magnetism. Grabbing up a special kind of hairdryer-like appliance, Ellington negatively polarized an entire barrel of tinsel, and….

Voila.

The guys had thrown a little impromptu party in her honor, right then and there.

But then Bernard decided to be a total party pooper. "Back to work, please!" he had said, pulling Ellington away by the arm. "Ms. Connelly and I have a very busy schedule to keep…and so do you!"

He was a bit jealous of all those boys adoring her like that. Even if they were much too young, physically.

Ellington had stumbled after him, trying not to be annoyed at how he had just commandeered her like a stray reindeer. It was irritating in the extreme…not to mention embarrassing. But she knew that the elves respected her already; it was more embarrassing for Bernard than her.

Thus it was unexpected that when they had gone out of earshot of the boys, Bernard leaned over and said confidentially, "Thanks for reminding me why I hired you." And, trying something a little daring, he shoved her lightly in the arm.

Ellington rolled her eyes, ignoring the snap of surprise in her stomach. "Oh please. You didn't hire me; Santa did. Santa always selects the Number Two Elf. You're putting a little too much stock in your say."

He considered this. "Maybe," he conceded. Then he looked surprised. "Wait a minute…how did you know that? I never told you about Santa always choosing; neither did Scott. How did you…"

"I don't…know," said Ellington, realizing that she really had no idea how she'd known that. "I just…knew."

Bernard gave her a curious look. "This has happened before, hasn't it?"

Ellington sighed, but said nothing.

"I remember…back when you'd just arrived, you told everyone about how Dorothy would be late. But no one else knew yet, and there was no way you could have known, either," Bernard said. He lowered his voice. "Does this happen at home?"

"Yes," Ellington admitted hesitantly. "It always has…from time to time. Certain things I just…know. And I don't know how I know them."

They walked in silence for a bit. Then Bernard said, "If it weren't for that, I'd have thought you were developing your elfish senses. But only very special elves have a gift like that." He looked at her thoughtfully, before repeating, "Very special elves."

With a nod, Ellington wondered to herself if this 'sense' would grow stronger as she transformed.

Bernard was considering the same thing. I wonder how you'll feel when you have to receive a new name, upon completing your transformation.

"I wouldn't mind it," Ellington said agreeably.

Bernard looked at her sideways. "Mind what?"

"Having my name changed," said Ellington, slightly confused.

"Where did you hear that?" demanded Bernard.

Ellington was disturbed. "Bernard, you just said so."

"No I didn't."

"Yes," Ellington argued, "You did. You said that you wondered how I will feel about having to get a new name when I 'complete my transformation.' Those were your exact words."

"No, I didn't say that," Bernard insisted.

"Bernard…"

"I thought it."

Bernard and Ellington both stopped and stared at one another.

"Telepathy?!" Both cried, at almost the same time.

Ellington face palmed. "Oh God, no. I'm SO weird!"

"Well, that explains it," Bernard said, sounding a little freaked out, "I've been meaning to ask you something, and it's going to sound a bit strange now, but…is there honestly anything you can't do?"

This seemed to make Ellington feel a bit better. She looked up. "Yes," she said, a smirk creeping onto her lips. "I can't tie a cherry stem with my tongue. I always have to cheat and use my fingers."

Bernard gave her an odd look.

"What! You asked."

"Nothing," he said, although he had been thinking, that's something that can be fixed with a certain amount–and kind– of practice…

Just before he broke into a cold sweat, realizing that Ellington had probably just heard that.

Ellington raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I…just thought you should be careful," Bernard lied. "I mean, who knows just how active this telepathy may become as you progress."

"Yeah." Ellington thought back. "Hey…so do I get to pick my new name? Or does it…I dunno, get pulled out of a hat or something?"

"Actually," said Bernard with a smirk. "I'm in charge of picking the names. Santa chooses the final one, but I come up with the ideas."

Ellington's eyes widened in horror. "No…"

"Yep," Bernard said cheerily, a sudden spring to his step. Leverage! "So I would advise you to stay out of my mind. As a general rule. Or you might get stuck with a name like, oh I don't know, Hildegard."

"You wouldn't," Ellington whispered. Seeing Bernard's grin, her control snapped and she shoved him in the chest. "Say that you wouldn't!"

To her surprise, Bernard laughed, and held up his hands. "Okay, okay. I wouldn't."

"Promise," Ellington pressed.

"I promise."

"Okay." Ellington smiled in relief. "But hey…does that mean you had a different name before you were an elf?"

With no small amount of hesitation, Bernard said. "Yes…"

"Oh my gosh! Really? What was it?" Ellington was bouncing on her toes. "Come on, tell me!"

"NO." Bernard didn't to think of that name. Ugh.

Ellington looked over at him, and cocked her head. Her vision was going fuzzy. Squinting to make up for the poor eyesight, she…suddenly realized she knew the answer.

"Theodulus?!" She burst out, laughing a little.

Bernard jumped, and then turned bright pink. He shot her a furious look. "Ellington!"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to," Ellington laughed. "I must have made you think of it by asking. But…" she snickered. "Theodulus…"

Bernard looked away, embarrassed. "It was the fourth century, Ellington. Everybody had names like that."

"It's not that bad, really," said Ellington fairly. "I'm only laughing because you're so clearly embarrassed about it. Why?"

"Because of…reasons," said Bernard, exasperated. "Now can we drop it? Please?"

"Oh fine." she sighed. "But I feel much better about my future name."

"Um, why?"

Ellington smiled slyly. Well…let's just say that this whole telepathy thing works pretty well for blackmail…Theodulus." And she strode off down the hall, allowing him to think this through.

"No…." Bernard moaned. "Ellington!" And as she took off laughing, he chased after her.

Which was an idea that Ellington rather liked, actually.

Jack was getting impatient.

Sure, he had captured the attention of Dottie (who was obviously enthralled with Charlie Calvin, but was also considering the option of becoming Jack's elf.) But he hadn't gotten any closer to his real interest: Ellington.

The news of her promotion had lit a fire under his heels. Now, knowing that he only had until Christmas to catch her, he decided it was time to step up his game.

Especially given the way she and Bernard were getting a little too chummy for his liking. He had been watching as they ran past, Ellington beaming as Bernard chased after her, rather desperately, it seemed.

So, having for the most part steered clear of the girl, he saw the time had arrived to be more… visibly interested.

He chose to have said encounter in the lunch hall the next day.

The next day…

"Carol, do you notice anything funny about me?" Ellington asked, as she leaned over her vanity to get a closer look in the mirror. "Since yesterday? Especially in the ears."

"Hmmm…I haven't looked very closely. Here, let me see." She came over, Ellington turning to face her with an anxious look on her face.

It took a few seconds to notice it. Then, Mrs. Claus jumped. "Oh! Your…"

"Ears," Ellington finished. "Then it's not just me. They're pointing, aren't they? I thought so." She turned back to the mirror, also noticing the light shimmery glitter on her cheeks that had started to appear there every morning, even when she did her own makeup. "I hadn't expected it to happen so…soon." It made everything even more real.

Mrs. Claus wisely said nothing. She knew there was truly nothing she could say that could make Ellington hurt less than she did; she already knew of all of the benefits that would come from her sacrifice. But it didn't make the pain any less, on her part. So Carol merely set a comforting hand on Ellington's shoulder.

Ellington sighed, and said, "How am I going to hide it from Annise, when it gets worse?"

"Annise won't see it," Mrs. Claus told her. "It's part of the magic. She won't see that you look any different until Christmas eve–and then, only just before she and Dottie leave."

"Oh. Well, that's good."

Carol picked up some pins off the table. "Would you mind if I..?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Ellington said, almost gladly. She still missed Josette very much–they had always been close–and felt the loss of that motherly attention quite keenly.

"Your hair is just so much fun to play with," Carol said. "I don't have any daughters of my own to fuss over–don't get me wrong, I love Buddy with my whole heart…but he's not a girl." She started pinning up Ellington's curls the way Ellington preferred them, wearing a faraway look. "The elves are always perfectly made up, and I suppose you will be too, eventually…but this is nice." She smiled. "For now."

"For now," Ellington repeated, thinking of all the things she had 'for now.' It made her feel sick to think of when 'now' would end.

As if on cue, the door opened, and in came Annise.

"Good morning," she chirped happily, skipping over to where Ellington was sitting. "You look nice."

"And so do you!" Ellington said, pulling Annise into a hug and ignoring the painful feeling in her chest. "How have you been? I've been so busy I've hardly seen you."

"Oh you know, same-o same-o," Annise said casually, then laughed. "I've been having a great time, hanging out with Abby and Curtis, when they're not working. They have opposite shifts, so I usually have someone to spend time with."

"That's good," said Ellington.

"So what's it like, being the Number Two?" Annise suddenly gushed. "Is it hard? Does Bernard give you a lot of crap? Do your feet get tired? Do the elves listen to you?"

Ellington laughed. "Those need a lot of different answers, actually: A little, not as much as I expected, not with good shoes, and yes, for the most part."

"So Bernard isn't crabby with you, like with Curtis?" Annise asked. "Because, I saw you guys yesterday…you looked pretty happy together."

Forcing herself not to blush, Ellington said, "Well, I think for the most part, we're happy enough in each other's company." She thought. "But for some reason, we're always crabby with each other in the mornings. I don't know why… it's like we both just tick each other off for a bit, then its okay for the rest of the day."

A loud knock sounded on the door, and who should step in but...

"Speak of the devil," muttered Ellington.

Bernard paused, unsure if Ellington had just called him the devil or was using the term in its metaphorical sense. Almost sure it was the former Bernard forced himself to believe it was the latter.

I've come to pick you up," he said, as if to no one in particular. "Our workday here begins pretty early, so you may want to get used to the idea of early mornings. I've heard you don't like them so much back home."

"You do realize you've said that to me for the past three mornings, right? It's not Groundhog Day," Ellington replied. "And as I've told you the past three days, I enjoy early mornings very much. I just don't find need of them, where I live." She wanted to make a point: She lived in Hawaii. It wasn't her home, by any means.

Bernard clasped his hands behind his back and bounced on his heels impatiently. "Yes, well. I'm afraid we don't have time for technicalities right now."

"Oh really?" Ellington arched an eyebrow. "But I thought that's what we fussed over all day."

"Okay!" Carol clapped her hands. "Out, you two! Off to work! Go! Shoo!"

"Wait," Ellington said. "When is Curtis coming for..."

"CURTIS!" Bernard yelled, somewhat abruptly. Ellington had forced them to patch things up…it was just too weird for Bernard to go on being angry with Curtis, and anyway, Bernard had a new Number Two, so he didn't need to be so snippy with the younger, more accident prone elf anymore.

Or so Ellington had said. Bernard had taken her word for it...grudgingly. So things were still a little tense between the two.

"Here! I'm right here," Curtis said, still panting. "Why do you have to walk so fast!?"

Bernard ignored this remark, saying, "Annise is with Curtis today. He can show her the Pantograph Room."

"Yes! Finally!" cried Annise in triumph. So far, Annise hadn't been allowed in there. She shared a high five with Curtis, then they proceeded to do a weird little dance that ended with them shaking their butts in a way that had Ellington rolling on the floor laughing…in her mind.

"Okay, did that seriously just happen?" she asked in disbelief.

"I can't unsee that," Bernard moaned, rubbing at his eyes.

"Oh, never mind," said Annise. "You guys are just jealous that you don't have a secret handshake yet."

"Yeah, well, if we did, it wouldn't have butt shaking in it." Ellington snorted.

"Whatever." Annise rolled her eyes at Curtis like, 'What drags they are.'

Curtis nodded in agreement. "Well, I can't wait to finally show you my old home away from home," he said, nudging Annise. "I missed that place all the time. You should see what I've done with it. Glad to be back, especially," he pretended to lower his voice, "since Bernard can't spend all day yelling at me. And I don't have to spend all day keeping up!" Curtis was surprisingly upbeat about his demotion.

"I heard that," said Bernard severely. "Elle… you'll come with me."

Ellington was shocked. So was everyone else in the room. "Did…you just call me Elle?"

"Yes." Bernard had steeled himself for this.

"Why?" Ellington didn't like nicknames as a rule. She didn't have one. Not that she really minded Bernard giving her one…but she was still going to give him heck about it.

Bernard opened his mouth to say something, but then cocked his head. His eyebrows shot up, and he reached up to tug at his ear meaningfully.

Ellington shrugged and gave a small smile in acknowledgement.

"Because it suits you," he said finally. That seemed like a safe answer.

"How does it suit me?" Or not…

Bernard tensed. "Umm…"

"Because it's pretty," Curtis announced. "He told me so on the way over."

Bernard shot him a death glare.

"Fair enough," Ellington said, carefully hiding away her happiness. Bernard thought she was pretty.

Day. Made.

She went and kissed Annise on the head. "Be good today. Don't get Curtis into trouble. He gets into enough trouble on his own."

"Hey!" Curtis cried, offended. "I resent that remark!"

"No," Ellington corrected, "you resemble that remark. Now go on. And be good to my sister, or you'll have me to deal with. Which will be even less pretty than the not-so-pretty idea you get in your head when I say that."

Curtis cringed. "Yikes. I hate that you tell me that every morning. It puts a damper on the rest of my day!"

"Good. Just making sure I'm doing my job." Ellington watched Annise skip off with Curtis before sighing and joining the Head Elf. "Okay. Your lead, Bernard."

"Right, well." He nodded to Carol. "Mrs. Claus." And he left the room.

Ellington pointed after him, crossing her eyes and puffing out her cheeks, then gagging. Carol laughed quietly and waved her off.

"Nice ears," said Bernard as they set off. He had begun to find her even more attractive since the promotion… those ear points were probably the reason why.

Or at least, that's what he told himself.

"Thanks. It's…an interesting experience. I think it'll be awhile before I'm used to them." Ellington fell into line behind Bernard. "So, where are we going?"

"Breakfast first, if you want," Bernard said. He was walking rather quickly. "Are you hungry?"

Fortunately, Ellington was a fast walker herself. "Not really," she said, keeping pace beside him. "I don't usually eat breakfast. Just coffee."

Bernard raised an eyebrow. "You're still going on about the coffee?"

Ellington was far from amused. "I'm seventeen, Bernard. Not five. I need my morning joe to function properly."

"Okay, just asking, snippy. But if you ask me," he added, "you seem to be functioning well enough without a flood of caffeine in your system. I'm not sure I'd want to see what happens when you do."

Ellington chose not to answer this, since he sort of had a point.

They wove through the Workshop, which was glowing with the ambiance of lamplights in the early morning grey. Eventually, they turned onto a long hall, which went on a ways before arriving at the Kitchen. They passed this door, and went into on marked Dining Hall.

Bernard opened the door (he was gentlemanly enough to hold the door as well) and Ellington passed through, into a circular room that seemed to have many rooms branching off of it. Each held a different type of bakery or kitchen, and in the center of the room were rows of dining tables. Already elves lined the tables and formed rows in front of the various vendors.

Ellington wondered how she had missed this room before…especially considering how much time she had spent in the Kitchen.

Then, she saw several of her cakes on sale, and a long line at that stall stretching down a whole row of tables.

She smiled.

Guiding her to a corner of the room, Bernard said, "I'll be right back. Don't wander off— I don't have time to spare having to find you a second time."

"Again, I'm not five, sir," Ellington said with a scowl. "And if I didn't want to be found, you wouldn't find me, plain and simple."

"Whatever. Just wait here." Bernard rolled his eyes and stalked off.
The cafeteria grew more and more crowded, and Ellington grew more and more impatient as the minutes dragged by. The elves were charming, of course; but they all smiled at her in an odd way that she didn't understand, which bothered her. But Ellington smiled back in a similar way and did her best to look both pretty and smart. An efficient and charming Number Two. Needless to say, she didn't need to try too hard for either.

Twelve minutes later, Bernard returned, carrying two large drinks. "Here," he said passing one to Ellington.

Ellington's eyes shone with excitement. "Finally," she muttered, removing the cap. Her face fell. "Wait. This is still cocoa."

"Of course it is," Bernard scoffed. "You know we don't drink coffee here. I don't know why you bother asking for it."

"Well, pardon my inner Seattleite. Gosh." Ellington didn't hide her disappointment very well. "But thanks, all the same." She sipped her cocoa. "It's really good. For cocoa, I mean, since it's obviously not Judy's…or Abby's. It's just not my usual double shot cappuccino brevet, but I'll survive. Barely." She looked into the swirling steam from her cocoa, and across to where a pretty black haired elf was eyeing her down from a distance, and not exactly in a friendly way. Ellington instantly dubbed her Raven Hair. "Say," she asked slowly, "Do you know her?"

"I know everybody here, Elle," said Bernard, using her new nickname and liking it more each time. "But I don't recognize her. She must be new."

"New. Right," Ellington said, fighting off the urge to shoot her a dirty look. "Well, whoever she is, I don't think she likes me."

Bernard snuck a glance over at the elf. "Oh, I wouldn't say it's anything personal. I think she just wants your job." He walked off.

"You do realize that makes it personal, right?!" Ellington called, exasperated. She went to catch up with him, stealing a backward glance at the Raven Hair. Who, she now noticed, was tracking Bernard.

Oh. Shit.

"It's not me," Ellington whispered.

"What?" She was, after all, standing right next to Bernard.

"It's not me," Ellington repeated. "I mean, it is me, but it isn't at the same time."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't." Ellington sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. "She's mad at me, because of you."

"Wha…" Bernard turned to look at the elf. Suddenly she was all smiles and waves.

"Get it yet?" asked Ellington, miserably.

"Good grief." Bernard reddened, and took Ellington by the arm. "Come on," he whispered, in her ear in a way that was completely distracting, and he led her out of the room.

But not before Ellington caught a glimpse of Raven Hair, looking really pissed.

"Great," said Ellington when they'd made it out into the hall. "You just made it worse."

"What? How?"

"Oh come on, Bernard! You've got to know that much."

Bernard looked totally confused.

"Okay…. Maybe you don't know that much." Ellington shook her head. "Gosh. If everyone around here is crushing on you, this is going to be a lot harder than I expected."

"What?"

"Would you quit saying that!" Ellington stomped in frustration. "You're almost seventeen hundred years old, Bernard! You can't act like you don't know when a girl is totally head over heels for you!" Realizing what she'd just said, Ellington paled.

Bernard's brow furrowed as he said, "Fine. Fine! I did know, okay? I know about every, single elf here that is…'crushing on me', as you call it. But I ignore them, because frankly, they don't need encouragement in that regard."

"Right. Cause, me thinkest thou hast enough admirers as it is," said Ellington, nodding back at a group of young blonde elves who were pointing after them, giggling madly.

Bernard sighed. "It's not what you think." Which was true of course. But he wasn't about to tell her why. Bernard wasn't ever seen just strolling around with a girl, human or elfish. Now that Ellington was his Number two instead of Curtis, well...that was going to take some getting used to, for everyone.

And so they spent most of the morning in this way, going around to various rooms and sections of the Workshop as usual, where Bernard checked over many details with a wary eye. By noon, they were in Wrapping. Ellington, whose cocoa was long gone, was beginning to feel peckish. To amuse herself while Bernard was signing various reports and order slips, she looked around at the different wrapping papers and decided what each would taste like. That red one would taste like cherry pie; the green one, peppermint ice cream. Blue was blueberry cheesecake, and brown was her beloved and well missed coffee. She could feel herself dragging already without her morning caffeine boost. Not to mention her afternoon caffeine boost...

"Elle." Bernard was standing, hands on his hips, impatiently.

"What?" Ellington gave him a sideways look. "You really shouldn't do that, Bernard; it makes you look like a teenage prima-donna."

Bernard scowled, but dropped his hands. "Come on. We've got a schedule to keep." And he stalked off again.

"Ugh, fine!" Ellington raced after him. "If Santa asks me if you're doing a good job, I'll be forced to say yes."

"Santa already knows that I do a good job," said Bernard, somewhat haughtily.

"Yeah sure. That's why he made me your Number Two, so that I could not help you do your job better."

Bernard shrugged dismissively. But he was also slightly smiling.

"But if Santa asks if you're doing a good job as a chaperone, well then. Epic fail." Ellington finally caught up by a tower of wrapped boxes. No, literally. It was a spiraling tower of wrapped presents, waiting to be sent to Labeling and Tagging. "Plus, I usually skip breakfast too, but you don't seem to know what lunch is either. And seeing as you're not exactly as slender as a birch rod, I guess you must eat a really big dinner or something."

Bernard whirled around on her. Ellington stopped short—but not before they were standing almost nose to nose. "Are you calling me fat?"

Without even flinching, Ellington blinked once, twice. "No. On the contrary, you must be quite fit, to keep a pace like this without lunch."

"Hmm." Bernard narrowed his eyes and assessed her expression. "Did you know," he said, cocking his head to one side, "that elves have a gift, much like your own, Ms. Connelly? You see, elves can tell when you're lying."

Still unfazed, yet a little dizzy at the close proximity, Ellington said, "Well then, you must be very glad to see that I'm not calling you fat after all. And that I'm just upset you haven't taken me to lunch yet." She looked up at a wall clock.

As Bernard watched, a strange green light passed over the surface of her retinas—briefly turning them a shade of darker blue green. "Break is at twelve thirty today, isn't it?" she said, looking back at him testily.

Just before the whistle blew for lunch.

Ellington's eyes twinkled. "Called it," she said, cocking her own head the opposite way of Bernard's.

Bernard pursed his lips, trying not to smile. She was irritatingly challenging. And that telepathy definitely wasn't in his favor, either. But somehow, it was funny. They both stood there smirking at each other.

That is, until the rest of the elves, catching sight of them standing so close together, gave a collective gasp. Rumors started whirling around the room.

"Is that Ellington?"

"She's Number Two now, didn't you hear?"

"Of course I heard, silly! Who didn't?"

"They are just perfect!"

"Aw, they're so cute!"

"Oh my gosh, is he going to kiss her?"

Embarrassed, Ellington stepped back. "Uh...sorry." All of a sudden, she was terribly shy, the confidence having drained right out of her. She didn't want to be another one of those elves that Bernard 'didn't want to encourage'.

Bernard looked up at the elves, tossing his head in annoyance. "Nothing to see here! Get back to work!"

"But its lunch break," said one elf, a young boy with a kerchief around his neck.

"Then go to lunch!" Bernard hollered, grabbing Ellington's hand and nearly dragging her out of the room.

Again.

ELLINGTON'S CHOICE: Crave You (Adventure Club Remix), By Flight Faculties

"Look, I'm really sorry about that. The elves, they gossip like nobody's business. I never should have let that happen." Bernard had said, as they sat down in the Dining Hall for lunch.

"Tell me something I don't know. And don't worry about it. Obviously it's not the worst thing that could happen." Ellington was dejectedly stirring her soup. The whole 'kissing' incident had really brought her down. And it wasn't even her first such incident, either. Curtis had had mechanical/ego incidents; were all of her incidents going to involve kissing?

"No, it's not. It's not okay. You see, elves can tell what other elves are thinking, when they try; just like you, but subconsciously only. So that means, I must have been thinking what they were saying!" He was visibly upset. "Wait...unless it was you?"

"What? No way! And you know, you gesture a lot when you're upset," Ellington observed.

Bernard gave her an exasperated look.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't very helpful." Ellington sighed, and brushed the curls out of her eyes. "Look, it's not that big of a deal, okay? So some elves thought you were into me for a second. Big deal! And maybe for a second you thought, gee, I hope this idiot of a girl doesn't try to kiss me, and they picked up on it."

Affronted, Bernard said, "I would never think that." But not for the reason Ellington thought he wouldn't.

"Okay, so maybe they thought it was me. I don't know. But I don't remember thinking anything like that. At all. Just saying."

Jack Frost entered the room, scanning through the crowd until his eyes fell on two particular curly heads… both were visibly upset, but only one adorned the face he most wanted to see: doll faced, cherry lipped Ellington.

And those eyes… light, blue eyes…they were sad today.

"What's wrong?" He crooned, walking up from behind her carrying his own tray. "Trouble at work, you two?"

Ellington rolled her eyes. Great, just what she needed….NOT. "Jack, I don't need your sass today. Go and chill someone else's meal. "

"Ouch," said Jack, ignoring Ellington's not-so subtle hint to buzz off. He slid into the seat next to her. "That was…cold. And I should know." Whipping out his manipulative streak like the virtual weapon it was, he turned on Bernard. "Is Mr. Grumpy-pants starting to bring you down? But it's only the first week! Surely you two aren't fighting already."

"We're not fighting, Jack," said Bernard wearily. He really just wanted to be alone with Ellington right now… they needed to talk this out without the interference of someone who was bound to be up to mischief.

"Yeah, and stop trying to turn me against him. It's not going to work," Ellington said flatly.

"I don't mean to do anything of the sort, sweetheart," Jack said coyly, touching her hand lightly where it rested on the counter. Ellington pulled back, appalled at how cold his hands were. "I simply don't want to see Mr. Head Elf here misused his new counterpart."

"If he misused me, I'd kick his ass…just like I'll kick yours if you don't leave, NOW." Ellington gave him her infamous evil eye.

Jack looked amused. "You really don't like me, do you?"

"That would be an understatement," said Ellington, getting up to ditch her tray and leave, since Jack obviously wasn't going anywhere. When she returned for Bernard, however, she found him talking to Santa…and guess who was at Santa's elbow?

"There's been a security breach," said Raven Hair. She stared Ellington down hatefully, then took a step closer to Bernard in an almost possessive way.

Bernard of course, was completely oblivious to this.

"I'm sorry, do you two know each other?" Santa asked, confused at the tension between his Number Two and the elf who was recognizable by outfit alone as his new Chief of Security.

"We've met…in passing," said Ellington through clenched teeth.

"I'm new," Raven Hair explained, flashing Santa a cutesy smile. "Tabitha."

"Well then," said Bernard. "Let's go. Elle, you coming?"

"NO!" cried Raven Hair–that is, Tabitha. She then recanted saying, "I mean, we really only need you, Bernard." The tone in which she said his name made Ellington almost vomit in her mouth. She turned to Ellington with a wicked gleam in her eye. "We wouldn't want to steal the evening of both of our Head Elves, now would we?"

"I don't mind," Ellington said pointedly.

"No she's right," Bernard said with a sigh. "We'll most likely be busy all night anyway." Ellington's stomach felt very cold and unsettled at just what that could imply. "You should get some rest."

Quickly, Tabitha ushered Bernard and Santa away, making sure to cast her own kind of evil eye back at Ellington, who was standing alone and feeling very misused.

Her stomach chills grew worse and worse, until, when she lost sight of Bernard's head at the door, she felt so awful that she rushed for the nearest bathroom.

Jack followed behind her, feeling very pleased with himself. Tabitha, the little genius, was playing her angle perfectly. He knew it wouldn't be a mistake to smuggle in one of his own elves for the job.

He waited outside the bathroom while Ellington did a lot more than just vomit in her mouth. In fact by the time she was done she was pretty sure she had even lost her breakfast cocoa. She staggered out of the bathroom in delirium; weak kneed and blurry eyed, and ran smack into…

"Jack," she muttered.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said, putting on of his arms around her. "My goodness! You don't look so well. Do you need help getting back to your room?"

"Y-yes," Ellington stammered. She felt so, so cold…and shaky.

"I think you've caught pneumonia," Jack said, leading her in the proper direction. "You look rather blue. Perhaps a few days in bed would do you good. Rest up, you know?"

"Have to…get back to…work. In the…morning, "Ellington panted, waves of chilling nausea washing over her. Jack's presence felt like a cold blanket.

"Ah, but do you? Even Bernard seemed to think you needed the rest." Ellington doubled over a nearby potted plant and hurled again. "Oh dear, dear me. " Jack suppressed a smile. "It might just be a touch of flu."

Ellington was too weak to speak anymore. She let Jack lead her to her room, ignoring his chatter even as her own teeth chattered. Finally, when she reached her room, she fell against the door trying to let herself in. Jack helped her undo the lock, and led her to her bed, helping her to bundle up under the thick comforter.

"Thank you, Jack," she whispered, as Jack made to leave.

"You're more than welcome," said Jack soothingly, as he stopped to turn up the thermostat. Doubtless she would sleep all evening; all night. By morning, all traces of her chills would be long gone. Nothing to pin him to any of it, except as the rescuer of a damsel in distress whose knight was…well, off with another damsel. He grinned in triumph, and said, "Just sleep. Sweet dreams, dearest." He chuckled quietly, and whispered, "Of how it felt when Bernard left you all alone."

Jack, you fiend! *shakes fist*

Poor Ellington.

BTW: in case any of you were wondering:

Annise and Curtis' 'Secret' Handshake:

1. High five

2. Hand slap tower

3. Shoot 'em up

4. Two counts of the Hokey Pokey

5. Polka polka dance move

6. Butt shake, and

7. Flourish!

Lol. Enjoy!

Will try to have a chapter up by the nineteenth, in honor of the celebration of Byzantine Orthodox St. Nicholas Day :)

Oh, and in the event that I can't finish The Emissary Clause by Christmas….are you guys devoted enough to read this after the Big Day? Don't worry; I'm not flaking out. I just think the story will take too long for me to finish before then.

Thanks guys! You're the Best.

-Ana