"My God." NT shuddered. The voice came from somewhere among the casualties!
"I'm here!" it called out again.
"Keep calling!" NT said, "I'll get you some help when I find you!"
"I'm here!" the voice called again.
It was a small voice, but the calling became a bit more urgent, so that it was apparent to NT this must've been one of the elves who was missed in the recovery efforts last night, perhaps mistaken for dead.
"I'm coming!" she answered him back, and moved as cautiously as she could through the battle scene, doing her best not to step on anyone. It wasn't easy making her way through all the discarded weapons and bodies, but she finally got to where the cries came from.
An elf rolled his head and blinked to let her know where he was.
NT had to move some weaponry and get a set of legs from another soldier pushed aside to reach this elf.
"Get me out of here." he breathed.
She shuddered at the sight of him.
He was covered in minor cuts and burns, and one foot had shrapnel imbedded in it.
"But what if something's wrong internally'" Nt began.
"Nothing's broken, I don't think. Except maybe my ankle, now please, get me some help!"
Nt gingerly prepared to lift and move him out of there.
With no indications from him of any pain brought on by the motion of having arms placed beneath him, NT carefully picked him up and carried him like a baby, out of the battle field.
"Oh, shoot." NT suddenly blushed. "How much of my - last disrespects did you see,?"
""Enough to know that when it comes to Miranda and you, 'mortal enemies' is putting it gently." Then, he seemed to get an idea. "What did she do to make you hate her this way?"
"A ton of stuff, and not just to me." NT replied stoically.
"Well, what was the worst thing she did to you?" He was trying to get NT worked up so she'd open up and talk about her problems with Miranda. He was genuinely curious about it, and, welcomed the opportunity to shift attention on someone other than himself.
"Just stuff. You know what she was like," NT countered.
"I saw how she treated men she could charm." He coughed disdainfully. "But she obviously couldn't do that to you, neither has she killed you."
"Probably because I am not a man." came the frank reply.
"So," The elf grinned, "What exactly did she do to make you hate her this much?"
"I told you, lots." replied NT. "But you'll slow up your healing by expending energy on this idle chitchat."
"You don't like talking about yourself much, do you?" He observed.
"And you are incredibly nosy for someone who couldn't even get out of that battle field on your own. What are you, some kind of imbedded reporter or something?"
So much for that strategy, it was starting to backfire on the injured elf.
"No," he assured her. "Just a near casualty. I guess you're right, I'll save my energy."
NT said nothing in response and only kept moving along with him in her arms, until they finally got back to base.
It was only a few hours later, and the elf awoke after a refreshing sleep. He could hear faint sounds of hustle and bustle about the building. It all sounded sweetly familiar. The difference was that he was not a part of it now. It gave him a strange feeling.
"Welcome back from the dead, Teddy," a voice said from across the room.
He turned to look and started slightly at the sight.
The door had opened silently, and in peered Elsa.
Oh, no, Norma's best friend. what to say to her?
"Elsa - " he started.
She came stiffly into the room. "Your saviours wanted to make sure you were all right. I volunteered to do that for them - they're hands have gotten ridiculously full of work for Christmas now that the battle is over." She fixed him with an intent stare. "So? What's your story?"
"Elsa, please, you must understand - " he began, taking a ragged breath.
There was an awkward silence.
Finally elsa spoke up again. "Understand what?" she began pointedly. "That everyone thought you were dead, but the truth is you just ran off without a word and left your pregnant wife - "
"I did it for her!" he exclaimed desperately, cutting her off.
"You did it for her - ?" Elsa repeated incredulously? "How was that for her?"
"Elsa," he sighed, giving her a wounded look. "I was afraid Miranda would kill Norma - I narrowly got away from her once before, and when I realized what she was - and you know how she hung around our workshops at night - "
Elsa nodded and waited for Teddy to continue.
"I knew then that Miranda would remember and seek me out again, and make a special effort to go after Norma too. I had to drop out of sight, I couldn't risk staying and putting her in danger. Miranda knew some of us personally by then, she knew Norma and I were expecting. Considering that, just disappearing was the only way."
"But you could've at least let Norma in on it, Teddy. She - we all thought you had been killed and consumed by that monster! That was bad enough just for everybody else let alone what it did to her!"
Teddy swallowed, and blinked. Another tense pause, and he took a shaky breath, and looked sadly at Elsa. "I - I was going to tell her that night. I just never got the chance. Everything was so crazy, we just didn't have a moment alone together, and Miranda hung around our shops so long - I couldn't risk her seeing us together. elsa, the time she almost got me, she swore she wouldn't stop until she killed my entire family." His voice shook, and he heaved out his explanation in anguished gasps.
"I still don't understand this, Teddy, you could've told Norma that night when everything was all shut down, and made your escape the next morning."
"Elsa," he started. "I just couldn't do that. I wanted our last minutes together to be full of love and sweetness. I couldn't bear to tell her and make her spend the rest of that night in tears knowing I was leaving indefinitely the next morning. I just couldn't break it to her. I - just - couldn't."
Elsa looked away to conceal a frown. Whatever she thought about this, she kept to herself. She eventually looked back at him again. "So unfortunate." she finally said. "I'll go let Santa and Jessica know you're awake and - "
"No, please, don't bother. I'm fine. I don't need anything."
"Not even a drink of something?"
"No, not yet. Oh, and tell that girl - the one who took me off the battle field that I'll be just fine…If you know her. If you don't, probably some of the others will. I sure wish I knew what kind of experiences she had with Miranda."
Elsa gave him a strange look, and slowly walked away, leaving him on his own.
She turned back to glance down the hall at his room once more before turning the corner. She stood a moment, frowned and shook her head, then continued on her way back to join the others.
In Teddy's room, "I gotta get out of this place." He mumbled. "This just won't work." He sat on the edge of his bed to think. At length, an idea came to him. A distinctly eerie smile crawled over his face.
The day passed quickly, with everyone busily engaged in one project or another. They laughed and talked about the day as they ate dinner.
"So, Sugar Plum Fairy," Santa said, grinning, "How was this for a break in the old routine?"
Diane chuckled. "Well, to be honest, even after all that with the battles and feeling like crud for a while, it was all worth it."
"How about you, Nutcracker?"
"I'm glad we got out of it alive and doing as well as we are." he replied.
"And you, Carma?" Santa asked.
"Well - uh - " she said hesitantly. "I'd - if it isn't too much to ask…"
"What is it?" Jessica prompted.
"I've always wanted to be up here at your place over Christmas, and - "
"Ho, ho, ho! I wouldn't have it any other way! You are all more than welcome to stay and rest up, and help me celebrate Christmas. Besides," he said, smiling warmly, "I can give you your gifts in person, rather than via the chimney route."
"Great, thanks!" Carma beamed.
Everyone rejoiced at Santa's invitation, and they knew that the end of the mission and battle certainly didn't mean the end of their time here.
"NT," Santa said, startling the girl, who seemed to be off in her own world.
She looked up from her dinner at him questioningly.
"I hear it was probably you who first found Teddy out there."
She nodded.
"What were you doing going back there?"
"Teddy?" Indy asked.
"This elf who lay in the battle field all last night." said NT.
"So what were you doing out there?" Cosima asked.
"Mourning the casualties - and - "NT paused for a moment, looking down.
"And what?" Jessica prompted gently.
"He saw me and called out for help. Probably heard me too." She blushed. "No one was meant to. I thought I was alone."
"Miranda was wrong to make you afraid to show any emotion, a lot of people died because of her and that is worth remembering." Jessica said quietly. "I'm sure Teddy didn't think any less of you."
"He was way too interested in my experiences with Miranda." NT said, wincing. "He kept asking me about it when I took him off the battle field. Miranda will never infect my life again, and I just want to forget about her and move on."
"How would he even know you had any experiences with Miranda at all?" Indy asked.
"Because he witnessed me screaming at what was left of her before he called out."
"Whoa." said Carma.
"I wonder why he didn't call for help when we were all trying to get off the battle field. Or maybe he was passed out then." Iris suggested.
"Or maybe he did, and nobody heard him. It was pretty noisy and chaotic out there, even after it was all over." said Nutcracker with a winse.
"That is possible, Nutcracker," Santa said. "Otherwise, it doesn't make sense."
Something about him just isn't right." said Jessica..
They finished their dinner, and Indy, Gretel, Nutcracker and Cosima helped Jessica clear up.
After that, everyone assembled in the front room, and Elsa and Diane went to check on Teddy.
NT stated firmly that she was staying put, Teddy had put her on edge and she did not wish to speak to him again.
But when Elsa and Diane entered Teddy's room, there was no sign of him. All that was there was a simple note.
--
"I'm sorry to leave like this, after all the pain and hardship, but I just can't stay. The memories of this place are too painful for me. I have to do some soul-searching. Maybe someday I'll be back. But until then, no one worry about me. No one come looking for me.
-Teddy"
--
Elsa scowled. "Soul-searching my foot." she snarled. "'No one come looking for me'? He never once asked about the baby. Good news for whoever adopts her, but - he just doesn't care. He must've been pretending this whole time. Norma deserved better."
""Diane grimaced in disgust. "So, he faked his own death just to get out of being a father?" Diane asked.
"I'm starting to think so. That, and maybe he's got something else in the works, I dunno." said Elsa. "I never did trust that guy if you want the truth."
They headed back to the front room and informed the others of this latest development.
Everyone indicated they were all rather unsettled by this, and there were a lot more questions and speculations.
Finally it was agreed that should anyone happen to come across Teddy again, they were to report to Santa.
There was more visiting until it grew late, and the gathering broke up gradually as everyone turned in for the night.
--