[Sanctuary] – Santa’s Helper

Henry Foss smiled as he sat at his desk typing. The Santa hat atop his head adding to the joy in his face. Henry always liked Christmas eve. It was the time he felt the most, magical. Even if everything he saw throughout his time with the Sanctuary was crazier than a man in a red suit who scurries down chimneys.

“Didn’t anyone have the Santa talk with you when you were little, Henry?” William Zimmerman asked as he stepped into the room drinking from a mug of what smelled like cocoa to Henry’s enhanced smell.

“What do you mean, talk?” Henry asked as he continued tapping away at the keyboard.

“Do I have to tell you that he’s not real, Henry?” Will said with an amused grin, “What are you working on anyway? I thought Magnus said that everything was on hold for the holidays?”

“Oh, this isn’t work related, Will,” Henry said with a smirk as he finished what he was typing and slapped the keyboards enter key. Almost immediately, lights began flickering around the room and it took Will more than a moment to realise that they were flickering to the tune of Jingle Bells.

“That’s what you’ve been working on?” He asked Henry bemused.

“It doesn’t stop there,” Henry told him with a big grin, “Walk over to the doorway,”

Will gave Henry a raised eyebrow as if to say, ‘really’ and then shrugged. He walked towards the door. As he stepped into the frame a voice came over the speaker calling out, ‘Ho Ho Ho’.

“Is that going to do that on every door?” William asked turning back to his friend who was grinning like a mad man.

“Ha! No,” Henry told him, “Only that door but I thought it would make it more festive for a change,”

“Could have just put up tinsel, Henry,”

“Where’s the challenge in that?”

William knew better than to argue with Henry when he got these ideas in his head, so instead he just shrugged, “As long as Magnus doesn’t get…”

“Ho, Ho, Ho,” Came the recording from the door area as a large man in a red suit fell through it and collapsed onto the ground. Henry and Will turned to see what it was. The man, who drew an uncanny look alike to Santa with the red suit and hat, cried out, “Get Helen Magnus,” before face-planting the floor beneath him.

In surprise, Will placed his mug on the nearby bench and rushed towards the unknown man. Placing two fingers at his neck, Will felt for a pulse. The gentle rhythm that came back against his fingers felt strange until he released it was the tune for ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’

“Is he ok?” Henry asked as he grabbed his radio.

“I think so?” Will replied back, “Hard to say. His pulse has a tune to it. Just call Magnus,”

Henry clicked the call button at the side of the device.

“Doc?” He said into the microphone, “You there? We, umm, kind of have a situation in my lab,”

“I’ll be right down, Henry,” Came the disembodied voice of Helen Magnus through the speaker before it clicked off.

“Henry, Give me a hand. We need to get him on his back,” Will said shifting the mans arm into a better position to move. Henry rushed forward, and knelt down on the other side of William, “Ok, on 3,” He started as they both held a side of the strange visitor.

“1, 2, and roll”
Henry pulled the man towards him as William pushed and they managed to roll the man gently on to his back. William felt for a pulse one more time. It felt like it played that same tune. He shrugged and the two men stood up.

“Does he look like who I think he looks like?” Henry asked staring at the man who they could now see wearing a Santa suit and bushy white beard.

“No,” William said tilting his head as if it gave him a better angle to see the man. His eyesight flashed against the skin around the mans eyes, which was tired. Then against the Casio watch adorning his left wrist, followed by the small device in his hand.

William lent down and slid the device from his hand. It was black, looked like hard plastic, and hard ornate carvings on either side but Will didn’t recognise the design. He turned it over in his hand as he studied it before a loud, “HO HO HO” made him partially jump.

He shook his head when he realised that it was Magnus entering the room

“Bloody hell” Helen exclaimed as she saw what had happened on the floor, “Did he say anything?”

“He just called out for you, and collapsed,” William told her, “I assume you know this man?”

Helen Magnus knelt down beside the prone man, and felt for the pulse.

“I did that before,” William told her, “It seems fine, if unusual,”

Helen pulled back from the man, a relieved look to her face as she breathed out, “I believe everyone knows this man, William, including you,” She stated coming to her feet. “However, His name is Kris and his designation is San Nicolas which when translated from Spanish is his true name, Santa Claus”

Henry Foss and William Zimmerman stared at each other, then back at Magnus, “Are you telling me that Santa,” William said pointing at the prone man beneath them to prove his point, “Is an abnormal?”

“Come now, Will,” Helen said with a smile, “Have you not seen stranger things for the time you’ve been working here?”

“Yeah, but Santa Claus?”

“All mythological beings have a basis in historical fact, William. Even one as fantastical as this,”
Henry’s eyes lit up as he looked at Helen, and then back to the man on the floor, “So you’re saying the real Santa is here? Oh my god, I have so many questions. Where does he keep the reindeer? How does he get around everyone in one night? Does he really have an infinite sack of toys?”

“Calm yourself, Henry,” Helen told him a even though she was a little amused by his reaction, “I do not know myself, I prefer to keep some of the magic of Christmas secret. However, I do know that he is able to get around everywhere because he is a teleporter. But how he got through the EM shield is something you will need to look into Henry,”

Henry glanced around the room nervously, “Umm, yeah about the EM shield,” Henry stuttered.

“What did you do, Henry?” William asked before Helen could.

“Well, it’s Christmas and I’ve been preparing for my first one with Erika,” He said out in a very fast pace, “I figured that the natural lodestone in the rocks around the new Sanctuary would protect us well enough that it would be fine until the new year. So I, uhh, switched it off due to interference,”

“Well, at least we don’t have a bigger problem on our hands,” Helen said, “We should get Santa here to the infirmary before…”

The man at their feet began to groan, and stir. Helen Magnus knelt back down, “Kris,” She said softly, “It’s been a while. What are you doing here?”

Santa sat up, with Magnus assisting his back.

“Got attacked,” He said in a slow, but deep, voice, “Didn’t see who they were but they managed to damage my toy sack. I need to get it…”

Santa paused, and looked around, “Wait. Where is it? I had it in my hand before I got here,”

Will looked at the small black box in his palm, “This thing?” He questioned.

Kris let out a sigh of relief, “Yes thank you. I thought I’d lost it,” William passed it back to the man who held it up to Helen, “I heard you have the best tech man around. I was hoping he would be able to fix any damage,”

“Santa needs MY help?” Henry asked, in surprise as he stepped forward and held out his hand for the small device, “I’d be honoured to look at it,”

“If you don’t get it fixed, I can’t complete my deliveries tonight,” Kris told him as he handed it over, “It means that Christmas will be lost for thousands of children,”

“Alright, no pressure,” Henry said taking the device as he breathed out at the thought of everything happening right now and walked over to his table. Picking up his screwdriver, he began to test the edges of the device for a way in. The edge seemed pretty smooth, but one side had what looked like a seam. He slid the edge of the tool as far into the inside as he could get comfortable and ran it down the line. It stopped at a bump, and Henry twisted it around. After a few twists, the device buzzed in his hand and a seam appeared around the rest of it before the top case popped open. He placed it on the bench, to get a better look at the inside. There wasn’t much to it. A few small components, and what looked like miniature tubes. It looked to Henry that it might just be the small crystal looking piece in the corner that was damaged, as it was black. He also did recognise the technology as similar to Adam Worth’s temporal displacement device.

“Uh, Doc,” Henry called out, “Can I see you over here for a moment?”

Helen Magnus smiled at Kris as she slowly removed her hand from his back so he could sit up by himself, and walked across to the table that Henry was working at as William followed, “What is it Henry?”

“It’s this device, Doc,” He told her, “I’ve seen similar to this before, from Adam,”

“This is Adam’s?” William asked in a little bit of surprise.

“Well, no, But it’s basically the same tech,” Henry explained, “Are we sure that we want to do this?”

“Henry,” Helen replied, semi sternly, “I’ve known this man for longer than I’ve known most of you. This is fine. Can you fix it?”
Henry and Will glanced at each other before Henry responded.

“Yeah, one of the components here should make do for a while until he can finish what he’s doing,” Henry rummaged around in a box nearby and came up with a small crystal square. Not completely identical to the one in the device, given that one was circular, but Henry figured it would do the job enough until he got it repaired at where-ever this came from. He twisted the broken piece out, and slid the new square on in. Henry had to jostle a little, but it connected into the grid. A small light came from the box, and a humming sound began to emanate from it. He picked up the outer piece from his bench, and slipped it back on with a click. The seal around the outside disappeared again.

“Well, that should do you for now based on my very quick look at what’s in there,” Henry told Kris as he handed the device to Helen. She took it and walked it across to the man who was beginning to stand to his feet.

“Are you going to be strong enough to finish this?” Helen asked as she gave the device to him.

“Of course, Helen,” Kris said to her with a smile so wide that it was obvious even through the dense white beard, “Since when have you known me to get pushed around so easily. The only thing I couldn’t do was fix the device, but I had faith in Henry’s ability,”

“You know me?” Henry asked, wondering why he should be surprised given who he was supposedly talking to.

“Of course,” Kris replied, and pressed the centre of the device. On top of the workbench appeared a brand new, state of the art, tool set and computer. Henry gasped.

“And you too, Mr Zimmerman,” He said pressing the device button again, “However, your gift will await you in your room,” Kris turned to Helen, “As for you, Helen. I know what you want but unfortunately that is beyond my power to give,”

“You know that I don’t ask for anything from you, old friend,” Helen replied smiling.

“Never the less… anyway, I must be going. Thank you, Henry. Thank you all,” The man vanished in a twirl of red light and a faint voice echoed in the air, “and to all a good night”.

The intercom for the Sanctuary crackled, and came to life before they could speak. A familiar voice came over the speakers, “Will, are you coming for the movie?”

“Abby?” William said moving to the wall panel, and clicking the answer key, “I thought you weren’t around this Christmas because of work?”

“I got done early,” Came the voice, “Are you coming?”

“Coming,” William said excitedly as he flicked the comms off and started to the door, “I still can’t believe you know ‘Santa’,” William said before stepping out of the lab to the sounds of Henry’s ‘HO HO HO’ recording.

“And could you shut that off, Henry?” Will shouted as he went down the corridor.

Helen made for the door. “Well, I’d best be off Henry. Enjoy the presents,” Helen said with a smile.

“Doc,” Henry started, “Will you be joining us for Christmas dinner tomorrow? I knew Erika would like it,”

Helen smiled, “I would not miss it, Henry,”

Henry quickly reached forward and tapped a key on his computer before Helen walked out. Her exit from the lab was quiet, and she smiled again that he had turned it off before she left. She felt a buzz at her pocket. Helen pulled out her phone. A video message was showing as new, but the date was years old.

Helen was curious and pressed play. Ashley’s face appeared on the video, “Just wanted to say Merry Christmas, Mum. I know I can’t be there because of this deal, but thank you for everything this year,”

The video ended, and the phone screen went back to the normal tiles. She remembered the deal well, Ashley got into trouble as usual, but she didn’t remember seeing that message before. She didn’t care to find out right now though as a tear fell down her cheek at the thought of her lost child.

“Thank you, Kris,” She whispered before continuing to her office.