Tracy
Tracy, Jared, Phil, Beth, Walt, Sasha, and Chris were all in the dressing room where they'd put Tracy when she’d first arrived at Santa Command. They were all seated on the couch or on the floor except for Phil, who was pacing the room. He would mumble a couple of words, then stop and start pacing again. Tracy watched him go back and forth like a tennis ball until she couldn't take it anymore.
“Stop,” she said. “What are you trying to tell us?” All of the presents had been delivered on time, despite everything Tracy had done. The fake Santas had been deprogrammed and sent home with no memories of their trip. It was Christmas morning, and some kids were already up, squealing for joy at the presents Santa left them. Why was Phil so upset?
Phil stopped and knelt on the floor in front of Tracy. He may have looked fairly young, but the pain in his eyes made him seem a whole lot older.
“Paige Murphy,” he said urgently. “Do you know her?”
“She's my cousin.” Tracy didn't know why Phil was asking, but it made her very nervous. Why would he care about her cousin?
“And you said there's an operation that can fix her mind?”
Tracy nodded. Had Chris told them about her plan? Was she in trouble? That thought sent her apology tumbling out. They were just words, but it was all she had. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break anything. I just wanted to help her so badly. I thought everything was fixed.”
“No,” Phil said. “Everything isn't fixed. But I can fix it.”
Beth slid off of the couch and knelt by Phil. She touched his shoulder, and that seemed to calm him. “What are you saying?”
“I have money. I've been saving up for a vacation, but you can have it all. Just tell me how much you need.”
Tracy pulled her hands out of his. “Why would you do that?”
“Because…” Phil took a deep breath before he let out the words he couldn't say earlier. “I was the one who ordered Paige to be dusted. She sneaked out to spy on Santa, and my job is to prevent that at all costs. You know about our Santas. You know what would happen if we let children see them.”
Again Tracy nodded. She didn't fully understand what he was telling her, but she felt sick to her stomach.
Phil continued. “So I had the Inklings alter her memory. I promise you, I didn't know the affect it would have.”
“But…but Pim fell out of a tree,” Tracy insisted. “That's what happened. She hit her head on the way down.”
“After I had her dusted.”
“No,” Tracy said, but she believed him anyway. Pim had been injured because of the person kneeling before her. She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. Beth pulled her against her shoulder and ran her fingers through Tracy's hair. Beth didn't say anything though. Nothing she could say would bring back the years Pim had lost.
“Wait a second.” Chris spoke up for the first time since entering the room. His voice was gravely, like he was exhausted. Tracy couldn't blame him. She felt like she was ready to collapse. “Are you saying Inkling dust made that child the way she is?”
Phil hung his head like he was ready for it to be chopped off.
“You know that's impossible, right? My magic cannot be used to harm children. Even if you tried, it wouldn't work. You may have erased a few seconds of her memory, but you can't take the blame for her brain injury. That, she did when she fell.”
Phil looked up. The tiniest bit of light appeared in his eyes. “You mean it's not my fault?”
“No, sir,” Chris huffed. “Do you honestly think I'd allow harm to come to a child on my watch?”
“I didn't do it,” Phil said softly, just to confirm what Chris said. Then louder, he said, “It's not my fault!”
“Congratulations,” Tracy snapped. “You know it doesn’t change anything, right?” She knew she sounded rude, but she couldn't help it. Even though the sun was up, the night was still pressing down on her. There was nothing anyone could do. She only wanted to curl up in her bed and sleep for the next three days. She didn't even care about presents.
Phil lifted her chin so their eyes met. “Did you forget? I said I would pay for her operation.”
Tracy shook her head. “Weren't you just shouting it wasn't your fault? You don't have to anymore.”
“But I want to.” He was no longer sad. In fact, it was the first time all night that he had been excited about something. “I joined Santa Command so I could make magic, and this is the most magical thing I can imagine doing. Please, let me do this.”
“But how? I can't take a check from a stranger home to my parents.”
Beth had an idea. “He could make it anonymous.”
“That might work,” Phil said. “I'll include a note saying I heard about her operation from a friend, and I wanted to make sure she got it.”
“You'll really do this?” Tracy couldn't believe that she had gotten what she came for. It just didn't happen in the way she expected.
“Just let me know where to send the check.”
“Thank you.” Tracy threw her arms around Phil's neck, knocking him to the ground. The two of them laughed hysterically for the first time in a very long time.
“Wait,” Tracy said after their laughter had settled down. “Are you still in trouble?” There was one guy sitting on the couch that she didn't recognize. Was he the boss? If so, she was ready to do some big time groveling. Phil was going to fix her cousin. The least she could do was make sure he kept his job.
Everyone stared at the guy on the couch, who in turn, stared back. “What do you expect me to do? I can't let something like tonight happen again.”
Chris cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. “I'm pretty sure I'm the boss, and I say Phil has a job for as long as he wants it. He brought you here, Tracy, because he was afraid for your health. He stopped time because he was protecting children. He's giving up on his dream for a little girl he doesn’t even know. He's exactly the type of person I want working for me.”
Walt couldn't argue with that, so he simply said, “Glad you're still on board, Phil.”
Everyone in the room cheered while Tracy hugged Phil again.
“Well, I'm glad we were able to work everything out,” said Chris while he pushed himself off of the couch. “If you'll excuse me, I have a wife waiting for me at…” His voice faded out, and his body started to shake. He reached for the couch arm, but not soon enough. He collapsed to the floor.