Operation North Pole

Chapter 1- Introductions

A/N: I wrote this story as a gift to a friend, and then decided to publish it online. Aïcha, thank you so much for your love of this story, and your continued support and encouragement. This is for you!

Chapter 1: Introductions

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. I felt disoriented. Just a minute ago, I had been sitting in my living room, discussing baby names with Mary. Now, I was lying on the cold ground, face-first. I sat up slowly, peeling a few leaves off of my face. I appeared to be somewhere in a forest. Around me, I could see other people sitting on the ground. A few had already gotten up, and were walking around slowly. The first one I noticed was a young woman. Her hair was done up in a braid, and she was stalking through the forest with a bow held in her hand, an arrow already notched. I couldn't see her face from here, but I doubted she knew why we were here. She was probably as confused as I was.

"Watson?" I heard someone murmur next to me. I spun around. "Sherlock? What are you doing with that shrub?" I enquired as I recognised my comrade lying next to me on the ground. He smiled. "It's a lemon tree, my dear Watson." I wanted to tell him that that still didn't make any sense, but then I noticed the poof of purple smoke in the middle of the clearing we were in. "Look!" I shouted. My comrade jumped up and watched with me as two women materialised right were the purple smoke had been. By then, everyone else in the clearing had also noticed the two strangers who had suddenly appeared. The girl with the bow spun around and pointed her arrow at them. "Who are you?" She demanded to know. The woman closest to her rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist. The bow the girl had been holding disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. "How did she do that?" I whispered to my friend, but he appeared as confused as I was. The girl recoiled, fear passing over her face. She wasn't as brave without her weapon.

I looked more closely at the women. One of them had long blond hair, and was wearing a red leather jacket. She had her hand on the other woman's arm. The other woman had shorter, brown hair, and was wearing the power suit of a politician. I noticed two brown eyes peek out besides her elbow. "Hello, everyone." The politician lady began to speak. "We have gathered all of you here today, because we need your help. We would appreciate it if you did not try to harm us as we explain; as you have seen there's no point in trying anyway." "What do you need our help for?" A boy on the other side of the clearing shouted. His arm was curled protectively around the waist of a girl his age with long, blond hair. The brown haired woman looked absolutely peeved, as if she was not used to people interrupting her. But the blonde answered the question before the brunette could say something angry. "We need your help to save the world." She said simply. Save the world? I thought. What did she mean? A guy with unruly black hair to our right spoke up. "You're joking!" He said. The brunette rolled her eyes. "No, I'm serious." "But I'm Sirius!" The man standing next to the one with black hair asked. They high-fived childishly. "Now is not the time for jokes, James." The blonde interjected. The black-haired man looked only slightly regretful. "How do you know my name?" He asked curiously, clearly not scared the way the girl with the bow was. "Mr. Potter, if you could just be patient for one second and let us explain." The brunette snapped. Then a quiet voice piped up near her elbow. "Can I explain?" The brunette looked about to refuse, but the blonde touched her hand, and a sort of quiet understanding seemed to pass between them. "Alright." The brunette relented.

A young boy emerged from behind them. He looked about twelve, thirteen years old. "Hi, everyone." He began shyly. "So, like mum said, we summoned you here because we need your help to save the world. We searched across many times and many worlds, and brought you here, because you're all really good at something. And we hope you will help us, against a terrible villain." At that, the crowd started to murmur. I looked over at Sherlock, who was busy studying the crowd. He had an expression of confusion mixed with disbelief and intense concentration on his face, and it became clear to me that for once, he was as clueless as the rest of us. The boy had fallen silent, clearly unsure of what to say next. "What villain?" Someone asked. "Oh, right." The boy remembered. "The villain we need you to beat is .... The terrible Grinch." Everyone looked at each other, confused. Sherlock was still studying them. "The Grinch?" The black-haired man I now knew as James asked. "The grumpy green guy who stole Christmas?" A teenage girl with long, dark brown hair asked." I saw a suspicious look pass between the two women when she spoke. "Right." The boy said. "That one. Except now ... he has a plan to steal all happiness."