A fill for a prompt on the Rise of the Guardians kink meme. A link to the full prompt can be found in my profile, but basically someone requested an AU where Pitch is a mob boss and Jack is a college student who babysits for money. Pitch hears that Jack is the best of the best when it comes to babysitting and he won't accept anything less when it comes to his daughter, so he hires Jack. Someone already started a fill called "By Moonlight" by Pretzel Logic. It is also linked in my profile and I recommend reading that before reading this. Despite a fill already existing, I decided to write this because two anons mentioned wanting to see Jack getting hurt protecting Pitch's daughter and I couldn't stop myself from writing that.
This is more of a mini fill that could be events in the future of the current fill, so if things seem out of context or not explained enough read the prompt and the fill. A lot of stuff that is mentioned within the fic is based off what was requested in the prompt and what was established in "By Moonlight."
There is now a sequel for this fic, called Office Meeting, so please check that out after you've finished reading!
Also on my profile is a poll about BlackIce fics I'm planning on doing and it would be a great help to me if you voted. I have quite a few fics planned, so knowing what my readers want will go a long way toward prioritizing them. Thanks!
Oh God, oh God, oh God. This is so not what I signed up for. A kidnap attempt by a rival crime lord was bound to happen at some point, but no amount of briefing by security could have prepared Jack for this. The guard who had come to warn him of danger was now dead on the floor and there had been just barely enough time to hide Seraphina before he had been gunned down. Jack could only watch in horror as a muscular man threw aside the door to the small study and revealed a blond man behind him, a gun held securely in his grasp.
"Grab the boy," he said and the hulking mass of muscle rushed forward.
Jack forced his body to move, but scarcely got three steps before Muscles seized him. His arms were forced behind his back and he was dragged back over to the blond man, kicking and screaming.
"Quit struggling," Blondie ordered; Jack ignored him and continued to writhe in the hold. "I said 'quit struggling,' boy." This time, he froze at the sight of the gun leveled at him.
"That's better." Blondie slowly lowered the gun, but kept his finger on the trigger. Muscles tightened the grip on Jack's arms just in case he didn't get the message, but it was loud and clear: do something I don't like and I'll shoot. His heart was pounding in his chest. "Now, we are here to collect dear Seraphina. It would assist us greatly if you were to just tell us where she is."
Jack was terrified, but he was not about to give up her location. Just play dumb and stall until help can arrive. "Who?"
Blondie sneered at him and the hand holding the gun twitched. "We don't have much time before reinforcements arrive and we don't plan on leaving without Seraphina. It would be in your best interest to cooperate."
"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Look, boy, we've done our research. We know you're the girl's caretaker and would have been responsible for hiding her in the event of something like this happening." The gun was brought up and pointed directly at his face.
Jack's stomach turned to ice. "Okay, you got me. Let's say I do know where she is. What makes you think I'm going to tell you?" When he was under great stress, such as right now, Jack resorted to his natural defense mechanism: sarcasm. He did this when interacting with the Nightmare King himself, but he doubted these people would be as amused or as willing to put up with it as his boss was. Why can't I learn to just shut up! And where the hell is security?
"You've got a mouth on you, don't you? Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"
His arms were wrenched further behind his back, causing him to wince in pain. That was quickly forgotten when Blondie drew his right arm back as if to backhand him. Jack noticed the gun was still in his hand. Surely he wouldn't –
Jack saw stars when the man's arm swung down, pistol-whipping him across his right cheek. He couldn't stop the cry of pain from escaping his mouth as his head snapped to the side.
The other cry that sounded in the room concerned him a lot more than his own. Seraphina! His eyes widened in panic through his haze and he fought off unconsciousness; Blondie had heard it, too. Jack flicked his gaze to the left corner of the room – the opposite corner from where Seraphina was hidden – hoping they would think that he was looking to where she was in his panic. Blondie smirked in a self-satisfied way and sauntered over to where Jack had allowed his eyes to wander. The only potential hiding spot in that area was a table that had a cloth draped over it, concealing the bottom part. "Pretty poor hiding spot you got th-" Blondie cut off midsentence as he pulled the cloth aside and saw nothing underneath. "You little brat!" He strode over to Jack, drawing his arm back again, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for another impact –
"Stop! You leave my Jack alone!" Seraphina had jumped out of her actual hiding spot – a storage cupboard built into the bottom part of one of the bookcases – and was standing a slight distance away from it, arms crossed and feet planted in a defiant stance.
"Oh, exactly who I was looking for!"
Just as the blond man took a step towards Seraphina and she took a step back with a frightened look on her face, Jack heard a tinkling sound, like a small amount of glass breaking. The hold on Jack's arms loosened and Muscles slowly fell to the side, leaving Jack standing free. The blond man, panicked by the sudden sounds and actions, started to bring the gun up and aim it at Seraphina.
Unnoticed by anyone and as silent as a shadow, a dark figure slipped into the room.
Jack hardly registered that security had finally gotten their butts in action and that some kind of sniper had taken out the man who had been holding him; he only had eyes for his motionless young charge and the danger she was in. He dashed forward. If he didn't make it in time the man would shoot Seraphina and he couldn't let her die, couldn't let the little girl he had grown to love die like this. Jack didn't think of how much of a brat she could be, didn't think of how often she took advantage of his situation, didn't even think of what Pitch would do to him if he let his daughter die on his watch – he just thought of how much he couldn't stand the thought of this young girl dying. I'm not going to make it! He threw himself forward.
He heard the gunshot go off as his arms closed around Seraphina in a protective embrace and he felt a searing pain in his right side as he hit the floor, which he thought strange because he had landed on his left side. Trying to push himself up on his elbow caused pain to flare through his abdomen and his stomach muscles to seize up in protest of the strain. He quickly collapsed back onto the ground and, not able to bring himself to look at what he knew he would find, just clamped his left hand to that side. Ignoring the sick feeling the sticky wetness induced, he wrapped his other arm around Seraphina, pulling her down and close to him. Jack felt incredibly vulnerable, injured and with his back to the blond man with the gun, but there was really nothing else he could do.
"Awww, how precious! Sacrificing yourself to sa –" Again Blondie stopped in the middle of what he was saying, this time due to the sound of a gun – apparently not his and presumably pointed at him – being cocked.