Where there is a Flame
Rating: T
Summary: Jack is badly injured while performing his duty as a Guardian. It is up to the others to help the spirit recover and also teach him that just because he was alone before doesn't mean he is now.
Author Note: Well, since the internet and cable at the college are on the fritz tonight I decided to continue writing for your reading pleasure. Instead of writing an Economics extra credit and studying for my Equine Muscleskeletal final on Monday I'm gunna sit on my couch and keep this story rolling!
Chapter 3
Jack blissfully slipped into a naturally induced state of unconsciousness once he'd ejected himself from the ice bath the others had put him in. Now with the youngster stretched out on the cold tiles of the guest bathroom Bunny and North set to work drying and taking stock of the injuries. Sandy and Tooth had to leave not long after the youth had curled further into himself and slipped from awareness.
Their jobs, as much as they hated it sometimes, took precedence
The two holiday spirits set to work grimly and silently, any words that were exchanged were done so with the same volume one would use in the bedroom of a sick loved one. Jack's now limp frame was easily maneuvered out of the tattered and charred blue sweatshirt while North wrangled with the knotted rope holding the teen's pants around his narrow hips. Bunnymund grit his teeth at the idea that the kid was essentially wearing the same clothes he had died in over three hundred years previously.
Even Nicholas St. North had changed his wardrobe
It dawns on the Pooka at that moment, that without another's guidance and educated hand to steer the youth he probably had nothing else, swiping what he could manage as the world changed around him.
"It is saddening yes?" North comments softly, finally giving up on working at the knot and slicing through it with a deadly sharp boot knife, rendering the relic's job done.
"To think… "he begins but stops the words from forming with a quick shake of his head.
"Jack is no longer without the guidance denied to him for so long." North reassures steadily as he works the rough material off the lithe legs of their young friend, ever the professional he doesn't spare a single movement. Conscious of how private the spirit is the toy maker produces a thick towel to replace the sodden and beaten twill pants which he folds over the rim of the tub. Bunny works at getting the ancient tunic off the teen, the fabric practically shredding in his grasp.
"Seems like the only thing holding this together was frost and a prayer." Bunny remarks as the garment shreds under the most delicate of touches. North winces at the state of what use to be a warmly woven fabric, now reduced to threadbare tatters. Without the billowing effects of the large hooded sweatshirt Jack Frost is revealed as being a narrow and frightfully thin child, boney surfaces sticking out where a layer of fat and muscle would be covering on a healthy mortal. North had seen this numerous times during his mortal days, the skeletal shape of people in villages who didn't have enough food or resources to feed the adults and growing children.
He saw a lot of death in his mortal life, too much of it caused by people not having what they needed to survive.
"Hell's teeth, does the kid ever eat?" Bunnymund swears softly, using another towel to pat dry the youngster's shoulders and dry his hair.
"His body is as when he died." North remarks, examining the severe burning along the boys feet and picking away the debris with a pair of sanitized tweezers. Bunny's ears twitch and lay back snugly against his skull.
"I…" he begins but North continues his soft speech as he works, a pair of glasses perched on his nose. Bunny continues his own examination, finding the sharp planes of the teen's back filled with debris, the burnt skin coming off in hunks as he works to peel it away to healthy flesh.
"Jack is… three hundred yes? His home seems to be that lake in Burgees, which three hundred years ago was.."
"In a war." Bunny finishes, remembering those turbulent years where very few children laughed or found pleasure in his eggs. Children from that area were always working, always sad and seemed to never laugh. Jack was one of those children, working hard to return to his home and his bed hungry and tired.
Yet, something tells the Pooka that Jack laughed and brought laughter to those around him
"He is happy now Aster." North tries and purses his lips as he struggles with a particular nasty hunk of debris.
"Oh yeah, real happy, he is burnt and passed out on your guest bathroom floor." The Australian accent is thick with emotion as he works.
"Indeed." North agrees and the two settle down into silence, working diligently to remove what they could that would impair the healing.
"This is going to get worse before it gets better North, the skin that grows back will be black and scabby, it will have to be removed daily to ensure that the skin heals properly." Bunny informs as he holds Jack's narrow shoulders so the toy maker can spread the burn salve. North nods and pauses in his work to pick up a series of bandages.
"We will do it, until he is fully healed."
"His eyes are still swollen." Bunny remarks, noting the redness of the usually pale skin, remembering the color of what should have been the whites of his eyes and gently probes the area as North finishes bandaging the burns on Jacks shoulders.
"Alright, we will put the salve around his eyes and cover them, let the eyes heal themselves." North decides and begins creating salve drenched pads for the teen's swollen eyes while Bunny gently pries the puffy lids open. The large female Yeti- who Bunny was informed by North was actually Phil's mate named Janis- had stopped by briefly with a narrow bottle she tersely explained was meant to provide a long term washing for his eyes. Bunny, gently deposits the pale green drops into Jack's red eyes before covering them with padded gauze.
"Alright, he looks like a proper mummy." Bunny remarks with an edge of humor tinting his words and North gives a rumbling grunt in return.
"We should move him to the bedroom. Janis had changed the sheets to a different kind of fabric so Jack won't become overheated." North informs, pushing himself up onto his feet with a groan. Both guardians are sore, overstrung and their muscles ache from being too taut for so long.
"Once settled he needs fluids." Bunny remarks as the two work to hoist the light teen up so he can be moved out of the bathroom for the first time in over six hours. Together the holiday spirits make the youngster comfortable and finally step back. North pulls the towel out front underneath the sheets before folding it.
"Good job." Bunnymund remarks, gently easing the limp head upward and pressing a glass of cool water to the slack lips, slowly providing the injured spirit with just enough water so he wouldn't choke before messaging his throat, Jack swallows reflectively and manages only a few mouthfuls but it was enough.
"It's the best we can do for now. Come, the elves have cooked up a simple meal. We must keep up our strengths in order to help our young friend." North claps a hand onto the grey furred shoulder, easing the six foot Pooka out to the common room where the elves had indeed set up a light meal of roasted vegetables and a Russian dish that steams lightly. Wearily the two sit on the couch beside each other, picking through the food absently.
"He will be fine." North states, chewing on a pastry looking thing.
"Yup. Given time he will be up and annoying the hell out of us all again." Bunny agrees, snapping a raw carrot in half with his front teeth. They continue to eat in silence for a few more minutes before Bunny's eyes track to the leather bound book.
"Any ideas as to who would have written that?" he asks, gesturing towards the small item resting in front of North who simply glances at it.
"There is no signature. I will look through it more, my curiosity is getting the best of me." He smirks and taps the book with his thick finger, putting down his fork with an abnormally loud clink. Bunny pushes the food around on his plate for a moment longer before tossing the utensil aside with a frustrated sigh. North, now involved with the small book glances over at his longtime friend.
"Bunny, go and shower. Sleep if need be, I will sit and wait for any change in Jack's condition." He assures before turning back to the tome in his hands. Bunny sighs and runs his hands over his ears before rubbing at his eyes tiredly. The salve that was put on the burns is sticking up patches of his fur, making mini Mohawks of grey hair over his forearms and chest.
"Alright. But, if he so much as peeps, I want to know about it." He relents finally and North only smirks
"Yes, yes. Your shift will come in couple of hours." He assures but Bunny can do little other than shake his head.
"I mean it North! A single peep!" he demands before moving out of the common room to the other set of guest rooms and their bathrooms. North grunts in response and settles further back into the cushion of the couch, eyes tearing through the neatly inked words with half of his attention on any noises from the room where the winter spirit is recovering.
He liked going to day care centers and kindergartens, playing with the children as they blissfully ran around the protected yards, screaming and developing muscles that would aid with their coordination and skill development later in life. He was currently sitting in the sandbox, watching as his young friend from the hospital digs her small fingers through the sand, chatting amicably with her young friend Elaina who is throwing small fistfuls of sand at the young boy, Jordan. He smiles and comments every now and then, drawing the youngling's attentions.
"Elaina, you shouldn't throw sand." He dictates gently but the little girl giggles and continues raining her young male friend with the sand.
"Jordan, you're just going to have to get use to this treatment… little Elaina likes you. You can expect swift punches, pushing and large gifts of valentine's day." He chirps happily, making Jordan look over at him and smile warmly. Sophie continues to dig, playing with a few sticks and toys that live in the box. Although she doesn't really pay him much mind the invisible walker doesn't much care, he enjoys reading the youngsters colorful aura. Sophie had no negative outcomes from her near brush with death but was kept in the hospital overnight before being brought back to her Grandmother's home.
"I will see you all later yes?" he asks and quickly stands and walks away, phasing through the fencing surrounding the yard. He walks amongst the people of the small town, enjoying the early fall sun as he makes his way to the other side of town. The middle school was just letting out and he stops to watch as the elder sibling walks with a group of friends out of the school doors and down the sidewalk, their hushed conversation causing them to press closer together. Intrigued he follows, managing to get within earshot but still remaining undetected by the youngster that could see him in the hospital.
"Listen, I know I saw Jack above the smoke. He got Sophie out." The brown haired boys insists.
"Yeah, but wouldn't Jack had… melted? I mean he's made of ice and snow an' stuff right?" one of the other boys comments as they walk quickly down the sidewalk, the others murmuring in agreement.
Huh. Interesting
North had just gotten to his feet to stretch the kinks out of his back and refill his coffee cup from the percolator over the fire. Pulling the half-moon wire glasses from his nose the Russian rubs at the bony bridge for several moments. He had been sitting beside the injured spirit's bedside from the time Bunny had left to get cleaned up and some rest right through till the early morning hours, keeping himself busy by examining the book Tooth had found and telling Jack soft stories from previous adventures. Now, the fire is beginning to die and the coffee tastes like tin so he sets himself to stoking the fireplace and replacing the old coffee for new.
Then he heard it
The breathy groan and the sound of shifting sheets
North turns quickly from the fireplace to watch as a scrawny, pale arm gropes around blindly as Jack moans.
"Easy Jack." North commands lightly, reaching the bedside just as long fingers scramble to latch onto something. His skin is cool to the touch, a discovery North smiles at even though the silver haired youngling flinches at his sudden appearance, moving his bandaged face in the general direction of noise and air movement.
"wh..r?" the injured spirit slurs, voice strained and scratchy but he is aware enough to speak, a fact that the long lived Russian will not argue with.
"You are at Santoff Claussen." He states merrily while pouring out a ration of water and shifting to help prop Jack's narrow upper body up so he can drink. Jack flinches away from the contact quickly, earning himself a strangled yelp of pain. North quickly soothes the immortal child who cringes away from any contact and practically chokes on the glass of water, his teeth clacking against the rim and causing him to flinch away.
"It's only water. Easy, small sips." He presses, allowing the teenager to take his time in accepting the water. Once Jack settles down enough to realize that the glass is still waiting he begins to drink greedily, sucking down the liquid in desperation to sooth the burning ache in his throat. North withdraws the glass after a few large gulps, suddenly afraid that the boy would make himself sick.
"No.." he moans, pale fingers trying to find the missing glass once more even as North settles his upper body back against the soft pillows.
"Yes, for now you rest. I will give you more water in a little bit." North assures and watches sadly as Jack's long and cold fingers curl into the sleeve of his sweater tightly.
"N-north?" Jack whimpers.
"Yes, Jack. No worries now, relax." North pats his forearm reassuringly, leaning close to the wounded teens ear so Jack doesn't have to struggle to find the larger man through the gauze.
"Now… I know you are scared. You were injured, do you remember the fire?" he asks and the teen gives a shuddering nod.
"Ca-can't see Noorthhh." He wheezes, a cough building in his chest.
"Yes, your eyes were swollen. You have to leave them covered so they can heal." North informs, still bent close to the youngsters ear. Jack licks his lips and gives a moan as he tries to shift but soon gives up and just focuses on breathing.
"Jack?"
"Mmm.."
"Can you say 'peep'?" North smiles and the pale teen gives a weak wheezing laugh.
Author Note: It's not as long as the other chapters but figured even more can be explained in the next chapter. Also, no one has guessed the mysterious guy. He will be revealed… later on. Don't really know how long this fic is going to be, I'm just going to keep writing till it fizzles out to a decent ending. Well, please shoot me a review if you deem it worthy! I am off to go yell at my inconsiderate neighbors who seem to like slamming their door, screaming and acting like wild drunks. I really hate college apartments.