To Awesome as Annabeth- Yes, I'm adding Pitch in this. Who else can I use? You said 'Bah' twice there ;) I've been working on this chapter today, kind of… I'm just hoping it's OK 'cos my stupid teachers thought it would be a good idea to throw essays at me today and cut out my story writing time. And no free lessons today! That's so unfair! Um, going off on a tangent there…

To ASummer- Infinity 'Finn' Frost... I love it! But he has a name already :'( I'm so sorry!


Jack burst into the room, accidently sending out spirals of frost across the floor. Thankfully, everyone present was fairies and they all flew, unintentionally avoiding the treacherously icy floor.

"Jack?" Tooth called, floating down to match eye-level with him, airborne by a foot.

"Pitch is back." Tooth's hands flew to her mouth as she gave a startled cry. She visibly paled and her wings seemed to fail her, stopping and starting until she sunk to the floor.

"Mam?" Cal quizzed. "You OK?" He slid down from Jack's shoulders to join her, nestling on her lap. "Who Pitch?" Neither of his parents answered. Tooth mentally slapped herself, pushing herself up on her shaky legs and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. It didn't work. Jack grabbed her by the elbow to support her, his eyes relaying a silent, concerned question.

She would be OK. She just had to calm down and not think of the nightmares.

Ever since Cal was born, she had had nightmares. Every Friday- the day he was born- at half three in the morning- the time he was born. At first, she had thought they were maternal worries getting to her, but she gradually noticed their precise timing. On Cal's birthday, they were always worse.

Pitch was in every single nightmare and every one of them showed him holding Cal in a vicious hold with the other Guardians lying in a lifeless heap before him. Jack was on top of the pile, lying on his back and staring blankly upwards, his face slack and paler than she had ever seen.

She would always see the methods he used to dispose of them beforehand, always different and always increasingly gruesome.

"Tooth!" A blast of ice numbed her arm and she was jolted back to her senses. Jack was staring at her, brow furrowed in worry. "What's the matter?"

"We have to get Cal somewhere safe." She replied in a rush, holding her son protectively to her chest. Jack frowned.

"Why?"

"I… I think Pitch is after him." After all these years of keeping it bottled, it was such a weight from her shoulders to finally tell him.

"Are you sure?" She nodded, chewing her lip. Jack ran a hand through his hair, throwing a cautious glance around. His eyes sparked with thought and she waited earnestly, desperately, for him to come up with something. Her own mind was too frazzled to think straight right this second, her thoughts consumed with keeping her son close.

Jack ran a hand through his hair, messing it up further. Sighing, he met her gaze. "We'll keep him safe until we think of something." He promised. "That's what Guardians do, right?" He gave a half-hearted smile, attempting to brush the frost from her arm and looking irritated when he only made the cold worse.


Oh, he had scared them already.

Lovely.

Pitch stood, concealed in the deep shadows, as Jack and Tooth discussed their son's safety with the other Guardians. Jack was making it snow and freezing any elves that wandered too close. Bunny and North were all too ready for a fight while Sandy was effectively confusing and entertaining Cal with a flurry of golden symbols above his head.

Tooth was fretting and finally- finally- resorted to tears as she went over basic details of the nightmares he had enforced ever since finding out about the little brat.

He wanted to know how the child had come about. Guardians and himself included were known not to be able to have children, with each other or otherwise. But here was a perfect example of clear defiance of that knowledge.

Twisting, he vanished into the shadows, instantly melting from another set to settle on a roof. He sneered up at the moon.

"Hello again. You should know by now that nightmares are imminent." He laughed, softly at first and then a laugh that progressed into something much more sinister. "I'm only just warming up, old friend."


Cal squinted at his new toy and waved it about, sending out a shower of snowflakes. He snatched at a few happily, seeing them rest on his palm. He looked back at the staff and then at his daddy's one. Jack had propped it against the wall and was pacing the room irritably, occasionally hopping/floating from furniture to furniture.

Pushing himself up, Cal toddled over to the bigger staff, glancing at his father. Jack seemed too distracted, muttering to himself and juggling an ice ball.

Yes, he was short, but he had never felt so short compared to his father's most trusted and trademark tool. He reached for it eagerly, nearly unbalancing himself as he did so. Being short, he couldn't hold it properly, meaning it was suddenly top-heavy.

It clattered to the floor and a thick layer of ice suddenly coated the floor. Jack looked round at the unexpected disturbance. Cal gave his best 'I didn't do it' smile, slipping on the ice and falling to all fours.

"I can't get up." He declared. Jack walked over casually and pulled him to his feet.

"Why were you trying to use my one?" He looked amused, kicking the staff up so effortlessly, Cal was jealous. He couldn't even lift the thing and his father swung it around like it was nothing.

"I can't use mine."

"Fine. Class in session." He struck the butt of his staff against the ice and it rippled, turning into snow and blustering up a chilly wind. Snow and ice smothered everything within the room in seconds. Cal managed to stand properly, finding more grip on the snow than the ice. He hurried for his staff and looked up at Jack keenly.

Tooth was on her way up with a tray of milk and cookies, when she heard Jack's laughter. There was a dull thud and then Cal's protests of 'unfair, Daddy!'

She tried the door, finding it blocked shut by something resistant on the other side. Knocking loudly, she called her partner's name.

A series of cracks and more thuds followed and Jack pulled the door open.

"Sorry. Froze it all."

"That was clever." She held the tray out to him, gazing past him to see that her room was now an Artic wasteland. Cal was sat, half-buried in a pile of snow and stretching for his gift from North.

Smoothing her feathers, she threw Jack a pointed look. He was chewing through a cookie before her meaning made any sense.

"I spruced things up a bit. Added some personal touches."

"I want my room back."

"OK, OK… maybe." He scoffed the rest of the cookie and turned to Cal.

"Mam!" Cal beamed. He now had hold of his staff with both hands. "Daddy teach me to make everything Jack Frost!"

"Is that what he said?" Cal nodded, beaming from ear to ear. Tooth tried not to smile, but Jack saw right through that. He casually sent a single snowflake her way and it splashed against her nose. Blue sparkles danced across her eyes and she smiled. She stooped instantly and gathered a snowball, lobbing it at Jack and then dashed to free Cal from his snow drift.

A full force snowball fight quickly ensued and Tooth hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. Cal was a nightmare during this, snowballs flying from nowhere. They often turned round to see him holding up his staff with a look of pure concentration. Jack felt so proud- he came with a mini version!

Some of Tooth's fairy friends appeared mid-fight, one being struck by a snowball from Cal. Tooth gasped and rushed to help her loyal assistance. Cal was spouting apologies and was scrambling across the snow to see if he had caused any real damage.

Jack left them to it, an eerie feeling warping down his spine. He had never felt the cold, ever.

He felt like he was being watched.

Scanning the room slowly and carefully, he took in every inch of detail. Snow and ice covered everything, splatters of snowballs on the walls and furniture evident if you looked.

He faced the window just as it exploded. He had enough wits about him to throw his arms up, glass shards shredding along his arms and one nicking his forehead.

"Jack!" Tooth screamed.

"I'm OK!" Jack assured, lowering his arms a fraction and analysing the window. He snatched up his staff and leapt forward, the wind twisting around him and pushing broken glass out from under his feet.

He studied every angle of the empty window frame and then dared to fly out, not leaving the window unguarded.

"Jack!" Tooth cried again. He gave a final searching look and then returned to her side.

They were all unharmed; the fairy that had been struck with the snowball dazed and a little cold, but otherwise OK.

Tooth pointed angrily at the wall above her bed. A single, glistening black arrow had embedded itself there, a narrow sheet of parchment coiled around the middle. Jack edged towards it and unfurled the parchment. The arrow dissolved into an oily black mess splattered against his snow.

You'll be glad to know I've decided not to ignore you this time, Jack Frost.