A/N: All right, here's Part II! I'm feeling a little unsure about this . . . it sounded a lot better when I was writing it. :/ Bleargh.

Enjoy anyway! :)

Disclaimed.

Protect: Part II

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Chapter Summary: Jamie had never forgotten what Jack had told him the first day they met. A little over a year later, it's now time for his words to become true.

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"Jamie, your friends are here!"

The eleven-year-old jumped at his mother's voice, glancing at his closed door. He'd been so distracted by the sudden appearance of his friend that he hadn't even gone back downstairs to help her with preparations for the party.

I'll be back soon, okay, Jack? Jamie thought, guiltily opening his door.

"Coming, Mom!" he called, rushing down the stairs. "I'm really sorry that I didn't help you—something was on my mind . . ."

His mother frowned at him as he skidded to a stop in front of her. "James Bennett, we'll talk about this later. But now, go meet your friends."

Jamie leapt forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Thanks, Mom. Love you!"

His mother chuckled. It was so hard to stay angry at her son. "Love you too, Jamie."

Jamie was beaming as he ran toward the living room, where his friends were waiting.

"What took you so long?" Pippa teased. "Did Jack come and visit again? It's obvious that you're his favorite."

"That's true," Caleb muttered, shooting Jamie a sly smile.

But at that, Jamie's grin slid off of his face. "Guys, about that . . ."

Cupcake immediately caught on. "Jamie, what's wrong? Is it Jack?" she asked, her voice lowering.

". . . Yeah," he admitted. "He's actually in my room now, but—"

"Let's go see him," Claude said, hopping off the couch.

The six children rushed upstairs. When Jamie opened his door, they were greeted with a blast of cold air. He squinted as the wind blew back his bangs, but then he grinned when he saw that Jack was awake.

"Jack!" Jamie said happily, tackling the older boy into a hug.

"H-hey, kiddo," Jack said, giving a weak smile. Jamie smiled, leaning into Jack's lap.

"Us too, us too!" Claude and Caleb chimed in, swarming around the winter spirit. Monty soon followed.

Pippa and Cupcake sent each other sideways glances before rolling their eyes and smiling fondly at the antics of their male friends.

"So, um, anyone wanna tell me why I'm here?" Jack asked, looking confused.

"Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy brought you here," Jamie supplied. "I came home from school, and there you were."

At his words, Jack frowned. Jamie wanted to ask his friend what was bothering him, but didn't, deciding to wait until everyone was gone.

"Jack, what happened to your staff?" Monty asked. "It's in a million pieces!"

Jack laughed, his chin resting on Jamie's head. "Not quite a million, but yeah, it's a lot, isn't it?"

"But what happened?" Monty pressed, bouncing slightly on the bed.

"Pitch just surprised me, that's all," Jack answered, smiling warmly. "I'll be okay." But Jamie felt the Guardian's arms wrap tightly around him, and he knew that there was more to the story than that. "Why are all of you guys here, anyway?" Jack asked, changing the subject.

"It's our Christmas party," Pippa explained. "And it's Jamie's turn to have it this year."

Jack stiffened slightly at the word "Christmas," but attempted to cover it up with a nod. "Gotcha."

Jamie glanced up at him, worried. "Jack, are you able to fix your staff?"

"I've done it before."

The way Jack said it made Jamie a little uneasy. His tone was humorless . . . grim. Was there a bad story behind this? He frowned slightly, then scrambled off of Jack's lap to join his friends in the circle.

Jack reached for the broken pieces and pressed two of them together, his mouth set in a firm line with the effort. Before long, blue sparks of magic burst from the break, exploding and twisting to bind them together. When the light faded, it looked brand-new, save for the fact that there were five more pieces to attach.

But Jack was a different story. He looked exhausted. The exertion used to fix that portion of his staff unveiled just how tired the Guardian was. Pitch definitely did much more than "surprise" Jack.

"Jack, why don't you stop for a bit," Pippa said, noticing Jack's fatigue as well. "Guardians need to rest, too."

"Thanks, but the sooner I fix this, the better," Jack answered, looking somewhat apologetic.

So on it went four more times, until there were only two more pieces to put together. Jack's smile was beginning to become more genuine, until he attempted to fit the last two with each other.

His eyes narrowed. "There's one missing . . . Pitch must've taken one last night."

"Can we help?" Monty asked.

Jack's eyes widened, probably remembering that he had an audience. He grinned and shook his head ruefully. "Sorry, but this isn't something you can help with, guys. I'll have to call the other Guardians."

Everyone's faces fell, but Jack quickly said, "Aw, cheer up! Once we track down this missing piece, I'll give you a snow day, all right?"

They smiled. "Okay."

Jack smiled back. "Now enjoy your party, okay? You don't want an old guy like me ruining it."

There were immediate protests against this, but Jack simply waved them off. "I'll be here if you need me."

Jamie sat quietly, watching them leave, then turned to Jack. "All right," he said, leaning forward, "what's the real story?"

Jack laughed, a glint in his blue eyes. "I should've known that you'd see through it, squirt," he said.

"C'mon, Jack," Jamie pressed. "I can handle this! I—" His eyes widened when Jack reached out and ruffled his hair.

"I know, Jamie. You're one of the strongest believers I know," Jack said, smiling. "So what do you say to helping me look for the last piece of my staff?"

Jamie grinned. "I'm in."

"We'll leave as soon as your mom gets to bed, okay?" Jack said.

Jamie nodded. "The party will be over in two hours, so until then, you can just hang with us. My mom made a lot of food, and I don't think we'll eat it all."

"Food does sound pretty good right now," Jack said wistfully.

"Then let's go. Your staff will be perfectly safe here."

"If you say so."

…

Two hours came and went.

Jamie was a little sad to see his friends go, but he was feeling excited for the mission that he would be going on with Jack.

"Good night, Jamie," his mother said, leaning down and kissing his cheek. "Sweet dreams from the Sandman."

"Love you, Mom," he responded, inwardly smiling. Jamie waited for a few minutes, then clambered out of his bed and hurried over to his closet to pull on some warmer clothes.

As he was slipping on his sneakers, he heard Jack call teasingly from the window, "Hat, Jamie."

Jamie rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Not you too! I hear that enough from my mom."

Jack laughed. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's get going."

Jamie nodded and climbed onto his back. Once he was fully situated, Jack opened the window . . . and stopped.

"Jack? What's wrong?" he whispered.

The winter spirit laughed nervously. "I, um, kinda forgot that I can't fly without my staff."

Jamie frowned. "Oh. Well, what if you jump down first and catch me?"

"Yeah, but Jamie, I am not letting you jump off a roof!"

"What about an ice slide, then?" Jamie suggested. "Like what you did with the sled?"

"That would work," Jack agreed, looking considerably embarrassed. He hopped out the window and onto the roof ledge, then shot a large blast of ice to the ground. From Jamie's perspective, it looked like that Jack was struggling, but he chose to ignore that. He patted his jacket pocket for the pouch of dreamsand that Sandy had given him one time, then grabbed the broken staff from where Jack had left it. Thinking quickly, Jamie slipped the two pieces in his backpack and ran to his window.

"Coming down!" Jamie said, closing the panes. He scooted onto the cold ice, then slid down, a laugh escaping his lips. He crashed into Jack's arms, and said, giggling, "That was really fun."

Jack ran a hand through his hair and sighed, smiling fondly. "All right, let's get going, then."

The two of them then started running down the street and into the woods surrounding Jack's lake. Jack winced as he took the lead and went deeper into the forest. "I haven't been running in a while," he said, glancing back at Jamie with a sheepish look. "Guess I never realized how much I depended on Wind."

"Out of shape, Jack?" Jamie teased, who was having no trouble at all. He supposed that playing baseball this past year (which incidentally helped with his snowball throwing skills) helped. "Or are you getting old?"

"Jamie, that was low," Jack whined. "I'll have you know that the other Guardians are like, thousands of years old. And anyway, we're here."

Jamie slowed to a stop next to Jack, who was staring stonily at a dark hole in the ground. He shivered and unconsciously leaned closer to the older boy. "This place gives me the creeps."

"The lair of Mr. McCreepypants would probably do that," Jack drawled humorlessly. But then he looked down at Jamie and smiled. "I would never let anything happen to you, kiddo. Don't worry."

"O-okay," Jamie agreed, feeling safer already.

"I'll go down first," Jack then said. "I'll tell you when to jump." Jamie nodded, but Jack had already hopped in.

Much too late, he heard a faint call of "Jamie! You can come down now!"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jamie steeled himself, then threw himself into the hole before he could lose his nerve. The feeling of weightlessness made him feel slightly giddy, but before he knew it—he was already nestled in Jack's arms.

"Gotcha," Jack murmured. After letting him go, he gave Jamie a reassuring smile, which Jamie nervously returned.

"Guess I ended up jumping off something, right?" he said cheekily.

Jack rolled his eyes and ruffled Jamie's hair affectionately.

And with a deep breath, the pair then delved deeper into the abyss.

Bunny growled and dodged yet another whip of black sand. Pitch was a lot stronger than he remembered . . . but that didn't matter. He still had a part of Jack's staff and he was still the enemy.

"How's everyone holdin' up?" Bunny roared as he tumbled neatly to the side.

"Peachy," Tooth managed to gasp out from above as she held her scimitars (where did she get those?) in an X-shape to defend herself from the onslaught.

Glancing over, Bunny glimpsed Sandy purifying as many Nightmares as he possibly could, but Pitch just kept sending them after him.

But then suddenly North was next to Bunny, shouting, "We need to retreat! There are too many of them."

"For once I agree with ya, mate," Bunny replied, frowing. "We've gotta get back to Jack. I'll make a tunnel as soon as ya get the others over here."

But before North could go and alert them, the black sand was suddenly pulled back, and Pitch melted back into the shadows. His voice echoed around them:

"Your dear winter spirit is up to a lot of trouble right now . . . I'll be back soon, Guardians."

Bunny swore angrily, then turned to his teammates. "Now we've really gotta get to Jack. Right now."

Sandy and Tooth gingerly picked themselves off of the floor and made their way over, determined expressions on their faces. Jack needed them all more than ever.

"I say . . . Burgess!" North then shouted, as he pulled out a snowglobe from his pocket. He smashed it onto the ground, and the four of them dove in.

And like last time, the portal opened up next to Jack's lake. Bunny (after swaying slightly from the vertigo resulting from portal travel) began searching for the kid's scent, then grabbed his boomerang when the familiar smell of snow, pine, and mint reached him . . . along with a less familiar one consisting of sunlight. "He went that way," Bunny told the others, gesturing, "and he's got Jamie Bennett with him."

"Of course Jack would take Jamie with him," Tooth sighed. "We better hurry, then."

The trail led the four Guardians to the hole in the ground, and without hesitation, they jumped in.

". . . thought you'd be terrified to see me again, Jack."

"Like I said before, I'm not scared of you!"

"Such bravado. But I still remember your screams and your tears after being abandoned by North . . ."

Bunny felt North stiffen beside him.

"Ignore him, Jack. We're here to get your staff back, not talk to a jerk like him!"

The Guardians peered cautiously around the corner, and saw three figures—a small boy in jeans, a thick green coat, and a bag with two sticks poking out; a taller boy with white hair dressed in a frosted blue hoodie and worn brown pants; and an even taller figure made of shadows.

Jamie, Jack, and Pitch.

"I thought that you were smarter than that, Jack," Pitch said disapprovingly. "Bringing not only yourself, but Jamie here? How stupid of you."

"Pitch, give me my staff back!" Jack shouted, brushing Jamie behind him with a sweep of his arm. "I'm not leaving until I get it."

"Let's go!" Bunny whispered urgently.

It was time to get their youngest member back.

As soon as the words left Bunny's mouth, Tooth immediately flew ahead and grabbed Jamie's arm, who looked shocked to see her. "Tooth?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping you," she said, smiling warmly. The other Guardians swiftly grouped around them, cutting them off from Pitch. Glancing worriedly at the others, Tooth pulled Jamie away from the fight beginning to start. "It's obvious that Pitch doesn't have the last piece of the staff with him," she quickly whispered to him. "He would've shown it off by now, so that means it's up to us to find it."

"B-but—"

"Jamie, there's no time! Jack's belief is already wavering, and . . . and he's important to us. We can't lose him."

Jamie nodded, something in his brown eyes changing. "I understand."

Tooth glanced back up, then grasped the little boy's hand. She smiled. "Ready to be a Guardian?"

Jack had a momentary panic attack when he felt that Jamie was no longer behind him, but relaxed marginally when he glimpsed Tooth's rainbow-colored physique pulling Jamie along. She would keep him safe.

"Where is Jack's staff, Pitch?" North said, a dangerous note in his voice.

Jack winced slightly upon hearing that tone again. He had forgotten a little about North's anger at him with all the worry about not having his staff whole.

Pitch, seemingly noticing the flinch, smirked. "Still scared, Jack?"

"S-shut up!"

Why did Jack always feel so small when facing Pitch? He absolutely hated it.

"Get out of here, Frostbite," Bunny murmured, placing a paw on Jack's shoulder. "It's too dangerous for you without your staff."

Jack shook off the paw angrily. He was tired of feeling useless. He was tired of being the one getting protected. He was a Guardian, too.

"No," he said forcefully, looking at Bunny with blazing blue eyes. "I can still fight without my staff."

Bunny's gaze hardened. "Frostbite, stop being so ridiculous—"

As they argued, both Guardians failed to notice the tendril of black beginning to snake its way around Jack's leg. Sandy's gentle eyes widened when he saw it, but by then he was too late—Jack was yanked mercilessly to the ground and dragged to Pitch.

"Let go of me!" Jack snarled, his fingers just out of reach of the rope. Weak bursts of frost shot from his fingertips, but they didn't have much effect without a conduit to channel through.

The three Guardians leapt forward to save Jack, but Pitch moved quicker, holding the blade of his scythe next to Jack's neck. Almost instantly, the boy's breathing became shallower from panic.

"Seasonal spirits are just so fragile," Pitch mused, pressing the blade in deeper. Jack winced and tried to move away, but Pitch's hold on him was too strong. "A good stab could kill them off."

"Don't you dare hurt him!" North shouted, shaking his sword in warning.

Sandy's dreamsand whips floated anxiously around him, reflecting the tense emotions of their wielder.

The situation was dire—and everyone knew it. How could they get Jack without him being killed?

But then Pitch was frozen solid.

Jack's eyes widened when the frost trailed up the black sand, familiar-but-not-familiar patterns encasing Pitch in ice. Jack shook his head to snap himself out of his confused stupor, and broke free of the sand trapping him. He stumbled away, still shaken from such a near-death experience.

"Jack, did you do that?" Bunny asked, looking stunned as he caught Jack before he could trip, a rarity for the graceful winter spirit.

"N-no . . ." he replied, just as confused as Bunny was.

"Hi guys!" chirped Jamie, popping up from behind the frozen Pitch with a cheeky grin. And grasped in his hand was Jack's fixed staff.

"Jamie!" Jack said in shock. "What—how—"

Tooth then fluttered up behind Jamie, looking somewhat worn out, but triumphant nonetheless. Joining the group, Tooth hugged both Jamie and Jack. "We should get out of here while we still can. And I think it's a little past this one's bedtime," she added, ruffling Jamie's hair fondly.

Jack gratefully accepted the offered staff from Jamie, still in shock about how he was able to repair it. "How?" he simply asked.

Jamie giggled. "Tooth thought that because I was your first believer, I would have some sort of connection to you and have some link to your powers. So that's how I was able to fix your staff, and freeze Pitch solid."

Jack laughed. "That was pretty great. But I think that you were only able to harness some of my magic because of the amount of belief that you have. It's actually really incredible, Jamie."

He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Thanks, Jack."

"How did you manage to find the last piece anyway?"

"Oh, um, it was kinda glowing. I think it was reacting to the other pieces of your staff."

The six of them then somehow ended back up in front of Jamie's house. "This time I'll be able to fly you up there," Jack said, lifting Jamie up by the arms. He opened the window, and the two climbed in.

"Night, Jack," Jamie said sleepily as he snuggled under his blanket, not even bothering to change back into his pajamas. "Merry Christmas."

"But that's next week," Jack laughed, turning back from his drawing.

"I dunno if you'll be here, though," Jamie said, his brown eyes droopy.

"Don't you worry, kiddo," he replied, pulling loose the bunny from the window and placing it gently on the nightstand. "I'll be here."

But Jamie was already fast asleep by the time Jack finished his sentence. The bunny twitched its nose and looked at Jack inquisitively, but the winter spirit held a finger to his lips and gestured to Jamie.

"Keep him company, all right?"

It nodded, and Jack flew out the window, landing lightly next to the Guardians. "He's asleep now," he said, jerking a thumb at the slightly frosted window.

"That's good," Tooth said with a relieved sigh. "And Jack—I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too," he agreed fervently. "I am never letting my staff out of my sight again. And . . . Pitch, ugh." He shuddered involuntarily. He wouldn't be getting rid of the mind-twisty things that Pitch said anytime soon.

"And stop being such a stubborn drongo," Bunny said. "You nearly got killed out there!"

Jack felt ashamed. His pride had gotten ahead of him. "And I'm sorry about that. For worrying you guys, I mean."

"Jack, you are . . . okay, right?" North then asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. I—I'm fine." A beat. "Well, now I am."

"That's good."

Blue eyes met blue, then quickly averted. Cue awkward silence.

"Oh, will ya just hug and make up?" Bunny interjected, seemingly fed up with their actions. "Jack, North's sorry. North, Jack's sorry. The end."

Sandy beamed in agreement, pushing Jack closer to North.

Jack smiled at Sandy, then slowly wrapped his arms around the other Guardian's larger frame, eventually relaxing into his hug.

Their family was a little dysfunctional, yes, but still quite perfect. Arguments would happen frequently, misunderstandings would arise, but all that really mattered was that they still cared for each other in the end.

And Jack wouldn't have it any other way.

Back at the Pole, a light flared brightly on the Globe of Belief, twinkling merrily.

Guest Responses:

Guest: Thank you so much! And here's the next part, as promised. :) Hope you enjoyed it!