I did it! *Emperor Kuzco voice* Isn't it great? It's my birthday gift to me! *sniffs* I'm so happy!

So . . . I have no excuse. I think we can all agree at this point that my original plan to post one chapter a week has gone out the window.

In other news, I recently learned that it is illegal to own a ferret in California. In light of this new revelation I will be . . . making no edits whatsoever to the earlier scene where I showed Sting's brothers as having a pet ferret. Maybe California ferrets are legal in this universe. I haven't decided yet.

But on the positive side, a big THANK YOU to my new followers/favs Readerfever, In Pursuit of Magic, TheWriter946, AppleJax XD, Octaviapaz, Speedster101, LisaPhillips21, and Molly122! And if I left anyone out, I am so sorry.

"Jack! I'm scared!"

Emma Overland

"Of course, you're scared - you're dying. Shut up."

The 11th Doctor; The Time of Angels

Sting's desperation was escalating exponentially by the second. It had been an eternity and there was still no sign of Jack even after she'd blown away much of the thin ice on the river's surface. And it was this anxiety that blinded her to her surroundings.

She almost didn't see Pitch's scythe until it was too late. If it hadn't been for Baba's warning, she might not have seen it at all. As the Nightmare King materialized from the shadows and swung his weapon viciously at her, she had just enough time to reflexively spread out a small shield so that the blade didn't hit her directly. Instead of injuring her, the force of the blow simply sent her tumbling towards the river. Baba lost his hold and fell onto the newly reforming ice, but Sting crashed straight through to the frigid waters below.

The cold immediately pierced her right through to her bones, and she released precious air in a scream of shock and pain. Her clawing hand grasped at the hole in the ice, but the current had already pulled her away, twisting her upside down. Unexpectedly, her hand brushed against something soft. She drew back in disgust but almost immediately thrust her hand out again grabbing onto the thing more firmly. It felt like a piece of cloth . . . it wasn't nearly slimy enough to have been there very long . . . it was attached to something heavier . . .

. . . it was the hood of Jack's sweater.

He didn't move with her first tug, so he must have gotten stuck on something sticking up from the bottom which would explain why he wasn't further downstream. She pulled harder and yanked him free. Wrapping an arm across his chest, she oriented herself and pushed for the surface, exploding though the ice with reckless abandon. Her head finally broke through, she gasped for that sweet, beautiful oxygen like there was no tomorrow. Melting the ice as she went, she dragged herself and Jack up onto the shore before unceremoniously dropping him into the dirt.

"What would you do without me?" She rasped as she collapsed beside him.

There was no answer. Sting rolled her head to the side, and when she saw why her heart almost stopped.

Jack wasn't breathing.

Panic tore through her like a bullet, and she sat up so quickly that her vision went black. But she barely noticed.

"JACK!" She shook his shoulders.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she dimly realized that her fear would attract Nightmares like a red-haired bag of sugar. She didn't care, only frantically fumbling for his wrist, and trying to feel a pulse. But after a moment she threw it down in frustration and learned her ear over his chest.

Baba skittered over momentarily distracting her. "Hey, Babs you're okay! . . . Yes, yes, I'm fine." She answered in response to his excited chittering. "I don't know. . . Yes, I'm aware he's not breathing if you'll let me check his heartbeat!" She bent down again and became lightheaded with relief when she detected a faint, but steady, rhythm.

"Oh, thank you God."

Was she supposed to do mouth-to-mouth now? She winced. if Jack woke up and thought she was kissing him she'd never live it down. But if it saved him . . . no, no first things first – clear the airway.

At that moment, a Nightmare arrived in the sky above her. But before it could send the alarm Sting flicked her hand. A faint gold tendril flickered from her fingers like a spider's web, then the creatures head exploded. The rest of its body scattered and faded into the wind. It was it was just as well that Jack was out. If he'd had seen that little trick, her creating a force-field inside another being and expanding it, he'd have been very disturbed, and she wouldn't blame him.

There was no more time to mess around – more Nightmare's would be certain to find them. Uncertainly, she pressed on Jack's diaphragm as hard as she could with both hands.

A small fountain of river water spewed out of his mouth and almost immediately his lungs reflexively inhaled to fill the empty space. Then they exhaled. Then they inhaled a second time. In. Out. In. Out. He was breathing on his own.

Sting was so relieved she wanted to hug him, but instead she heaved a groan of relief and sat back.

Jack coughed. His eyes twitched as he let out a soft moan.

"Emma . . ."

Who the heck was Emma? Then she remembered that Jack had mentioned having a sister before he . . .

"I don't know any "Emma" and if she has anything to do with your creepy backstory you can keep her to yourself."

This seemed to snap Jack out of his daze. He coughed again and sputtered out the last bits of water. By the time he fully opened his eyes and sat up Sting had pushed her hood back and was nonchalantly ringing out her wet hair.

"What happened?" He groaned.

"Angel Kyle sent you out for a swim. Pitch thought I should join you since it was such a lovely night." Baba made a correcting noise. "Okay," She amended, "Actually I think he was trying to behead me, but y'know, minor details."

A ghastly whinny filled the air. Their time was up.

"Also, we may be under attack."

A storm of frothing darkness was bubbling above their heads now. Jack jumped to his feet, grateful that his staff has remained bloodlessly clenched in his fist and hadn't instead found a new home at the bottom of the river. Sting scooped up Baba and clamored to her feet, but she was shaking so hard with cold she nearly knocked herself over. Her lips were purple too, and her skin was uncomfortably pale. She readied her stance, but it was clear to Jack that she was in no condition to fight.

A new idea struck him. He gestured with his staff and an icy blast of wind laced with shards of ice shattered the cloud into bits. Only for a moment, but it was enough. Grabbing Sting's arm, he sprinted away.

"Hang on!"

He leapt upwards. For a moment, he was afraid the wind wouldn't be able to carry them both, but it rallied like the trooper he knew it was and lifted them away.

Sting screeched like a manic and clutched his shoulders so hard she nearly strangled him. "Are you NUTS?!"

The Nightmare creatures rallied after them as they shot up. But Sting steadied her breathing and got a better grip.

"Happy thoughts." She gasped. "Happy. Thoughts."

Jack thought she was talking to herself, until he felt a warm pulse seep through him and saw his body disappear. Accustomed to being invisible to others but not to himself, he started to cry out in surprise, but felt a hand slap over his mouth.

"Shh! They smell fear, right?" Invisibility was easy, but if they were discovered all her efforts would be for nothing. Sure enough, the dark hoard lost its momentum and was filtering in different directions, feeling for something it could no longer see as its intended targets shot father and farther away.

Meanwhile, circling the Triskelion in a wide arc, the other Guardians sat in the sleigh and argued about whether they should go look for their missing companions. Just as Tooth and Sandy were about to set off, Jack and Sting materialized over the sleigh and dropped in with a heavy thud.

"Vhere have you been?!" North scolded, turning the sleigh Northward.

The cold settling into Sting was really taking a toll on what little patience she possessed, and it took every ounce of self-restraint not to retort Oh, we've been having a lovely time dying. Drowning for him, hypothermia for me, and we got so caught up in the fun we forgot we needed to save the world.

Sandy drew a picture of water droplets with his sand.

"Blimey, what happened?"

"Are you okay?!"

"We're okay." Jack assured them.

Sting was fighting to not snap do we LOOK okay?! "We're f-fine."

The words might have more convincing it they hadn't been followed by a violent sneeze. Bunny gave a deep sigh and crouched closer, allowing her to absorb the heat from his body. Tooth was fussing like a worried mother. Taking Jack's face in her hands, she opened his mouth and looked at his teeth, then did the same to Sting.

"Ve must talk about vhat happened back there." Said North, after a beat.

"Like what?"

"Like," continued Jack, "What happened to that man. Sting?"

Sting was leaning against Bunny, her eyes closed. "What man?"

"The one who disappeared!"

'Ohhhh," Determined to shut out the world, she didn't open her eyes. This cold was a dreadful thing. Unlike most injuries, it seeped into her bones and sapped her strength like poison. Without her powers to repair damaged tissue and to keep her core temperature at the bare minimum for survival she'd probably be dead by now. "That guy. Poor sap. He was dinner."

"WHAT?!" Shrieked several voices.

Baba jumped and Sting flinched but didn't move.

"Oi, no shouting. Didn't I tell you how the Angels feed?" She paused to think back. "No? Crud. The Angels send people back in time and then feast on the energy of all the days that person would have lived. That's why I said not to let them touch you. They've tried to do it me, twice, but I'm lucky enough to have a friend with a time machine looking for me. But all things considered, it's not a bad way to go. That guy will wake up in the past, probably have a normal life, and die of old age."

"What happens if they touch one of us?" Tooth asked in a horrified voice.

Sting cracked open an eye. "I don't know." She admitted solemnly. "I've thought about it backwards and forwards, but I just don't know. Odds are though, since none of you age, and since sending you back might create a paradox, which is bad for everyone including them, they may try something more . . . permanent."

"They'll just try to kill us." Jack translated grimly.

Sting closed her eyes again. "And me too, if it makes you feel any better."

For several seconds, the only sound was the soft huffing of the reindeer as they pulled the sleigh.

Then, a far-off scream.

Sting opened her eyes and looked up. "Oh, Lord. Not again."

Is it a bit of a cheap ending for now? Yes, yes, it is. But I though the next scene might be better if I picked it up right at the beginning of the next chapter.

The dialogue in the sleigh was where I had the most trouble. Out of multiple redrafts, this is the one that flowed the best, so this is what I kept.