Warnings: Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

Disclaimer: I claim no copyright ownership to Rise of the Guardians or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.


Chapter Seven


"Happy Thanksgiving!" Everyone toasted, raising their glasses to one another while the kids clanged their soda bottles together. Alice wasn't a fan of alcohol but she enjoyed drinking wine on the holidays. It was the one thing that made her feel like an adult. Sophisticated. Because having an adopted child wasn't an adult-like quality at all. Apparently.

Her first two weeks at the bank were painless. She hadn't been there long enough to know everyone who worked there personally, but at least those she shared a shift with were friendly enough.

On her first day they told her they didn't get a lot of business and that most days were slow. They certainly weren't wrong. She had three whole customers her first eight days and she was more or less bored out of her mind. She hoped work would be her salvation to the monotony her life had molded itself into but honestly it'd just made matters worse. She woke up at an unpleasantly early hour, went to work to be bored for eight hours, and then went home to be bored for another eight hours until it was late enough to sleep and then the cycle started all over again the next day.

At least with Max he'd made some new friends at school. Not that Alice was complaining about his current friends, but it was nice to know that he had kids his own age to play with. But he still spent an unorderly amount of time with Pippa and Jamie. Not that she was complaining. He was rarely home anymore because he was either at the park or someone's house or off gallivanting with Jack Frost but she wasn't complaining.

Jack had taken a liking to Max she noticed. Obviously he enjoyed the kid at first, but she was beginning to notice a few changes. From the information she gathered from the stories, Jack had a soft spot for Jamie and they were nearly inseparable for months. But over the course of the last two weeks, more often than not Jack was with Max. Either playing with Pippa and Co., building race tracks for their sleds at the park, or even in the comfort of their own backyard where they built snowmen of their own.

Max was a very likable kid. He had nearly everyone he met wrapped around his little finger, so Alice wasn't necessarily surprised. But she didn't know if her sudden interest in Max and Jack's relationship stemmed from her newfound monotony or if it was something more. Something akin to resentment or jealousy that bubbled portentously in the pit of her stomach.

She wasn't going to let it bother her. If anything she was proud that her motherly tendencies were finally beginning to rear their ugly heads. Mothers were protective of their kids. And mothers were also offended when their kids preferred spending time with winter spirits rather than with them. Especially during the holidays.

Alice had managed to snag Max away from Jack for a nice Thanksgiving meal though which she was probably more proud of than she cared to admit. She pretended that all the food and sweets weren't the real reason Max wanted to be there.

She watched as the blonde-haired boy shrieked with laughter as Pippa threatened to stuff mashed potatoes in his hair, claiming that they'd blend right in and no one would ever notice. Alice smiled a little to herself. Max's cheeks were flushed a splotchy red, startlingly blue eyes gleaming and alert under the dining room chandelier as he played with Pippa. His teeth were a mismatch of shapes and sizes as he was beginning to lose his baby teeth more frequently. He started going on about the Tooth Fairy recently which Jack was no doubt to blame. Sometimes Alice forgot that all the other fairytales were real, too. Jack was the only one she'd ever met after all. But in the back of her mind a voice kept whispering excitedly that Santa Claus was alive and kicking somewhere in the North Pole, probably preparing toys for Christmas at that very moment.

Alice raised the glass of wine to her lips and sipped, feeling content as she just watched Max with somewhat of a half-smile. His skin was beginning to pale from the layers of clothes he bundled up in every day. By the time January rolled around his skin was usually about the same color as his platinum hair, making the delicate freckles on his cheekbones more pronounced and frighteningly adorable. His bright red lips curled around his white teeth as he grinned at something Uncle Kevin said, startling another peal of laughter out of him. Uncle Kevin reached across the table to flick his nose.

She felt happy. Really happy. There was nothing like seeing her family together and embracing the time of year. Though it was regrettable that her parents weren't there too, or even her grandparents whom she never heard much from besides the occasional birthday card with a check for fifty dollars in it, it was enough just to be with her aunt and uncle. And Max. Honestly, as long as she was with Max, she was home. It didn't matter where, as long as he was close by. She didn't really care where life took her. He was her world now and she'd go wherever he'd go.

Alice glanced down at her empty glass. The wine was really getting to her head.

They ended up having some pumpkin pie and lemon meringue for dessert and Alice was left feeling stuffed and exhausted. Aunt Liza announced that she'd leave the dishes for in the morning and the five of them filed into the living room where they settled down and watched a movie, to which everyone eventually fell asleep to with Christmas carols echoing softly in the background.

Alice blinked herself awake some time later, mind hazy and eyes heavy as weights. She glanced sleepily down at her chest to see that Max had wrapped himself around her torso, mouth hanging open as he snored softly against her. She smiled before wiping the sleep out of her eyes, willing her body to wake up. The room smelled like fresh pinecones, firewood, and cinnamon, lights twinkling above the fireplace as a fire roared on to keep them warm.

Alice turned to face the window nearest to her and saw frost decorating the corners of the glass, snowflakes gently falling outside beneath the glow of the moon. O' Come All Ye Faithful played quietly on the stereo as commercials flashed across the TV screen. Someone must have woken briefly to mute it.

Feeling the urge to stretch out her limbs, Alice gently lifted Max from her chest and he stirred a bit before settling against Pippa's side who was sprawled across the arm of the couch.

Alice stood and stretched, yawning widely before ambling over to the coatrack where she grabbed her fuzzy sweater and threw it over her head. Slipping on a pair of shoes, she quickly heated up a mug of hot cocoa before silently slipping out the backdoor and into the yard.

Pearlescent sheets of snow coated the ground, sparkling and glimmering as they cast an ethereal glow amongst Alice's skin as she trudged across it. She reached the fence that encircled the yard and rested her elbows against it, cupping the mug tightly in her palms as the warmth spread from its contents. She watched the sky with a look of contemplation, counting the stars absently as they twinkled up above. Steam emitted from her cocoa and when she exhaled, she saw her breath. It was chilly out but she didn't mind the cold.

Flakes of snow occasionally landed in her hair, eventually melting and dampening her ponytail. She sipped her cocoa every few minutes. The heat from it quickly vanished and by the time she was finished with it, it was as cold as the wet snow in her hair.

When a flake of snow tickled her nose, she blinked herself out of her stupor and felt a presence near her right side. She sighed, glancing forlornly down at her empty mug before tilting her head and meeting a pair of blue eyes that were watching her. Jack was sitting on top of the fence, balancing precariously with his staff leaning against the fence on his other side. She never heard him appear.

They didn't say anything for a minute or two. Jack joined her in watching the stars and there was companionable silence until Alice felt the need to break it.

"Happy Thanksgiving," she said.

Jack looked down at her. "Likewise," he said.

She clutched the mug tighter in her hands even though it no longer provided any warmth. "See any mystical creatures today?" she asked. "Maybe the Turkey God or something?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Well I did see Bunny earlier which is pretty close. Don't tell him I called him that though," he examined her carefully as she smiled a little at his attempt at a joke. "I'm not the best at reading people," he started. "But something tells me you're upset," he watched her face closely as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She was sort of thrown of guard by the question. She wasn't very accustomed to opening up to people she'd just met.

When she didn't reply he said, "You know, you can still talk to me. It's not like that offer only stood for one day."

Alice shrugged a shoulder halfheartedly. "It's stupid."

"Try me."

She didn't understand why he cared but she didn't say that out loud. "I just feel… really happy," she said. Once the words left her mouth she realized just how odd they sounded.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows, looking lost. "And… that bothers you?" he asked. "Generally when someone's happy that's a good thing," he pointed out, only partially mocking her.

Alice smiled with mirth as she glanced up at him. "I'm usually the brooding type. This isn't something I'm used to," she admitted. She sat the mug on the fence before crossing her arms over chest and resting them against the wood. "It's been a long time since I've admitted to myself that I was happy. Probably the last time I actually felt happy was when I was told Max was officially my son."

Jack's feet dangled in front of him and he swung his legs back and forth absently. "So what makes it so weird that you're happy now?"

Alice stared ahead without really seeing anything. She shook her head slightly. "It's just… whenever I've actually felt content with my life, something's gone wrong. Every time without fail. When I found out I got a full ride scholarship to Berkeley, Anne died. When I finally got Max, I thought Social Services were going to take him away from me."

"But he wasn't taken away from you," Jack emphasized.

"He could have just as easily been," said Alice, returning her gaze to meet his. "One wrong move and I never would have seen him again. There was plenty of close calls, all of which I got lucky to avoid. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I'd done something different," she said, wringing her fingers together. Jack's own fingers twitched as he watched her pick at her nails, refraining from stopping her. It seemed to have bothered him when she did that. "How quickly he could have been taken away to some foster home where he'd be left there alone until he turned eighteen or adopted by some family that didn't really want him or deserve him."

Alice watched her fingers at they pulled at each other. She traced the gold band on the ring finger of her right hand that she always wore. It was given to her by her mother when she was around sixteen. It had a small amethyst stone in the center, both her birthstone and her mom's. Their birthdays were only two days apart.

Jack leaned towards her and caught her eye, holding the gaze firmly. "Then you just have to make sure that everyone gets that he's yours. Because he is totally and completely yours, Alice. Don't let anyone think differently."

Alice smiled a watery smile, appreciative of Jack's reassuring words.

Jack considered her for a second before turning to face ahead. The wind blew slightly as flurries of snow danced around them. "You need to get your mind off this. It's almost Christmas, you're supposed to stay happy and not mope around like an adult," he stated with finality, uttering the last word with obvious distaste. He grabbed his staff and leaned against it as he hovered above her. Suddenly he looked down at her and his blue eyes were swimming with mischief. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

Alice raised her eyebrows, laughing a little in surprise at the random question. "What?"

"Just name a place," he said with an excited smile. "If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? What's the first place that comes to your mind?"

Alice shook her head at the quick turn of events. "Uh," she thought for a second, scouring her brain, before her eyes lit up. "The Library of Congress," she declared.

Jack scrunched up his face. "Seriously?" he asked, deflating a bit.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Yes," she told him.

Jack's eyes widened and he quickly grinned. "Okay, the Library of Congress. Right. Yeah. When all else fails, read a history book. You're such a nerd."

Alice sputtered at the insult and he smirked. "Well," he turned his back towards her and gestured to himself. "Hop on! My guess is your family's going to be awake in about an hour or so and we wouldn't want them worrying about where you are," he said brightly.

"Wait, wait, wait—what?" Alice held up her hands and he eyed her over his shoulder. "You mean right now? You're going to take me there?"

"Yep."

"To the Library of Congress."

"Indeed."

"In Washington, D.C."

"That's the one."

"Well—" Alice didn't know what to say. One second she was mulling over the happiness her life had suddenly been blessed with (and being upset about it, which probably wasn't the weirdest thing she'd ever done) and the next she was being whisked away to a world-renowned library with the spirit of winter. Honestly, what the hell? If she didn't know any better she'd chalk it up to too much wine and eggnog.

"Any day now princess, I can only get us there so fast," Jack sang. He lowered himself a bit to where he was floating in front of her on the other side of the fence.

"Wait, we're going to fly there?" Alice asked, feeling overwhelmingly skeptical about the intelligence of that plan.

"Well yeah, it's not like I can teleport us there. Well, I could, but I don't exactly have the technology right now," Jack contemplated the notion before quickly shaking the thought out of his head.

"Wait," she said again. "Teleporting is a thing now? That can actually be done?" she asked, thinking she certainly hadn't heard him right. Though honestly, why was she still surprised by anything he said anymore?

"Yeah sort of, I'll have to show you some time. But stop changing the subject."

Alice bit her lip. She began weighing the pros and cons in her head. On the one hand, she really wanted to see the Library of Congress and chances are this was the only time she'd be able to do that. But at the same time, this was Jack who was offering to fly her there which was obviously reason enough for caution.

Noticing her hesitation, Jack smirked again. "Got a fear of heights or something, princess?"

"No but I do have a fear of falling," she squinted at him in annoyance.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I'm not going to drop you. Despite what you may think, I'm not weak and you don't look that heavy," he deliberately scanned her from head to toe as if to emphasize his point.

"You haven't lifted me yet so you don't know that for sure," she protested.

Jack groaned and wiped his free hand down his face. Then with a flick of his wrist that held his staff, a strong gust of wind forced Alice forward and she had to grab onto Jack's shoulders to steady herself. He used that to his advantage and the moment she had a steady grip, he shot upwards into the air and she gasped as she felt her stomach drop as the ground fell from beneath her feet. She wrapped her arms so tightly around Jack's neck that he almost couldn't breathe. He floated horizontally to where she was more laying on his back rather than dangling off of it which seemed to relieve her somewhat. He took that opportunity to readjust her iron-grip on his neck so he didn't suffocate.

Alice leaned up a bit on her elbows as her heart rate steadily returned to a normal pace. She felt the slightest traces of vertigo and averted her eyes from the ground that was at least ten stories beneath her and instead focused on the array of scattered lights that sprinkled the town of Burgess. Her mouth fell open as she gazed on in unconcealed awe. The view was so much better than the tiny one she always got through the foggy windows of an airplane.

Jack grinned over his shoulder as he gauged her reaction. "See? Not so bad, is it?"

Alice glared down at him. "I could have let go by accident you know," she said darkly. "Then I would have fallen and you'd have felt really bad about it."

Jack rolled his eyes again at the empty threat. He slowly leaned up and this time Alice was able to hold onto him more loosely as he floated upright again. "Even if by some fat chance I managed to drop you, which I wouldn't, I've saved your life once before so I'm sure I could do it again."

Alice glared halfheartedly at the back of his head as he began to fly. "I don't think it would count if you were the one who put my life in danger in the first place."

"Details," Jack waved her off. Then there was silence.

Washington D.C. was only about a state south of Pennsylvania and surprisingly air travel via Jack Frost made the journey rather short. Most of the time Alice found herself mesmerized by all the city lights that twinkled beneath them. Every so often, Jack would increase altitude and fly them through whiffs of clouds. Usually when he did that the clouds below them would conceal the lights which would make her feel incredibly claustrophobic as she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her. She wasn't sure how Jack could see where he was going.

The temperature dropped a good ten degrees up in the sky which made Alice's fingers and nose numb from the cold. She was too distracted by the experience to really be bothered by it, but every now and then she found herself shivering and trembling. And since Jack didn't really emit any body heat, her close proximity to him didn't really matter. Though she was certain he eased the coldness of himself a few times for her sake.

About ten minutes later, Jack nudged her chin that was resting on his shoulder and he pointed downwards. Alice realized Jack was flying lower and she noticed the top of a rectangular building that was growing larger as they neared it. Butterflies erupted in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't believe she was in the Capitol! She then figured most people probably didn't get so excited about a fact like that. Maybe she was a nerd.

Jack quietly landed on the roof and she sighed the minute her feet touched solid ground.

It was fairly quiet save for the honks of car horns off in the distance. Even though it was Thanksgiving, it was also after hours so the building wouldn't have been open anyway.

"How do you suppose we get in?" Alice asked. She felt a little anxious about essentially breaking in to the Thomas Jefferson Building and wondered if it was at all possible but Jack didn't seem worried about it. She considered the notion that she could go to prison for life if she got caught, knowing that even though Jack would be there to fly her away to safety, the building probably had cameras that would catch every angle of her face and sensors that would sound alarms the second she triggered them.

Suddenly this sounded like a sincerely bad idea.

"Jack I don't think we should do this," she suddenly whispered. "What if we get caught? There's no way to break into the Library of Congress. I don't care if Nicolas Cage did it in National Treasure. That movie was riddled with plot holes. No wait, that was the National Archives. The second movie he went to the Library of Congress, right? Even then he got caught anyway, didn't he? Even though the President told him to steal the Book of Secrets that doesn't actually exist. Not that I would try to steal it if it did," she said loudly as if to pacify the make believe government agents that were listening in.

Jack stared at her as if she were crazy. "What are you talking about?"

Alice swallowed. "Nothing. Look, let's just go. I appreciate the sentiment but standing on the roof was enough. I can die happy now."

Jack looked exasperated. "Look, you're not gonna get caught, alright? I have a plan. Just follow me and stick close."

Against her better judgment Alice followed after him. After scouring half of the roof, Jack came across a door. Inevitably it was locked when he tried jiggling the handle which should have been the end of it but after stepping back a few feet, Jack thrust his staff forward and a beam of bright frost emitted from it and effectively froze the handle. Jack tried again and this time the door opened without fault.

Alice stared.

Jack grinned back at her and nodded towards the entrance. "Quick, someone would have seen that."

Alice jogged in without another word and Jack shut the door behind them. Alice paused in the darkness of the stairwell, hearing herself breathing heavily as Jack's footsteps echoed from behind her. Her blood pumped furiously in her ears and she felt a bit faint. Her nose and fingers were beginning to tingle as feeling returned to them.

Jack tapped his staff on the stair behind her and she jumped as the tip of it glowed a soft blue, lighting up the space around them. She glanced up at him warily and he winked at her before pulling something small and shiny out of his hoodie pocket.

"What is that?" she asked. It was silver and coated with a pearlescent opal finish when the light hit it just right. It was oval-shaped and zodiac symbols decorated its face with a small hole in its center. It looked like a small astronomical dial and something one might find in an antique shop. It dangled from a medium-linked chain that was about five inches in length.

"You'll see," Jack murmured. He concentrated on the small object, eyes narrowed before he waved his hand over its front and the center glowed a vivid purple. Alice's eyes widened as she saw the swirling colors, like a small galaxy lived within the object. Suddenly the air around her stilled and the hairs on the back of Alice's neck stood on end. She lifted her head and if it were possible, it sounded even quieter than before. "Check your phone," Jack instructed her softly.

Furrowing her brows, Alice tapped her jean pockets, unable to remember if she brought it or not. She found it in her back pocket and she pressed the home button, lighting up the screen. Her eyes strained at the brightness before it auto-dimmed and adjusted to the lack of light. She didn't see anything besides an alert from Words With Friends and glanced questioningly up at Jack.

"Just watch," he said.

It took her a good minute or two before she realized what was different. The time read 8:19pm. It kept reading 8:19pm. It never changed, even when she was certain more than sixty seconds had passed.

Her mouth opened in shock and she quickly lifted her head to stare at Jack who was grinning proudly. She then eyed the small device in his hand with trepidation as it continued its luminescent gleaming. Was that like Hermione's Time Turner from Prisoner of Azkaban?

"A what from who?" Jack asked, startling her out of her thoughts. She didn't realize she said that out loud.

"Um, it's from Harry Potter," she said, embarrassed.

"Oh," said Jack and he seemed to actually consider her question. She couldn't decide if she should be shocked that he knew what Harry Potter was or not. Then again, he did say he snuck into a lot of movies. "Snuck" being a relative term considering no one was able to see him anyway.

He eventually shrugged it off and pocketed the item before motioning her forward with a knowing smirk. "No one will even know if we sneak in when time is standing still. It'll be like we were never here."

Alice went to step down but quickly stopped herself. "How come you didn't do that before we landed on the roof? Someone might have seen your frost beam freeze the door and somehow think it was me," she accused.

"Okay first of all there are no cameras up there. I was just messing with you before," he stated obviously as if she should know better. "Second of all, no one will be suspicious because there was already frost all over the roof and doors frost over all the time," he told her knowingly. Her shoulders relaxed a bit. "Plus I didn't really think about it until after," he admitted as an afterthought and she gave him an unimpressed look.

The two of them made their way down the stairs with Jack's glowing staff lighting their way. They reached the bottom of the stairwell with another door blocking their path.

"What if they find my fingerprints?" she asked nervously again.

Jack's shoulder bumped into hers as he stepped down next to her. He sighed amusedly. "There are thousands of fingerprints all over everything in this entire building," Jack said.

"Not up here," she countered. "This is probably a restricted area."

"If it makes you feel any better I'll open all the doors for you since I don't have any fingerprints," he told her, only half joking. Alice stepped out of the way as he approached the door and went to turn the handle. Unsurprisingly it didn't budge, but Jack clenched his jaw and squeezed the handle. With a spark of frost, the handle gave way and opened. He pushed the door open and motioned for her to walk through with an over exaggerated bow. She ambled through the threshold and came across a fairly empty hallway. Now the fun began: navigating through the maze of the employee section of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

"Someone may wonder why the handles are covered in ice," Alice commented over her shoulder as she walked down one end of the hallway and contemplated which direction to go. She went with following the signs directing to a new set of stairs. Jack let her lead the way as he followed a few feet behind her, twirling his staff around as he eyed his surroundings with partial interest.

"Doubt it," he said carelessly. "I probably won't have to freeze many more."

She went to open one of the doors leading to another stairwell but thought better of it and stepped aside, waiting for Jack to reach her. He raised a mischievous eyebrow at her before side stepping her and pulling the door open. It wasn't locked.

Alice's eyes trailed upward and she caught sight of a small camera in the corner of the ceiling. "You sure those won't register us on them or anything?" she asked nervously. "Maybe you should frost them over just in case," she felt twitchy again with anxiety.

"I promise they won't," Jack deadpanned. "And I can assure you that someone would wonder why all the cameras are covered in ice."

"Why?" Alice snickered as she made her way down the second set of stairs. It was dark and Jack had to ignite his staff again. "What will they think did it? A freeze ray?"

Jack grinned broadly next to her. "Now who's the skeptical one?" he teased her. He seemed to like that she was loosening up. Or at least trying to.

Though after wandering around the next floor aimlessly without any sign of another staircase and coming across multiple dead ends, Alice was beginning to lose her patience. She seriously underestimated how big the building was. "I'm not even going to get to see the library if we can't find a way to it," she threw her arms up in irritation. "It's probably late, we should head back. This is hopeless."

"Why don't you check the time," Jack said dryly as he took over the lead and started marching back down the way they just came. Alice pursed her lips as she caught sight of an analog clock that was mounted on one of the walls they passed by. It was still 8:19.

It took a good ten minutes (an estimation as she didn't really know) before they found the main floor of the library. There were a few lights on that emitted soft glows, but all of the brighter lights must have been connected to separate breakers that were shut off during the night. Alice's mouth went dry at the vast opening of the dome ceiling that extended so high she could hardly see the top in the dim lighting. Every breath she made echoed in the open air, bouncing off the pillars that supported the massive round room.

She'd never felt so in awe by a place. The scent of paperbound books and fresh text overwhelmed her senses and she eagerly breathed them in with a smile on her face. Jack leaned against the threshold of the door they just walked through with his arms crossed as he watched her with a small smile on his face that she only fleetingly noticed before her attention was drawn elsewhere. There were so many things for her eyes to look at. Books, prints, photographs, music, movies, manuscripts… it was an information overload. She smiled widely and jogged around the second floor of the atrium, scoping out all the sections. She passed the Northeast Pavilion and reached the 'African & Middle Eastern' Reading Room, followed by the 'Waldseemüller Maps' Exhibition room and 'Exploring the Early Americas' Exhibition room.

Jack kept some distance between them to give Alice space but she could almost hear him shaking his head as he asked himself why all of this was so captivating to her. But he also seemed incredibly entertained by her mutterings as she would occasionally whisper-shout, "Fascinating!" to herself as she grabbed a thick book and skimmed through it.

Almost an hour and a half later and you would find Alice resting her head in her hand as she flipped through old transcripts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speeches in the main reading room, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose as the gentle light of the stained glass lamp ghosted over the text. A few books were scattered to her left and right that she'd already skimmed through.

Jack had been nowhere to be seen for the past half hour or so and she hadn't really paid any mind to where he must have gone. Though suddenly, a clattering of plastic hitting solid ground startled her out of her reading trance and she jumped nearly a foot in the air and had to steady her chair before it toppled over. She quickly turned to face behind her and realized Jack had knocked over a stack of tapes that had been resting on one of the counters just outside the reading room.

It took a while for her eyes to readjust to the darkness and she wiped her eyes thoroughly with her fingers, feeling the tiredness in them. It'd been a while since she read so much in one sitting and clearly her eyes were not used to the strain like they had once been. She rested her head back in her hand again, ignoring the tingling sensation in her wrist from being in the position so long, and Jack approached her from behind.

"This place could really use a skating rink or something," he said as he plopped into the chair next to her.

"I sincerely hope you didn't make one," she uttered blandly as she continued to read despite her eyes' protesting. She was starting to go cross-eyed.

"I resisted the urge," he replied casually, picking up a book she'd discarded and flipping carelessly through the pages. He grew bored after the first handful and sat it back down. He threw his legs up on the table and crossed his ankles as he leaned back and stretched in his seat.

"So where did you get that thing anyways?" Alice asked without looking up from her transcripts. She didn't have to see him to know he tilted his head in question. "The thing that stopped time that you won't tell me the name of," she offered, eyes glancing slyly in his direction.

It elicited something of a half-grin out of the silver-haired boy and he shrugged. "Just a friend," he told her airily.

Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "Mhm. Meaning you took it from someone that definitely isn't your friend," she said eloquently. Jack shrugged innocently.

"Same thing."

"Do you always carry it with you?" she asked, stifling a yawn as she finally gathered the transcripts into a neat stack and returned them to their plastic wrap.

"It comes in handy sometimes, as you've noticed," said Jack. He glanced idly around the large room, blue eyes shimmering in the light of her lamp. His gaze met hers and he gave a small smile. "Are you happy you came here?" he asked. She detected a hint of uncertainty in his usually sure voice, as if he was afraid she didn't appreciate the gesture or magnitude of what he'd done for her. She most definitely hadn't.

"I am," she told him honestly, watching him with a soft smile as he noticeably seemed relieved by her assurance. "Thank you for taking me here," she said before shaking her head. "I honestly never thought I'd ever be able to come here. I've always wanted to but my parents..." she laughed a bit as her eyes followed the intricate markings of the high ceiling. "My parents never really had much of an interest in seeing the Capitol. They never liked who was in Office so they never saw a reason to come here, no matter how much I begged them."

Jack considered her words before removing his legs from the table and resting his elbow on the surface, mirroring her position that she was once in as she read. He watched her for a second, much like he had when he first met her as if she were the most interesting thing he'd ever laid eyes on. "Why did you want to come here so bad?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Most people when asked if they could go anywhere in the world, they say France or Italy or something."

Alice shrugged a little as if it were obvious. "The history," she answered simply. "I like reading about the past. I like learning things. I want to know what our forefathers fought and died for. I want to know about the people that have impacted our country. I want to learn about other countries and their cultures and ways of life. There's so much to learn in this world," she shook her head again as if the sentence itself overwhelmed her. "It's impossible to learn it all. But while I'm here, while I'm alive, I want to try to learn as much as I can because… because, well, why not?"

"Why not," Jack repeated, nodding a bit as if he understood somewhat why she loved it so much. She smiled because she couldn't help but smile as his face appeared so open to her and everything she said to him. He smiled back, eyes roaming her face as if to drink her in. His hair looked almost golden under the light of her lamp and he seemed very content in that moment. Usually he was so energetic and unable to sit still. She liked seeing him calm.

"We should probably get back," Alice said finally, breaking the silence that had surrounded them both as they were left to their own thoughts.

Jack hummed but didn't move as he continued to watch her. She felt slightly self-conscious by his stare but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. She felt as though, in that moment, something had passed between them. Some sort of comradery that wasn't there before, or not nearly as strong as it had been if it was there. It made her feel peaceful and somewhat reassured that he was there for good. For a reason. That he wanted to be there with her and talk with her, even if it meant just listening to her talk because whatever she said somehow always fascinated him. It made her feel important and wanted, something she hadn't felt in a long time. At least since Max.

Max. She hadn't been away from him for more than a few hours and already she missed him. Like there was a piece of her missing just because he wasn't near her. It made her feel hollow and it was a foreign feeling she was still trying to get used to whenever he wasn't around.

Alice quickly stood from her chair and Jack was quick to follow as if he'd been waiting for her to rise first.

"We really should go," she laughed a little, doing quick work of organizing her jumbled stack of books and Jack helped her put them back in their places before they started making their way back to the upper levels of the building in comfortable silence.

When they finally reached the stairwell leading onto the roof, Alice surprised Jack with a hug. The coolness of his skin startled her only for the briefest of moments before she grew used to the feeling and hugged him tighter, as if to somehow physically convey through the hug how much she appreciated what he'd done for her that night.

Jack was taken aback by the contact for a few seconds before he quickly gained his bearings and returned the hug, rubbing his hands along her back through the fuzzy sweater and leaving icy trails in their wake. His face nudged the side of hers, his cold cheek pressing softly against her own for a moment before she pulled away and smiled at him. His cheeks were slightly rosy and she couldn't tell if it was from her body heat or something else. She'd never seen so much color in his face before. He gave her a lopsided grin in return.

"Thanks again, Jack," she smiled earnestly before opening the door and making her way up the stairs, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as the cold night air became more prominent.

With an unsteady breath, Jack tried flicking his staff to life, only to realize that it had already been lit.


A/N: So fun fact about me. I'm a huge history nerd which is why I made Alice the same way. And if I were asked by someone where I wanted to go if I could go anywhere in the world, the Library of Congress (or just D.C. in general) would definitely be high up on my list.

Thank you for the reviews/favorites this story has gotten since then! I honestly didn't expect any since I know I for sure try to stay away from stories that haven't been updated in more than a month or two. You guys rock. And apparently the story was mentioned in someone's blog? So awesome! Thanks lullabydono! I'm glad you've enjoyed it.