Chapter 5

Jack grinned as Rose snuck over closer, glancing around to make sure no one was looking before setting something on the arm of the chair and hurrying off. She'd obviously started getting more in touch with her mother's tribe over the years. She would occasionally weave little feathers and beads into her hair, sometimes wore bits of jewelry that were obviously Native American… and ever since the second Christmas Pitch had shown him, she had been secretly leaving little trinkets on the spirit chair. Just tiny things like a twisted bit of wood carved into a snake, a few hand carved beads and a couple of animals made of twigs with colored string wrapped around them as 'fur'.

He glanced down at this year's offering. It was a small, flat, almost perfectly round river stone about the size of a thumbnail with a little rose painted on it. He hid his grin and pretended not to notice as Pitch slipped his hand over it. He never said anything about it, but the little offerings had always somehow disappeared by the time they left.

He looked over at Rose. She looked about sixteen by now. She had grown into quite a lovely young woman, and her heritage had become more noticeable over the years. Jack couldn't help but notice that, though Pitch had said he only stopped in every couple of years, Rose never seemed to be more than one year older than the last memory. The others aged at the same rate of course, but Jack had to admit that with as strong of a family resemblance as the other children had it was kinda hard to keep track of which child was which after a whole year of growth. Rose was the only one he could always recognize without a doubt.

All of a sudden, Jack felt something… it was like a presence, but it didn't seem to be coming from any particular direction.

"You are needed." A soft female voice said, seeming to come from all around them at the same time.

Pitch immediately wrapped his arm firmly around Jack and Jack suddenly found himself waking up. He felt Pitch shift away from him and he sat up, looking around, his mind still a bit disoriented by the sudden change.

There was a tall, rather statuesque dark skinned woman standing near the end of the bed, gazing down at him with a little smile on her black painted lips. She looked distinctly Egyptian, especially with the thickly drawn stylized black eye liner. She wore a black cloak with a large hood that was currently up, but he could see some of her long black hair draped down the front of her, made up into intricate braids of different thicknesses, each with tiny silver charms woven into them.

"How much time?" Pitch asked, his clothing swirling into being around him as he got up.

"Not much." She replied… though her lips didn't move. It was more like a voice in their heads.

Pitch glanced over at Jack, letting out a slightly frustrated breath seeing the slight blush on his cheeks and the way he was clutching the sheet a bit tightly as he looked back and forth between them. He flicked his hand and Jack found himself suddenly (thankfully!) fully dressed again as well. "I'm sorry. I have to go. I'll explain later," He said quickly.

Jack quickly got up out of the bed, grabbing his staff a bit nervously. He didn't feel like this woman posed any kind of threat to him, nor did she seem to hold any malice towards him… and yet her presence seemed to inspire an almost instinctual sense of unease that he couldn't fathom.

"There's no time for shadows. Take my arm." She said, holding out her arm.

Pitch immediately strode up to her, taking hold of her arm.

Taken by and irrational impulse, Jack darted forward, taking her other arm an instant before they disappeared.

Jack was plunged into utter blackness that seemed to press around him, then suddenly he was free of it, finding himself standing in the middle of a very dimly lit room that held two dozen small beds, on which slept children, all of which appeared to be around ten or younger.

"Jack!" Pitch hissed in irritation, seeing that he had accompanied them.

"You're running out of time…" The woman's voice prompted, "Fifty seven percent and dropping quickly."

"Which ones?" Pitch asked, looking around.

"All of them." She replied. "The older ones and the adults downstairs are either already gone or have chances in the single digits. Just focus on these."

"What? What's going on?" Jack asked in alarm.

Pitch ignored him. He seemed to be concentrating. Tendrils of darkness rolled out from him, spreading quickly through the room. The children started squirming in their sleep as the dark tendrils reached them. Pitch almost seemed to be listening, then his head turned abruptly as the shadows reached one particular little girl that looked about seven. He immediately darted over to her, settling on the side of her bed and sending more intense darkness into her.

The woman put her hand on Jack's arm when he tried to move closer, seeing the girl start to squirm and jerk around. Suddenly the girl sat bolt upright, letting out a piercing shriek of sheer terror. Even though she was awake now she kept shrieking several more times as the other children quickly started waking up around her. The fear that Pitch had spread throughout the room was obviously affecting them as they all quickly got up, immediately frightened, though they weren't quite sure what it was they were afraid of yet.

Several of the children started for the open door.

"Stop them." The woman's voice rang out.

Pitch immediately rose, shooting a billowing cloud of blackness towards the door. Most of them scrambled back from it, obviously filled with instant terror, but one of the little girls had been quicker than the blackness and was already running down the stairs.

The woman actually let out an upset breath. It was the first sound Jack had actually heard emerge from her mouth. Then her voice was in their minds again. "The carbon monoxide is already too dense down there and the fire is already spreading into the walls. That one is lost. If you can get the others out the windows onto the roof there is a tree they can climb down, but they have little time left."

Pitch looked torn as he glanced down the stairs, then he looked back at Jack, "Jack, get the window." He said urgently before disappearing down the stairs.

The woman let out a definitely irritated sigh, but then just looked at Jack expectantly.

Jack was still a bit confused about the situation, but had gathered that these children were in imminent danger, so he quickly went over to the windows, glancing out them until he spotted the tree. He managed to get the window closest to it open, but it actually had bars on it! He glanced around, realizing that they all did. They were just dark and blended in when it was this dark unless you were looking for them. He examined the bars. They were obviously low quality, old, thin and encrusted with rust, but strong enough to keep the kids from getting out. Still the rack of bars was only attached in four places.

He clutched his staff, focusing his cold into a tight stream at the first mount, then brought the other end of his staff around and slammed it against it. After the second whack it busted. He didn't have a good angle to get at the other mount on that side, but when he shoved really hard it gave and he was then able to bend the rack of bars out. The rusted mountings on the other side were too brittle to handle being bent and actually snapped off and the whole thing fell to the side. He looked back, but the kids were clustered around in little groups, obviously terrified, but they didn't seem to know what was causing their fear or what they were supposed to do.

"Come on! Out the window!" Jack yelled, but as usual it did nothing. "Come on! Go!" he yelled a bit desperately, trying to wave them towards their only escape route.

"They can't see you, Jack." The woman said in his mind, sounding a little impatient, "We need Pitch to herd them."

Jack nodded, darting out of the room and down the stairs. He looked around, seeing a door standing open a little down the hall.

"Get up already!" He heard Pitch yell urgently, his voice obviously coming from the room.

Jack darted in. He could see Pitch beside one of the beds not too far from the door, the little girl who had gotten past him was lying on the bed with her arms around a teenaged boy. From the similar facial features it appeared to be her older brother. The girl was already unconscious. The boy seemed to be semiconscious, but dazed. Even Jack could feel the poison filling the air, though luckily it couldn't affect him.

Pitch was pouring blackness over the boy, filling him with urgent, intense fear. It seemed to be beginning to work, but Jack started as he heard a little whoosh of flames through the wall. He looked over, seeing the wallpaper quickly darkening and starting to peel away and smolder at the far end of the room.

"Pitch!" Jack said urgently, "This place is about to go up! I got the window open, but they aren't going out it. You have to go."

Pitch looked up at him, then back at the boy who had shifted onto his side and was struggling to rise, obviously torn.

"I'll try to help them, you just go get the rest of them out!" Jack said.

Pitch let out a pained breath, giving the children one last glance, but then just said, "Don't stay long." quickly before darting out the door and up the stairs. From the little shrieks that followed, Jack was sure the children were heading for that window now.

Jack looked down at the boy as he seemed to be losing the fight against looming unconsciousness. "Sorry, kid, but I've got pretty limited tools." Jack said, before circling around and reaching out, sending a little jolt of icy coldness through the boy's spine.

The boy let out a little cry of shock and pain, but looked more awake. Another jolt and he was struggling up. He spotted the flames that were now sputtering up the wall and that seemed to give him a shot of adrenaline. He managed to get to his feet, grabbing up the little girl and staggering unsteadily towards the door. He kept looking at the other kids as he passed them, obviously torn, but the wall was already a solid sheet of flames, and he barely had enough strength to move. He looked down at his unconscious sister, then staggered out of the room as fast as he could.

The hall further down was already engulfed in flames, so the boy had no choice but to stagger up the stairs.

Jack looked around, tears crowding his eyes. There were over a dozen children still in the room, looking to range from about eleven up into their early teens. "Get up! Come on!" He yelled desperately, darting around to the beds, trying to shake them, but of course he couldn't even touch them. Many of them weren't even breathing anymore. It broke his heart, but at least they wouldn't suffer when the flames got to them.

He was forced to retreat as a gout of flames burst out, quickly engulfing half of the ceiling and starting the nearest beds on fire. Tears streamed from his eyes as the sweltering heat forced him back. He was about to turn, to leave before he had to see it take them all... but then he saw eyes looking back. There was a boy who was maybe twelve or thirteen about half way down on the far side of the room. Jack stared for a second. Those eyes were looking at him!

Without thought he darted across the room to the boy. He reached out, then let out a little cry as he felt he boy's arm. The boy was just staring up at him, wide eyed. Jack ripped off the blanket, the end of which was already on fire. He snatched up the limp boy, throwing him over his shoulder and dodged his way through the flames as fast as he could towards the door.

When he got out into the hallway he jerked back as something exploded under the floor, obliterating part of the hallway and the bottom stretch of stairs before collapsing down and creating a wide flaming chasm before him. He could already feel how much the intense heat was sapping his strength, but he gripped his staff hard, willing himself and the boy lighter, then leapt over it. He felt it singe him painfully as he passed over it, but managed to make it up to the last remaining bit of stairs with a little help from the hook end of his staff and the handrail.

When he made it back into the younger children's room he was grateful to see that it was empty. He darted out the window, easily spotting the group of children gathering in the little playground area in the yard far below. He didn't even bother with the tree, running forward and leaping off the roof. His landing was rather harder than usual and he fell to his knees, but he managed it. He got back up and hurried the last dozen yards or so to the playground area. He lay the boy down gingerly, looking him over. He wasn't in real great shape, his breathing shallow and he had burns several places, but he was still breathing! The boy's eyes slid shut as he lost consciousness. Jack put his hands gently over the burn on his leg, carefully sending coolness into it to try to ease the pain some, but there was really nothing more Jack could do for him.

He noticed some of the other children were staring at the boy, and realized it had probably look like he'd just flown out the window all on his own and then floated over to them. Then something behind him caught their attention.

Jack stood, looking back at the building and seeing that it was now completely engulfed, flames pouring out the open window and even the tree the children had climbed down was now burning.

Pitch suddenly came out of nowhere, grabbing Jack hard by the shoulders so fast it startled him.

"What the Hell were you thinking?" He snapped, his voice tight.

"I wasn't." Jack replied honestly.

Pitch seemed to come to his senses, releasing Jack, though he appeared to be forcing himself to back away. He could almost see him meticulously mastering his emotions, his calm façade quickly slipping back into place.

"Damn. It's going to blow. Brace yourselves." The woman's voice whispered in their minds.

Jack's eyes went wide, looking from the burning building to the children. They were still too close! Without even thinking he turned towards the building and spread his arms, summoned gale force winds, his power surging through him and crackling brightly around him until he threw the full force towards the building just as it exploded, sending the flying shrapnel and debris back away from the children and actually momentarily dampening a good portion of the flames on that side of the building.

He staggering slightly, only his tight grip on his staff keeping him upright. He was panting and exhausted, surprised he'd been able to manage that after baking in that heat. Suddenly he felt a curious sensation. He wasn't sure quite what it was, but he could feel strength coursing back into his body. He looked back, trying to figure out what it was. The children were just staring, obviously awestruck. Then he realized that they were staring at him! He blinked, looking around, but all of their eyes were most definitely locked on him. He moved to the side, and all of their eyes tracked him. He just let out a little shuddering breath, his eyes watering up.

"Yes, they see you now, Jack." Pitch said, a little smile on his lips, now appearing completely calm as he wove his way slowly between the children.

Jack noticed that shadows were flowing from the children back into Pitch, and knew he was drawing the fear back out of them, though he didn't even appear to be paying attention to it, as if it were little more than an unconscious reflex. It was obvious he had been in situations like this many times before. It was also pretty obvious the children didn't see Pitch, but surprisingly Pitch didn't seem bothered by it. In fact he'd seen no hint of any kind of expectation whatsoever in Pitch that they would, so Jack knew these children seeing him was probably a very unusual occurrence… and yet Pitch still did this anyway, knowing full well the children would never thank him, or even have any idea he'd helped them.

Jack looked over, seeing the flashing lights approaching, the sound of many sirens now filling the air.

"We should go. They should be fine now." Pitch said, taking one more turn around, wandering through the gathered children as the last of the shadows filtered back to him. When he passed the little girl he'd made scream he reached up, stroking his hand down the back of her head as he drew out the last of the shadows from her. He stopped suddenly, his eyes darting over as the little girl grabbed ahold of one of his fingers as he was pulling his hand away.

The little girl looked up at him for a moment, then gave him a little tentative smile before releasing his finger and scampering over to join the other children.

Pitch just watched her go. "Strange child." He mused, rubbing the finger she'd grabbed absently with his thumb, a puzzled look on his face.

"Smart child." The woman's voice replied with an edge of mirth, "You terrify her... but she's smart enough to realize you just saved her life. Just saved them all. Of course I'm not sure she'll ever figure out why the 'Shadow Man' saved her."

With that she offered him her arm. Pitch took hold of it without question. She held her other arm out expectantly to Jack. He wandered over, still looking back at the children. They were just watching him silently. He gave them a little smile and a wave and they waved back. He drew a little happy breath and sighed it out, then took ahold of her arm.

Blackness pressed in on them again, then they were back in the bedroom.

Once they had let go, the woman turned to face Pitch, taking his head between her hands. "Thank you! You did very well. There are twenty five children who are still alive tonight because of you. I am very proud of you."

Pitch gave her a little smile and nodded, then went over towards the fireplace. A large brown cushioned chair appeared before it and he sat down in it, settling back and gazing into the fire.

She let out a sad breath. "Damn it, this is why I hate calling on him sometimes." She said sadly.

Jack looked at Pitch, then back at her, "Why?"

"He saw the children downstairs. The ones he couldn't save. He saved all of those little children, but all he's going to think about are the ones who died. It isn't as bad when he doesn't see the lost ones." She looked over, seeing Jack looking between her and Pitch, then smiled, "Oh he can't hear me unless I want him to." She looked over towards him, then lifted her hand and waved it at the air between them and Pitch, "And now he can't hear you either. You look like you have some questions." She said, turning her attention to him.

"Um… who exactly are you?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Azrael."

Jack's eyes shot wide and he had to stop himself from taking a step back, "You… you're Death?" Well, that certainly explained the unease he'd felt initially.

She just smiled at him. "Not what you imagined?"

"Ummmm… No. Not at all." He replied honestly.

She let out a little amused breath. "I get that a lot."

"But… wait, if you're Death, why did you want to keep those kids alive?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow.

"You think I want people to die?" She asked, tilting her head and arching a single graceful eyebrow. "I am all about the natural balance. If it's someone's time, if they are fated to go, they go. I make sure of it. Those children, it wasn't their time… but if left alone they would have died anyway. I, unfortunately, am not allowed to intercede unless their deaths would directly shift the natural balance. Still, premature deaths unsettle the balance, so if some else happens to save some children who were about to die before their time, who am I to object?"

"But you told us about the danger, even told us how to save them! That kinda seems like interceding." Jack said, confused.

"Do you see my lips moving? I never said a single word about those children. I can't help it if you might have overheard something I thought a bit too loudly." She replied with a little smirk on her lips.

"Is that why you just speak in our minds?" Jack said, a little grin working onto his lips at her artful dodging of the rules.

"That… and I'm not allowed to talk to you."

"What? Why not?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Because I was asked, somewhat impolitely, not to." She replied evenly.

"By who?"

She just smiled and tilted her head… which just happened to make one of her braids slide around into view. Jack noticed the charms running down that one looked familiar. He spotted an easter egg, a tooth, a candy cane, a shamrock and there were at least a dozen more tiny charms that he could see… including a snowflake. At the bottom of that braid there was a bright, silver moon.

Jack's expression darkened as he stared at the moon. "Why doesn't he want you talking to me?"

"He was afraid I would recruit you, because you're a guardian spirit. He knew you would be naturally inclined to want to help, especially since fate is more flexible the younger they are, so it's usually only children that can be saved."

"But I only just became a Guardian. Did he speak to you recently?" Jack said, surprised.

"Not a 'Guardian'… a guardian spirit. A protector of children is what you are, what you have always been. Some of your kind may have only recently been made aware of that fact, but you were born that way and I, for one, have always known it."

A thought suddenly occurred, but he wasn't sure how exactly to ask her. "Um… when I… Um…"

"He chose you. I made you immortal."

"You made me immortal?" Jack asked, stunned.

"At his request, but yes, of course. I'm Death. I'm the only one who can. I took you out of the mortal tapestry and wove you into a different one. Well, so to speak." She said, running her fingers down the braid that contained the snowflake. "I wasn't happy about your death, but if it is any consolation it's unlikely you would have lived very much longer, a few years at most, and you would never have had a child. You were old enough for your fate, your part in the tapestry of life, to have been decided. Don't get me wrong, there are endless paths mortals can take in their lives that are completely up to free will, but certain things are set by the time they reach maturity, usually somewhere around sixteen or seventeen. If you had been destined to reproduce your death would have caused an imbalance and I would have been able to prevent it. You weren't, and you were destined to die an early death, so you were a reasonable candidate and I had no grounds on which to oppose his choice. Still, my only objection was you losing what little time you had left instead of simply waiting until your natural death. Your soul is one of the most worthy of becoming immortal that I have encountered. I'll never regret that part." She said, brushing her thumb affectionately over the tiny snowflake.

Jack stared at the tiny snowflake on the braid, "You mean… that… that's actually me?"

She smiled, "It's more of a visual representation than literal, but in a sense yes. All of the immortals are a part of me in a way. I am what separated them from the mortals and sustains them outside the realm of mortality." She said, pushing her hood back.

His eyes went wide and he circled around, staring in shock. She had hundreds of braids, each with tiny silver charms woven into them. "How… how many immortals could there possibly be?"

She gave a little shrug. "I don't really keep track. Couple thousand maybe."

"But… I mean where are they all then? I've only been able to find like nine so far, and I've really been looking!" Jack said, circling back around to look at her.

"You will only see these." She said, holding up the braid at the bottom of which hung the moon. "You are all a part of the same belief system, so you will only see your own kind. The others are all there, they share the same mortal world after all, but they are just beyond your perception. There are countless other belief systems in the world. Well, I suppose you could count them if you wanted to." She said, indicating her hair, "But these are just the ones strong enough to generate immortal spirits."

Jack's mind was boggling. There were so many little charms! In fact the charms were tiny, but her hair still had to have some serious weight to it! He couldn't help but wonder if there was any way to see beings from other belief systems…

She held up her hand, "Don't go there! I see that curious mind of yours wandering where it shouldn't. Believe me when I say that will mess with your head. Don't think beyond your own reality. Believe me, one reality is all any one being needs."

"But… I mean you deal with all of them, don't you?" Jack said, furrowing his brow.

"I wouldn't say that, really. Most immortal beings I never interact with again after their initial creation, and in fact most of them never even know I exist. Unless they die."

Jack's eyes went wide. "But if they are immortal…"

"Immortal doesn't mean a free pass. It just means mortal things can't kill you outside of extraordinary circumstances."

"Like…?"

"Like if you were a winter sprite flying up near the stratosphere, fell asleep…" She said, giving him a little knowing smile, "and happened to land in an active volcano. You would be toast. Forces of nature that strong are not to be trifled with, even by immortals."

Jack's eyes got a bit wider still as he realized that, while it would have been like a one in a billion chance that that would be where he landed, it still could have theoretically happened!

"But death isn't even the only possible negative outcome from that scenario… If you had landed in the middle of a large body of fresh water without even being in possession of your immortal object, you would have been waiting for global warming to get you back out of there! In fact, I have at least another dozen such scenarios… but I don't want to make you afraid of flying altogether, so I think those two should be sufficient to make sure that particular situation never happens again. Right?"

Jack quickly nodded his head.

"Sorry to seem a bit harsh, but though you don't know me, I actually happen to be quite fond of you. So, for the love of the Gods, and for my peace of mind, would you please bond with your damn staff already?"

"Wait, what?" Jack asked, "What do you mean bond with it?"

"Do you see Pitch carrying around his Pendulum? See Sandman carrying around his whips? I know you're young, but it quite seriously worries me how easy you are to disarm. If some other immortal gets it in their head to take you out they aren't going to use kid gloves like Pitch did. All he wanted to do was stall you, and he quite obviously didn't want to hurt you. He even left your immortal object right there in easy reach, knowing you would eventually figure it out. He knew immortal objects that get broken can be mended by force of will. He had to mend his own twice before he bonded with it. So he knew full well it was a rather large risk, and yet still he left it there. I suppose it's possible that subconsciously he actually wanted you to stop him. Or maybe he just didn't want to leave you stranded. All I know for sure is that if he'd simply taken it you'd still be at the South Pole and he would have won."

She turned a bit, gazing back over at Pitch, "Not that I think he would have really enjoyed the victory very much. Well, obviously he would have enjoyed proving he could best the lot of you, especially since you were his replacements, but in the end it was more of a revenge fantasy without the potential long term affects really worked out yet. Can't say as I really blame him. He'd been doing his job for so very long, diligently fulfilling his intended purpose to the very best of his abilities… and then the boss suddenly decides he wants to go a different direction, hires a whole new staff and shuffled him off into a forgotten closet? Kind of a dick move."

Jack let out a snort of laughter, then nodded, "Ya, when you put it that way."

"And the way he treated you…" She sighed sadly into his mind, reaching out and taking his hand, giving it a little comforting squeeze.

Jack dropped his eyes.

"To think, if he'd actually treated you with a little respect instead of stripping you of your memories and being the worst absentee father in history you might have actually done what he wanted and killed Pitch."

Jack's eyes went round and darted over to her, "What do you mean, I would have killed Pitch?"

"Honey, what did you think he wanted you to do? He's been trying to kill him off for centuries. Pitch is just too strong, even in this day and age. At the end of the day, barring freak, catastrophic accidents, it takes an immortal to kill an immortal as strong as Pitch, and none of his current immortals was up for the job. Well, Sandman might possibly be up to the task, but that's just not in him. The Man in the Moon picked you because your center was about as opposite as possible. You were supposed to be his foil. Instead, through his own neglect, he ended up making you two into kindred spirits."

Jack's cheeks actually flushed slightly, and he dropped his eyes. It's not like he could try to say nothing had happened since she'd found them naked together in a bed!

She reached out, putting her fingers under his chin and lifting it until he looked at her before dropping her hand, her expression getting very serious. "Which is why he can never find out about the two of you, do you understand?"

Jack felt like his cheeks were actually getting a bit warm, but he quickly nodded. Not that he'd ever had any intention of letting anyone know what had happened between the two of them… but now he was starting to realize people finding out might lead to more than just embarrassment and potentially being ostracized.

"Don't take that wrong, though. Personally, I think you two being together would be a truly beautiful thing. You both so desperately need someone in your lives, and I know you could make each other very happy. To be completely honest, I'm a bit shocked it took you two this long to find each other." She said with a mischievous smirk. "So bond with that damn staff already so I can rest a little easier."

Jack looked at the staff. "How?"

"Close your eyes."

Jack dutifully closed his eyes.

"Now I want you to feel your immortal object. Really feel it. Picture it in your mind."

Jack concentrated. He could always feel the power coursing through it when he held it, of course, but when he really focused on it, it seemed to hum in time with him. He imagined it, and after having it as the only constant thing in his life for the last three hundred years he found he had no trouble picturing it down to the tiniest details.

"You have to feel the connection that links it to you."

Jack thought at first it would be some kind of mental string or tether or something connecting him to it in a more literal sense, but after a few minutes of fruitless searching for such a link it suddenly dawned on him that it was the hum. The closer he listened to the hum, the louder it got, as did the echoing hum inside himself.

"Strengthen it. Pull it closer in your mind."

He tried, making the hum louder and bringing it closer until the echoing hums seemed to blend together into one. Suddenly a shiver of cold went through him, startling him. His eyes sprang open, but his staff was gone! "What? Where'd it go?" He asked, a bit alarmed.

She just glanced significantly down at his right hand. He lifted it, looking at it, but it looked the same. He was just about to say as much when he saw something glimmer on his wrist. He shoved the sleeve of his hoodie up and there, running the length of his forearm, was an image of his staff, delicately glimmering up at him like some strange frost tattoo. Jack just mouthed wordlessly in shock for a moment, then looked up at her in amazement.

She smiled warmly back at him. "Now will it to be back in your hand."

Jack looked back down at it, then held his hand out. It took some effort, but then there was a little glimmer and it was back in his hand! But as he looked it over it looked a little different. Every last little bump and crevice was the same as it had always been, but it shimmered more than usual, even in the subdued candle light.

He started slightly as she suddenly snatched it from his hand, then tossed it over towards the door. It flashed and disappeared once it got about six feet from him. He looked at her, but she was looking at his forearm. He looked at it and saw that the shimmering image of the staff was back. He willed it out again and it reappeared in his hand. He stared at it, then willed it back away again trying hard to mask the childlike glee that this new ability was filling him with as he ran his fingers over the shimmering image on his arm. He wasn't completely successful, but she just seemed amused.

"Now no one can ever disarm you again." She said reassuringly, "If it gets separated from you, it will return to you the moment it leaves your sphere of influence. Unless of course you purposely throw it, like as a weapon, then it will return when you want it to."

"Wait, a weapon?" He asked, sobering.

"I know, yours is a pretty defensive-only type of weapon, but with an icicle on the straight end it could be a pretty decent spear in a pinch." She looked up, seeing his shock at the suggestion, "I'm not saying you should, but thought I should mention it in case you every find yourself in a dangerous situation. Nice to have options. Just don't use it on Pitch." She quickly added, "Despite whatever emotional toll it takes on him, he is by far my most affective and reliable 'associate', and I will not be happy with you if you kill him."

"I wouldn't kill… especially not… I… I mean I'm not killing anyone!" Jack said quickly, feeling a little flustered.

"Good boy." She said, giving him a little affectionate pat on the cheek. "Well, I should be running along."

"Wait!" He said as she started to turn. "The… the thing with the kids… do you… need any more help maybe?" He asked a bit tentatively.

"I'm not even supposed to be talking to you. If you hadn't been with Pitch when I needed him we never would have even met."

Jack dropped his eyes, but then furrowed his brow. "Wait… if you can control who hears you, you never had to let me hear you at all. If I hadn't heard you two talking I never would have tagged along."

She was fighting a little smile. "Well, just ignoring you when you were right there seemed like it would have been kinda rude, don't you think?"

Jack let out a little amused breath. She couldn't even think that with a straight face!

Then her expression sobered, "Honestly though, I really wasn't trying to recruit you. I had no idea you would actually participate! I just… when I saw the two of you together… I wanted you to have the chance to see him the way I do. Kind of fight the propaganda, you know? Fear is first and foremost a survival instinct, and one that is woefully lacking in today's society despite his best efforts." She paused, looking him over for a moment. "Of course I can't deny you would be a great asset to have, especially after that audition… but those that I… 'let overhear things' are from all different beliefs. I can be within any belief system, but moving between them can take time. The only way that I can locate them and reach them within the small window of time required for action is if they voluntarily offer their services to me and ask me to forge a link between us, so I can reach them almost instantaneously if needed."

"Um… I just became a Guardian… would that… um…" He said tentatively.

She held up her hand. "The situations I find are usually rather small scale. The Guardians work on a global scale, so obviously any duties for them would take precedence. This would be at most more like a little side job. Through the link I would be able to tell if you were busy working with them and I wouldn't call on you. In fact, I'm not sure how many situations will come up that would require the assistance of a winter sprite, so I'm not sure how often it would even come up. Even with Pitch I might need him tomorrow, or he might not see me for a year or more. I can't predict such things very far out, I'm afraid. There are simply too many factors in play. I also don't bring situations to my associates where there isn't at the very least a fifty percent chance of success. The work they do, and the toll it can take when there are losses… I refuse to put them through that if the odds are already stacked against them. I consider them friends."

Jack thought about it. It wasn't a very hard decision really, as long as it wouldn't interfere with his duties as a Guardian. Yes, it had been hard… very hard seeing those children that died, knowing he couldn't help them… but even though he'd only been able to save a single child himself… that little boy was alive because of him! Yes, he had saved a couple of children over the years, but those had been random flukes of chance. If she could take him to children in mortal peril that he actually had a chance to help, even if there was only a fifty percent chance he could succeed…

He straightened, looking her directly in the eyes. "I would like to voluntarily offer you my services. Could you please forge a link between us so you can find me if I'm needed?"

A warm smile spread over her lips. Jack looked over, seeing his snowflake charm start to glow. Then he noticed another glow as a duplicate of the little snowflake shimmered into being on another of her many braids, and wove itself in… right next to a little pendulum. That braid held quite a few charms, though there seemed to be no unifying theme to them. He looked down at the bottom of that braid. There was a silver Ankh hanging from it.

"Isn't that the Egyptian symbol for life?" He asked curiously.

"Of course. There can be no life without Death." She replied simply. She then reached up, gently pressing the tips of her fingers to the center of his chest. He felt a little tingle, and somehow knew that the simple touch had linked them.

"One last thing…" She said as she lowered her hand, "I wasn't going to say anything if you didn't join, because I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to talk you into it, but… I just wanted you to know what an extraordinary thing you did tonight. You saved a boy who had a less than one percent chance of survival. You have no idea how very rarely that is. He'll spend a little time in the hospital, and he'll have some scars, but he will live. I thought you might want to know that, even though he's not even quite thirteen yet, such a very close brush with death has set his fate. He's going to have five children in his lifetime, and it will be a long lifetime. He has also decided what he wants to do with his life. It may not seem big and flashy… but he is going to be a safety inspector. A good one. An honest one. He's going to spend the rest of his life doing everything in his power to make sure nothing like the tragedy that happened tonight will ever have to happen to anyone else again. He's going to save a lot of lives, and he's going to make even more lives better and safer. All because of you. I look forward to visiting you again, Jack."

She gave her hand a flick towards where Pitch sat and suddenly he could hear the soft little crackles from the fireplace again. That done, she simply vanished.

Pitch actually looked slightly surprised when Jack came over to stand before him. "I thought you'd both gone." He said, glancing back.

"She just left. We were having a little talk." Jack said. As he gazed down at the man, he could tell she'd been right. He was dwelling on the children that were lost.

Pitch suddenly found Jack settling against him, practically curled up in his lap, his head coming to rest against his shoulder. He was surprised by the move, but didn't object, he just settled his arms around him. He noticed the glimmer on Jack's right wrist and pushed up his sleeve a bit. "She showed you how to put it away I see."

"Ya." Jack said, smiling as he rubbed his finger over the glimmering mark.

"Well, I'm glad. I wanted to show you how myself, but to be honest I've forgotten how I do it. I learned so long ago, and as you now know, it's not something you can see visually. It's just a reflex to me now. It's like trying to explain how to blink."

Jack just gave a little nod.

Pitch reached up somewhat hesitantly and pulled the neckline of his hoodie down some, running his thumb over his sternum. Jack looked down, surprised to see a small silver ankh appear briefly on his skin before it faded away. Pitch let go of the hoodie and let out a sad sigh. "I was afraid she would do that."

"I asked her to." Jack said quickly.

"I know." Pitch said, his voice sad, "And I knew you would… I was just hoping she wouldn't accept the offer. Being in her service can bring joy, but it can also bring with it a lot of sorrow and regret. I had hoped you wouldn't be burdened with that." He said, holding Jack a bit tighter.

Jack just enjoyed the feel of being held for a few minutes before breaking the silence. "She's right, you know." He said softly. "You saved more children tonight than I've managed to save in my entire existence."

Pitch didn't respond.

Jack shifted up a little, looking at him. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Pitch asked, surprised.

"For doubting you before. You really are a Guardian."

Pitch's eyes darted to him, seeing the sincerity in his expression, then darted back away.

From the ever so slight shudder in his breath and the way his eyes seemed a bit watery Jack could tell no one had said that to him in a very long time, if ever. How long had this man toiled away at his job, earning no more than scorn and resentment for all his efforts? He just found it profoundly sad that Death had probably been the only one who had ever truly thanked the man for all of his hard work. "Let's go back to bed." He suggested softly.

Pitch let out a little sigh and gave his head a slight shake. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to go through more memories right now."

"I… um…"Jack said tentatively, "I didn't want to sleep…"

Pitch's eyes darted back over to him in surprise.

Jack gave him a somewhat shy smile, then shifted up, gently kissing him. His eyes slid shut happily, his kiss deepening as he felt Pitch's body quickly warming beneath him.

Jack suddenly found himself swept up and being carried, then he was unceremonious tossed onto the bed. He barely had time to open his eyes before his clothes were whisked off and Pitch dropped down on top of him, pressing him to the bed as he forcefully reclaimed Jack's mouth.

Jack gasped for breath as Pitch suddenly released him a few minutes later, shifting away. He barely had time to register the change in position before burning heat suddenly engulfed him. He let out a cry, his hands darting down and twinning in Pitch's hair as he bucked up against him. God this was so much better than it had been in the dream! He panted and writhed, not even bothering to try to bite back the cries as Pitch sent more pleasure through his body than he thought possible. In an embarrassingly short amount of time his voice rang off the walls as a brilliant flash of light filled the air.

Before he'd even had a chance to come back to his sense he felt himself being shifted around and suddenly cried out as Pitch drove himself into him. He arched up against him, wrapping his legs around him as that burning heat invaded his body. He could almost feel the pent up emotions in the tension in Pitch's body as the man drove himself into him so hard and fast Jack could do little more than hold on to him.

He wasn't sure how long Pitch continued on like that. Longer than it seemed should be possible. Jack's mind had gone into a bit of a haze, and he'd lost count of how many times he'd filled the air with flashes of light. Suddenly Pitch paused for a moment, grabbing ahold of Jack's wrists and pulling them up, holding them to the bed above his head as he shifted down a little more, somehow managing to thrust a little deeper and harder for a few more unbelievable minutes before he tensed and Jack felt that incredible heat flooding him again. Jack shuddered and cried out, blinding light filling the air before darkness claimed him.

Jack wasn't sure how long he was unconscious. Not long. He woke feeling Pitch's warm body lying heavily on him, pressing him into the bed. Pitch's arms were around him, holding him tightly, his breath still a bit fast as it brushed warmly against the side of Jack's neck, but the tension in his body had eased.

Jack just lay there, enjoying the feel of it. He didn't normally like warmth, for obvious reasons, but for some reason it felt like he'd be content lying here like this forever.

After a few minutes Pitch took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I'm sorry." He said softly. "I didn't mean to be so rough with you. I hope you can forgive me."

Jack turned his head some, and Pitch shifted up so he could see him. Jack just gazed into those burning eyes for a long moment, then said, "Show me that again." with a little smile.

Pitch looked surprised, but then smiled warmly down at him. He leaned his head back down, eagerly reclaiming Jack's lips.

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A/N – At this point I'm not sure if I will be posting any more chapters to this story. It just doesn't feel like it's worth the effort to post it. I honestly contemplated just emailing this and any remaining chapters I may manage to write directly to the only two people who appear to be reading this. I had a lot of plans for where I wanted the story to go, and I even have another chapter mostly written, but the utter silence I get in response is just insanely depressing. It's especially frustrating since I only just introduced Azrael… In fact, she's the only reason I decided to go ahead and post this chapter. I'm not even entirely sure where all she came from, but I really love the character. I do hope I can regain the will to keep writing this… I just dunno…