April 2nd, 1993

Halloween Town

At the Meeting's Beginning

"Well now," the Mayor said, clapping his hands. "Who has Scares to report?"

Hands shot up, but Nicholas beat them all, sticking his furry paw high into the air. He launched into a tale involving some poor villager (Ivy spared a moment to be surprised villagers still existed). She paid as much attention to it as usual - which was to say, none at all. More chimed in as Ivy doodled on the edge of her notebook, completing a particularly awful sketch of the werewolf howling by the time the stories wound to a close.

"And what of the Veil?" The Mayor asked, drawing a line through the "secure scares" item on the (depressingly lengthy) agency, his thick chalk screeching against the ancient chalkboard. Ivy found it within herself, amidst the noise, to be passingly grateful that he didn't use his nail instead. "Gretchen, any updates?"

The witch clamored to her feet, wiry grey hair flying. "We flew back to the site a few days ago," she rasped, sticking her hands at her hips. "Rosie scryed along the border and said there's still some patches of green magic to be reversed, but nothing appears to have slipped through." She paused to shake her head indignantly, spitting on the floor. "Clumsy fool. His magic was reckless acid; there was no technique to it at all."

Ivy's gaze fell to her lap instantly, trying very hard to bury the mental image of the Veil, despite the exact shade of green burning itself into her mind. An instinct had her glancing upwards to meet Jack's sockets, fixed on her and a reassuring smile on his face as the witch continued her report.

"- it's too soon to do any investigating anywhere but here," she said. "Soon, however, we should investigate the Overworld locations, just to be sure."

Tuning back in, Ivy leaned forward and caught the witch's attention. "What does that look like? The damage there, I mean. Is it anything I can check for?"

"You will not be checking anything," Jack cut in, his voice firm. He sat up a bit, looking far more alert than he had moments before. "Gretchen, how urgent is examining the damage?"

"How urgent? How urgent?" The witch screeched, flapping her hands at the skeleton. "Jack, I don't think you quite understand the damage that deranged fool put the Veil through. There are centuries worth of damage to recover from, and if we don't patch it up, we'll continue to be at risk of -"

"We're all aware of the risk," Jack interrupted once more. "But we've done what we can for our world, yes? Do you think that the Overworld ones are as urgent?"

"Gee, thanks," Ivy muttered under her breath.

Gretchen shook her head. "Jack, the Veil's damage was so great that two humans got through, from their world. We can't risk that happening again." Then, turning to Ivy: "begging your pardon, dearie, but you're quite enough."

Ivy ignored the snickers of the monsters around her, pausing to kick at Vlad's ankle. "All good, Gretch. But if it's so urgent, why can't I help?"

Gretchen's beady eyes switched over to Jack. "It would be far easier if -"

"No."

The Mayor's face swung around once more. "Really, Jack, this is where it helps to have a human around!"

"Yeah, Jack, c'mon!" Ivy stood, gesturing both hands towards Gretchen. "That sounds way more fun that looking up numbers, dude, why not - "

"Out of the question!" Jack sat up straight in his chair, sockets narrowing. "Gretchen, I'm surprised at you. The magic that lies near the Veil is no small matter nor no small danger."

Ivy couldn't disagree with that - she remembered the freezing cold, the emptiness and sounds ugh the sounds of metal, of broken ceramics, of howling that never ended. She remembered the thin black mist of the Veil, with gaping green holes that bled and dripped onto the forest floor. Most of all, she remembered the awful tug in her stomach, the way she'd been relentlessly towards, despite the knowledge that it would wipe away any part of what made her her.

So, yeah. She wasn't exactly eager to track it down, but…

Another council member raised their hands, spreading their uneven fingers wide. "A compromise, perhaps. The Veil is investigated here first, and then another Citizen accompanies the Ambassador to the Overworld locations."

It was as close as she'd get, so Ivy tried to look willing and easy-going. Jack sighed, flexing his hands before nodding reluctantly. "Very well. We'll make that the plan…for now."

Thank god. Ivy relaxed back, content to push the anxiety of facing the Veil once more into the flimsy time of the future. She took her nail and began to sweep it across the wood of the table, varying pressures until her fingernail dug deep.

"Now, on that note, I do have a few questions for the Ambassador. Would you happen to have the list prepared?"

Ivy paused from where she'd been scratching her name, her fingernail frozen in the cracks. At her side, Vlad kicked at her shin. "The - the list?"

"Yes," the Mayor said ever so slowly, the beginning of ticks sounding from his neck. "Jack said he wrote you -"

Oh, god. Dozens of letters flashed through her brain, years of absent-minded student habits thrusting one paragraph to her mind.

"Yes!" She said (a bit too loud to be casual). "The, uh, updated cities list. Yes." She did remember now - they'd wanted to know what cities might've gotten a higher population in the past few years, what new towns might've popped up, so she'd…

"Yes?"

"So here's the thing," Ivy said, adrenaline racing through her veins. "I've got the list, no problem, there's just a few extra cities that I want to double check before I get it back to you guys, you know? I don't want to have us work with information that might change."

Hey, it wasn't a total lie. She did have the starting scraps of it in her notebook, sandwiched between notes from her classes. But researching demographics meant going to the library, and her mother's disbelieving tone of "you? The library?" had been humbling enough to keep her home.

"Well, let us know as soon as you have it," Jack said, letting his hands spread. "It would certainly make things easier to have that before we focus our efforts on those areas."

Ivy's stomach began to twist and turn on itself. "Yeah, totally. I'll double check and send it down with the Wind." She wasn't sure if she actually could do that, but she couldn't just sit there in silence.

The Mayor's head swung around, white face tight. "This isn't any trouble for you, Ambassador?"

The title didn't sound the same way coming from the Mayor's painting lips as it did from Jack's - it sounded far more like a threat, an insult, and Ivy fought the snarl on her face from showing. "No, of course not." She held her head tall, darting her eyes around the table, searching for hesitancy or distrust in the other faces. "I promised you all I'd serve Halloween in the way I can, and I'm doing that. It's my job as Citizen, after all."

"Indeed." The Mayor huffed, shaking his head. "Now, to see that promise, a bit of commitment -"

Ivy yanked up her shirt sleeve, displaying the vines of twisted ivy strands that made up her Citizen's Mark. "What, this isn't enough of a commitment?" She spat.

"A Mark alone does not a Citizen make," the Mayor retorted.

"As evident by your own," Vlad cut in dryly, polishing his nails. The monsters around the table laughed uneasily as the Mayor's face blushed purple, the twin Marks on his cheeks darkening. "So perhaps we recall the slow learning nature of youth and cease wasting moonlight on these matters."

Leave it to the vampire to suck out the tension, she huffed to herself, flopping back against her seat with her arms crossed. Strangely, Jack stayed quiet, his sockets narrowed in her direction. Ivy didn't bother meeting his gaze, busying herself with the threads of her jeans as the Mayor's face swung back around, the meeting continuing on. Ivy let herself tune things out, winding the thread around her finger until the tip turned purple, just on the right side of painful. She could maybe get to the library and take a later bus, then say there was some Stau that made the bus later…but knowing her mother's mood, it would be risky.

Thinking about it made her heart rate spike, so she shoved it aside and focused on something far more interesting: Jack himself.

The skeleton was turning an old fountain pen over in his long fingers, the stray ink staining the bone white of his hands. For a creature with no eyes, it was surprisingly easy to tell when Jack was zoning out: his sockets held no energy at the edges, and nothing seemed to make him light up in the way she was used to. She frowned, casting her memory back. Had he been like this last time? It had been a while since she'd come down, sure, but she couldn't sworn he didn't seem so… so…. Whatever this was.

She could figure that out, no worries. Right?

"Well, lovely gentlemonsters, I believe that will do for tonight…"

As soon as the words left the Mayor's mouth, chairs began to scrape over the floor and the general 'subtle' rustling that always preceded a dismissal filled the room. That was one thing monsters and humans shared: the eagerness to get out of meetings. While a few groups began to form, most monsters simply vanished into the shadows, slunk out the door, or melted beneath the floorboards to whatever hole they'd come from. Jack was no exception - Ivy was used to him bolting from meetings to desperately avoid the calls of "Jack, please, we should sidebar -" from the Mayor.

What was unusual was Jack not waiting for her.

Frowning and grabbing her bag, Ivy gave up trying to push her seat back. She slithered out beneath an arm, then jogged out of the hall into the rising moonlight. Jack was already halfway down the block, both hands shoved deep into his pockets. She caught up to him and waited, then finally kicked at his ankle when the silence grew too thick.

"Mhm?" Jack looked down, face drawn up in a pinch, before relaxing slightly at the sight of her. "Oh, sorry, love. I didn't mean to -"

"Save it, Bone Boy." She waved it off with one hand, then turned it into a swift punch to his elbow. It stung her knuckles, as always, but also cleared the clouded from her friend's face. "What's going on? I'm the one who's not supposed to pay attention in those things."

"You are meant to pay attention -"

"And tonight, I did, way more than you! So what's up and don't say nothing; I'll know it's crap."

Jack gave her a side socket. "Because of your…ability?"

"No, dude, because I know you!" Ivy pressed on, ignoring the slight hurt at Jack's comment. Maybe if she took a page out of his book… "look, I'm just worried. That's all."

God, she hated it when sincerity worked. Jack sighed, cast a weary gaze at the sky, and spoke softly, making Ivy's ears prickle.

"It isn't nothing," he began, "but it isn't anything of true bother, either."

"Ok, but it's bugging you, so - "

A sharp flick to the top of her head. "Let me finish, please."

Ivy scowled but complied, bumping his arm with her shoulder.

"In the past few months, since you've left, I've noticed - well, how do I say this - things in Halloween don't seem to be as they were before. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I am not as I was before, that I don't see things in the same way. It all feels…duller, now."

Ivy thought about that, remembering the blend of chaos and routine that Halloween embodied. "You don't mean you miss having to deal with the Veil and me and the world almost ending?"

"I don't think it was that dramatic," Jack said, but there was a smile in his face. "And I'm fortunate enough to not have to miss 'dealing' with you, given that you visit and provide that opportunity."

She laughed at that, hoping to dismiss the odd feeling in the air. "Bet it sucks when I can't come down for a while then, yeah?"

"Indeed."

Her laugh died in her throat, replaced with a sensation she thought she'd left firmly above ground - guilt. "Jack, I -"

"I know it isn't your fault," Jack rushed to say, but Ivy swore there was a hint of doubt in his tone. "But the simple fact of the matter is that you do make things interesting. Think of it, Ivy! We traveled through both worlds together! Fought enemies and won! And every day, we both had to learn more about the other, now…" he gestured listlessly to the Town around them, the streets thankfully empty, even the Wind giving the pair space. "Now I listen to the same complaints, prepare the same plans, marching towards the same goal as always. It's just become so…predictable. Nothing new to look forward to!"

Ivy thought of the day she'd had, everything normal and predictable that had been destroyed the moment she fell into Halloween. There hadn't been a single day where she knew what to expect - not from her parents, from the worlds around her, or even from Jack. Sure, it was…exciting, but being on one's guard all the time, months on end, left her feeling…ugh.

"I wouldn't mind knowing what's coming next," she mumbled. "Whatever happened to security and safety?"

Jack snorted. "There's only so much of that one can take. When does safety become stale?"

"So you're what, checked out? You love Halloween, right?"

"Of course, I do!" Jack retorted, far more defensively than Ivy expected. "I have lived and served for centuries, no one could doubt my dedication to the Town!"

Ivy held up her hands, resisting the urge to snap back. "Not - ok, not what I'm saying, dude. It's just - like you said, it's been a couple of decades. You ever get a vacation? Y'know, take a break from all of this?"

Immediately, she knew she'd somehow said the wrong thing - Jack's jaw tightened, his gaze fixed straight on the horizon. His hands, tucked behind his back, clenched until Ivy could hear them grinding upon one another. She kept her mouth shut, not trusting herself to make it worse.

"I can handle my job fine," he said at long last. "However, you raise a good point."

"I do?"

"Yes. You have been busy - both here, and in the Human World. As the Mayor said, we'd hate to be an additional strain in your…adjustment period. If you'd like, I could talk to the Council -"

"No, god no, that's not - that's not - it's fine, totally." Ivy was now acutely familiar of fear and recognized the cold sick dread that lodged itself in her chest. Triggered by the disappointment in Jack's tone, it far outweighed the anger from earlier. "It's - I know I haven't been, um, as present, both for the Town and you but I'm not, I'm not trying to skip out on anything, I swear. It's all under control."

"Is it?" Jack asked mildly. "It's really no trouble - you've said yourself how little attention you -"

"I will next time, ok?" She grabbed at Jack's sleeve, suddenly desperate for him to look at her. "Please. I promise."

Jack wasn't looking at her and anxiety lay sour within her gut. That was the trouble with multiple worlds and multiple identities, Ivy thought to herself. You could never be just one.

"Then perhaps," Jack said, though his tone wasn't unkind, "we can trust one another to adhere to the responsibilities we have chosen."

Getting scolded by Jack, however lightly, always made Ivy's stomach shrivel up. She nodded instead, dropping Jack's sleeve, and sullenly falling into silence. Hoping to avoid the skeleton's gaze, she instead looked around the Town, hoping for a distraction.

She got it, but not a pleasant one. Surrounding the King and the Human were the decimated houses of Halloween's Citizens, remnants of ash still streaked down the sides of what remained. Some shelters had been destroyed altogether, chunks of stone and timber strew about, a grave of the home it had been.

The home that had been fine until she'd come along.

"Careful, now."

Jack's hands lightly gripped both her upper arms, holding her back from a crater in the street, the soft green glow of the liquid beneath evaporating into the evening air. "Must get these fixed," he sighed as he lifted her over the crater and back on solid cobblestone.

The guilt was back, this time in full force. Ok, yes, technically the fact that her possessed body had thrown a spiritual nuclear bomb on the town wasn't her fault. She hadn't even been in her body to see it, getting tossed around the timeline as she was, but like, still. Having it happen by her literal hand was hard to get past.

The Manor was quiet when they returned, a still sort of peace that was hard to find in a Town like this. Jack waved his long fingers over the candles by the entrance and small orange flames appeared on the wicks, illuminating the front entryway with deep and flickering shadows.

Ivy dropped her schoolbag and settled into an armchair, relaxing at the smell of smoke and slightly off softness. Allowing herself to take in the quiet, she let her gaze sweep across the room from Jack's strange collectibles to the stash of candy she'd made him, proudly displayed in a pumpkin-shaped bowl on a side table. She grinned at the sight, fingers beginning to worry at the edge of an Afghan blanket draped over the side.

"Now now," Jack's voice teased, low and deep so as not to disturb the atmosphere, "if you unravel another one of those I'll make you fix it this time."

Ivy laughed under her breath, dropping the slightly fraying edges and held out her hands to Jack, who filled her waiting fingers with the mug of tea she'd been craving all day: candy corn and spider's blood and yeah, ok, the last part took some getting used to but it tasted cherry so that's what she'd keep saying to herself, alright?

She air-clinked mugs with Jack, who held his own dark licorice blend, before sending the drink down, closing her eyes at the warmth that spread through her body, the tension in her head and shoulders easing. Jack had no culinary magic (his cooking was proof enough of that) but Ivy couldn't help but wonder if there was something supernatural sprinkled into his cups, something that always made her relax and feel…well, like a warm mug from a friend should.

"Thank you for being there," Jack said suddenly, one finger tracing the rim of his cup, the sound of bone against ceramic slowly growing.

Ivy blinked at him. "What do you mean? Of course, I was, it's my -"

"Your job aside," Jack cut in, his sockets fixed on the floor, "today was…difficult for you and you still came." He finally looked up, face melting into a smile. "I appreciate that, really I do."

"'S ok," Ivy muttered, dropping her own gaze as a flush of embarrassment crept across her face. Jack's unique level of sincerity never did fail to throw her off balance.

Distract. Distract. Don't look at Jack's face, look at…his living room was nice. Sure, it was kinda macabre, what with the skulls on the wall and wallpaper that moved whenever you blinked, but it was familiar. It was all too easy to fit in here, to sink into the familiarity of the space, to remember the nights she'd spent blinking slowly to the sound of Jack's pen scratching across paper and watching the orange candle flames dance across the wall…

"Ivy? Ivy."

"Mmmmp."

Ivy blinked, hard, and took in the sight before her. The candle was a lot lower than it had been a second ago, and… the moonlight hadn't been that far along the floor, had it?

"Ivy?"

Oh, and Jack was there, one hand on her shoulder. That, at least, was familiar.

"Much as I'd love to let you sleep, I believe you have responsibilities in the morning."

"Wasn…wasn' asleep," she muttered, breaking into a yawn, and feeling her body involuntarily stretch. Traitor. Her legs got tangled up in the Afghan draped across - wait, when had that gotten there? And did she still have -

"Careful," Jack said with way too much humor this late at - early in - screw it, too much humor for whatever time it was. His hands shot out and took the empty mug that had been loose in her grasp, setting it carefully on the side table. He was couching in that strange, bug-like fashion that he did when he was trying to seem small, rather impressive for nearly two-and-a-half-meter tall skeleton.

Oooo, he was talking again. She should pay attention, yeah?

He was looking at her. Expectantly. Ah, shit.

"...totally," she guessed sleepily, pushing herself forward and fighting the urge to yawn again. "Dope."

Jack laughed to himself, shaking his head. Shit. That wasn't right, was it? What had he said? "Although I'd like to," he said, and ugh he was definitely teasing her, "carrying you through would violate the rules, yes?"

Ugh. The Rules. Months ago, she'd told Jack (rather sternly) after one too many close calls that no monster from Halloween was allowed to pop up in her room. She'd gotten lucky, trapping the Tailypo beneath a wriggling blanket and feigning innocence to her parents, but c'mon, a girl needed some privacy. Ivy didn't know the magic (and didn't care to think about it, really) but Jack had assured her that no monster could appear within the walls of her room. She'd been grateful at the time, but now…

"I c'n make it," she said softly, pulling back the blanket and shivering at the chill that rushed to replace the trapped heat. "Just l'me - "

She pitched forward, pins and needles shooting up and down her legs. Jack's hands latched onto her upper arms, halting the decent and lifting her back to her feet. She went to break away, but the skeleton was quicker, tucking her against his side and looking around the room.

"There, now…let's find you a Gateway and - "

Ivy groaned, feeling the itch beneath her skin. "There's -" she waved a sleepy hand towards an innocuous looking corner. "There's one o'r there."

Jack paused in his movements, tilting his head at the Gateway before glancing down at her. His face was oddly blank, save for a strange tightening around his sockets that Ivy was way too damn exhausted to interpret.

"So, there is," he said evenly, at last. "But for the sake of convenience…perhaps one of my own, for tonight."

He waved his hand through the air, and Ivy let herself lean against Jack fully. Through lidded eyes, she watched as the white bone of Jack's hand vanished into the thin gap of reality, neatly tearing away at it with just a flash of black flames, gone almost too quickly for her to fully process. Jack was so cool.

The new Gateway materialized, and she felt Jack pull against her, neatly dragging her along with that freaky skeleton strength. She hesitated just before the Gateway, steeling her exhausted nerves for the nauseating trip through space and time. Finally, she peeled herself off Jack, rubbing hand over her face. "'K. I'll see you soon. Thanks, Jack."

"Of course, love." The bony hand smoothed over her back, then gently ushered her forward. "Sleep well."

"Cool," she said, and reluctantly let herself be pushed back to reality.

xxxxxxxxxxx

April 4th

Late afternoon

Part of having your parents constantly watching to make sure you didn't run away was conceding in small ways, trying to reassure them of actions they hadn't even accused you of yet. For as long as she'd been on house arrest (grounding felt like too light a term, really) she'd been looking for those small moments to try and earn back a sliver of trust or get that watchful look out of her parents' eyes.

These weeks of constant monitoring and pre-planning led to doing her Hausaufgaben at the kitchen table, next to Anton who did the same. Well, as much homework as they assigned in kindergarten, these days. Today was shape practice for her brother, and pre-calculus for her.

Months of it.

But hey, pre-calc beat the literature and English assignments any day, so she trudged along, not even bothering to protest when Anton leaned over and colored one of her triangles blue.

Selena bustled about in the next room over, phone pressed against her ear.

"-again, Schatz?" She signed, rubbing her face. "You're too nice to these people. You do not always have to be staying late, yes?"

Her father, then. Ivy bounced her eyebrows at Anton, who giggled and continued to trace his circles with the delightful innocence of one who knew nothing of conic sections or cartesian products.

"Well, that's all good for you, but remember I have to leave for the Museum soon and won't be back until after you." A silence. "Ach, now he remembers."

Ivy held her breath, keeping all of her attention on the page before her. She hadn't been trusted to watch Anton by herself yet, but perhaps - maybe if she could -

"Ok, Schatz. I'll figure it out. Perhaps we can be calling -"

"I'll watch Anton, Mama," she called, before she could lose her nerve.

Selena instantly turned around the corner, narrowing her eyes at her daughter. Ivy, knowing full well she wasn't good at looking innocent, tried her best to project calm and normalcy - after all, she'd watched Anton before going to Halloween, she could handle it.

"Will you?" Selena asked, tone hard.

Ok, ouch. Part of Ivy wanted to snap back, to say that the pile of work she had would be babysitting them both, but she managed to hold herself back. Small steps, Kunze. "Ja, Mama. I will. It'll be fine; I'll even call Stefon and order some doners."

Anton dropped his crayons at that, eyes lighting up and kicking his feet frantically beneath the table. Ivy may not above suspicion, but Anton had mastered puppy dog eyes from his first breath.

Predictably, her mother melted under the pleading stare. "Alright, Schatz, Ivy will watch Anton tonight. I'll be back around 2300…the same? Ok. Ja. Auch." She hung up and glanced at the kitchen clock, swearing softly under her breath. "Alright, Kinder, I've got to go soon. Anton, be good for Ivy. Ivy…be good."

"Wie immer, Mama," she responded for them both, feeling some of the hurt in her chest dissolve when her mama kissed the top of her head, moving to the bedroom to get ready.

And yes, alright, part of Ivy did contemplate sending off a letter to Jack instantly, but she held herself back. Probably for the best she didn't bother him right now…especially since the skeleton's strange demeanor hadn't quite left her alone.

Jack, bored in Halloween. Not of Halloween, or at least not yet, but still concerning. She thought back to the four months she'd lived with Jack, of mucking around in that great black mansion with him, trying to recall if she'd seen him bored before. Not much came to mind - if anything, Jack seemed to try to keep her entertained, be it through sorting candy or info dumping about old legends. There were some days, she thought, where Jack seemed restless for sure - particularly if there was some issue in Town that he needed to pace about. (Ivy had teased him relentlessly for literally wearing a path in the floorboards of his study). But Halloween had taught Ivy to trust her instincts, and right now they were telling her that the skeleton was not somebody who could be trusted to become truly bored.

He'd mentioned spider weaving before - maybe she could let him teach her? She still hated the thought of sitting still and knitting, but somehow the idea seemed far more bearable if Jack was the one teaching her.

He wasn't a good cook - maybe she could show him some human recipes? Sure, she also couldn't cook for shit, but hell. Learn together and all that.

…unless he thought she was trying to fix him or didn't like his weird little concoctions. Ugh.

Ivy turned the matter over in her mind as she and Anton took a break from their work and walked to the local doner stop, grabbing dinner and sitting on at a table nearby. The soft spring air wafting around them and they munched at the pita bread and meat concoction. The flower fields were just visible at the horizon, beginning to turn yellow, and Ivy found herself marveling at the life that grew around her, so different from the macabre growth of Halloween.

It wasn't until they began to walk home that Ivy's senses began to creep up in sensitivity.

The Mark on her arm was warm, but not painfully so. Unfortunately, becoming a Citizen didn't come with a "Your Magical Tattoo and it's Meanings" manual, so Ivy simply clasped Anton's hand a bit tighter and kept her eyes open, clumsily casting her range of hearing out.

Birds. Cars. Some kids playing. And…footsteps. She couldn't tell if they were following her, but it sent prickles down her spine all the same.

Her key ready in her hand, Ivy ushed Anton into the house, yanking the Wilkommen mat inside for good measure. Vlad had never really confirmed or denied that something like that would let a vampire in; if whatever was happening was supernatural, ruling out vampires seemed like a good first step.

Anton, bless him, seemed to get that something was happening. He sat down at the kitchen table again, seemingly content to color while Ivy frantically checked the locks of the windows. She thought back to Halloween - god, what had Jack said about salt? It wasn't like you learned how to hurt the supernatural in Halloween, except for a way that Ivy didn't care to consider.

She wished she had some Devil's Breath. All the more reason to visit Sally again, she supposed.

Her nerves were no longer on fire, but there was still the cloud of paranoia present as she checked under her bed and turned her mama's phone number over in her head. Then again, she'd fought a homicidal ghost and - ok, won was a strong word, but she'd survived, so surely, she could handle whatever this was, right?

In the next room, Anton squealed.

Ivy had no idea she could move as fast as she did. In seconds she flew down to the kitchen, lunging for the knife block only to see…nothing. Anton was standing on his chair, clapping his hands, and grinning like Saint Nikolas himself was in the room.

Dropping her guard, Ivy snarled into the air: "Marvel, you son of a bitch!"

"Such a warm welcome, Ambassador," the Invisible Man snarked. Then, far kindlier: "Hey, short stuff. What's goin' on?"

Anton gave the air a high-five and Ivy groaned, leaning against the counter, and feeling her heartrate finally start to come down. "How long have you been -"

"Oh, since the park," Marvel said easily. The soft step-step of bare feet on tile gave away his location as he came around to Anton's side of the table, pulling at the boy's coloring sheets. "Ah, triangles and circles. Classic stuff, huh?"

Ivy fought back the urge to yank Marvel away from her brother - a useless move, really, seeing how Anton was patting the air in front of him to find the man. "What the hell do you want, anyway?"

"Can't a guy just say hi?"

"Not when that guy is you. What, Nicholas blow dog hair on you again?"

"Nah, the old Wolf Boy's been pretty tame recently. I'm just checking on some Veil stuff, y'know."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "I thought we said the Witches were going to do some poking around on the Halloween side before we checked out the Human World?"

"When did we agree to that?"

"At the -" Ivy rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You slipped out of the meeting, didn't you."

Marvel laughed. It was a weird sound - deep and loud, like any grown man's might be, but with the kind of fullness that made up for him not having a facial expression to go with it. "Oh, hell no, kid. I dropped out of that joint as soon as the old Bone Daddy started talking."

Ivy winced. "Oh, god, please don't call him that."

"Why not? You're the one that -"

"Yes, I know, thank you, but - shut up."

Anton opened his mouth, but Ivy pointed at him in warning. "You repeat that, and I'll tell Mama you're the one who broke her cow creamer."

Her brother's eyes went wide, and his mouth clicked shut, gazing at the space where Marvel stood fearfully.

"Anyway, what're you two crazy kids up to? Annie-boy's got his shapes, I see, and you're…" Ivy's homework dragged itself off the table. "...yeesh. I don't miss that crap."

"Don't suppose you can help me?"

"Sorry, kid. Old Man Griffin was more of the biochemist type, when he wasn't writing his notes in Greek and Latin."

"So, what did you study?"

"Greek and Latin, duh."

She frowned. "Wait, who's Griffin?"

"You gotta read more, kid."

With no good response, Ivy flipped the Invisible Man off, earning a sharp flick to the ear for her trouble. "Whatever. How's Jack?"

"Brooding. Which is why I'm here."

Ivy frowned, suspicious. "What? Why's that my -"

Marvel sighed, loud and obnoxious, sounding far more like a teenager than…however old he actually was. Which, hey, when there's a weird, naked, invisible guy in your kitchen, age isn't the first thing to focus on. "I opened a Gateway upstairs; you head on over to Halloween and cheer him up for us, will you?"

Ivy sputtered, gesturing frantically to Anton. "Bu- the hell do you -"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll watch the kid," Marvel said dismissively, one cabinet swinging upon from an unseen hand and Anton's favorite cup floating in midair. "Whaddya say, kid? No bedtime and that weird show you like, the - uh, shit, something turtles?"

"TURTLES!" Anton cheered, his face lighting up in a way that Ivy knew would be impossible to ignore. She resolutely stared away from her brother, anticipating the power of those god damn puppy dog eyes, and jutted her finger at the floating Power Rangers cup.

"Listen to me," she snapped at the cup. "I can't just go off to Halloween whenever Jack's in his emo phase, ok? Our mom's gonna be back - "

"Yeah, in like a few hours. Chill, kid."

"How long have you been hanging around?"

Anton got between the arguing pair, tugging at the bottom of Ivy's shirt. "No, Anton," she said (still avoiding his gaze, of course - it wasn't cowardice, it was a battle tactic). "He can hang around if he wants - for now - but I can't leave. And you've definitely got to go to bed on time, or Mama will - uh…do whatever is left to do, I guess."

The wooden kitchen chairs scraped across the linoleum, another Marvel sigh taking up the space. "Sheesh, kid. When did you become such a hardass?"

"I am not a -" she slammed her mouth shut, only the presence of the wide-eyed six-year-old at her feet keeping her under control.

"Listen." Marvel's voice took on a quality Ivy had never heard before - almost serious, his tone lower. "I've got this. You can Gateway back anytime. But you've gotta get out of the house, 'cause you look like you're about to crack." She sensed more than heard him lean forward and was almost grateful to hear the usual edge of humor to his next words. "There is one way most people relieve that kinda tension, but I don't think you're old enough to hear that yet -"

"AHH! Dude!" She gestured to Anton, wishing he was close enough to cover his ears.

"C'mon, you can't tell me you really wanna stick around the boring surface when you could be running around the Origin of Nightmares?"

"I'm not running around anywhere," she retorted, moving over the table, and unzipping her backpack. "So how about you get the hell out before -

"I wouldn't be here if Jack didn't need you. And you need him. You can help him."

She faltered, fingers toying with the zipper. Guilt welled up, soured even more by the desire deep within to go back and see her friend. Weakly, she protested, "I've still got to do homework, dude."

"Home- y'know, if it gets you out, I don't give a shit. Go." Papers pushed themselves across the table to her as Ivy slowly packed, biting her lips in nervousness. Slinging it over her shoulder she crouched to Anton's level, looking him in the eyes at last. "Are you gonna be -"

Anton nodded frantically, practically pushing her towards the stairs. She laughed and allowed herself to be moved, giving him a brief hug and firm kiss on the top of his head. "Ok. Be good, alright?"

Her brother gave a thumbs up, grinning madly even as he abandoned her altogether to sprint towards the couch, fumbling around for the remote. "Marvel -"

"No complaining about the free babysitting, kid. He won't die." An invisible hand shoved her firmly towards the stairs. "Get your ass up there before the Gateway changes its mind."

"Ok, but - I, uh, need some help."

"What?"

She bit her lip, toeing the edge of the stairs. "Gateways and I, you know, they don't really work? Like - Jack usually has to help me through."

"...what?"

Ivy huffed. "Look, man, I don't know. If I go in by myself I just kinda, I dunno, turn into static? Jack said he had to pull me out once because I wasn't going to end up in the Human World." She tried very very hard not to think about the implications of what Jack meant by that.

"Fine. Get up there and I'll give you a push."

She put one hand on the banister, looking over her shoulder at her brother, wavering and torn, until that selfish seed within her took control and she sprinted up the stairs, hearing the first beginnings of TV jingles sound out from below.

The Gateway she found by following the sense of unease creeping along her skin, like the world's shittiest, most uncomfortable game of Hot and Cold. It was in the cupboard beneath her bathroom sink, and she groaned before kneeling, sticking her head in and feeling the faintest ghost of otherworldly wind. A tingle went across the skin of her face as she stared into the void where her cleaning supplies should be, the back wall of the cabinet faintly visible, though growing ever stronger. Marvel was right; there wasn't much more time before she was stuck here anyway.

…Hell, she'd come this far.

"Ready, kid?"

For once, she didn't jump at the Invisible Man's voice. "Sure. Jack usually just - "

SMACK!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack sat in his study, determinedly avoiding the pile of papers sitting mockingly on the edge of his desk. The moonlight creeping through the dust-streaked window was yellow, warming the edges of the dark wood floor. He thumbed through the pages of his novel, feeling the smooth, buttery quality beneath his bone pad. The air in the study was strangely thick, and the skeleton tried to ignore the restlessness that kept itching beneath his bone.

In night like these, it was far too easy for him to slip into the silence of it all. The clock downstairs was ticking in a way that echoed inside of his skull, making him want to -

"-uck!"

Jack jolted upright, skull whipping towards the hallway. A low, human groan echoed in the space, the familiar, welcome sound of a heartbeat settling back into the Manor. He leapt from behind his desk and tore open the study door just in time to see Ivy face-down on the floor, slowly peeling herself up and spitting her hair from her mouth.

"Very graceful, love," Jack teased, crossing his arms, and settling against the doorframe.

"Oh, shut up," she snapped, a hot blush on her cheeks as she scrambled to her feet, brushing off invisible dust. "Don't even start."

Jack was sorely tempted to keep it going, but curiosity (as it so often did) prevailed. "I wasn't expecting you tonight. Is everything alright?"

"What?" She furrowed her brow at him, then seemed to shake herself into the moment. "Oh, yeah. Uh, I was babysitting Anton but - long story short, I had a free evening, so I thought I'd…" she trailed off, her shoulders hiking up. "Is that ok?"

"Of course!" He rushed to assure, shooting her his most winning grin. "It's just a surprise, that's all. Gateway troubles solved?"

Her face fell, a rather sour look crossing it. "...no. Marvel literally just kicked me here."

"Marvel?" In lieu of a heartrate, Jack's ribcage seized. "What is he - "

"Relax." She pushed past him, knocking his side with her shoulder. "He's just babysitting."

Jack thought about that, following her back into the study and watching as she threw her school onto the sofa, which looked incredibly small on the cushions better suited to his own proportions. "Somehow, that alarms me even more."

Ivy shrugged. "Hey, I take what I can get. I do have some stuff to do, but I figured you'd be procrastinating too."

"Insulting, but accurate."

She dropped herself into an armchair, dragging her bag closer and hefting out stacks of paper that looked depressingly similar to Jack's own pile.

"What have you got there?" He asked, settling himself back at his desk.

Ivy groaned and dragged over one of Jack's large hardcovers, balancing it across her lap. "I've got a ton of catch-up work to do. I got some of it done before I started school again, but now I've got to do my new stuff and the old to keep up." She continued to pull books and folders from her bag, letting them drop onto the floor next to her with a dramatic thud. Jack's sockets grew along with the pile, until his human was surrounded by sheets of paper and donning a weary expression.

"We could swap workloads," he joked, waving a hand at his own hefty stack of written proposals from the Mayor. Laughing at the resulting disgust on her face, he turned back to his work.

A quiet, unusual peace settled over the room. Normally, Ivy in the study meant having to keep one eye on her, but every time Jack looked up she was deep in her own world, chewing absently on the tops of her pencil or tapping away at a small device next to her. The candlelight around the room flickered its usual eerie yet comforting manner, and Jack was able to focus more than he had in months. The scratching of his quill, the slowly rising moon casting its rays through the window, and Ivy's heartbeat in his ears soothed an itch deep in his bones and lulling him into a trance.

As he turned over the next stack, he shook himself out of the fog and poured himself a cup of tea, then added a second cup for Ivy. "Hot toady?" He called, huffing a bit when Ivy's concentration hardly broke.

"Hmm? Oh, sure - uh, don't you mean hot toddy?"

"Whatever makes you feel better," he said smoothly, carrying the cup and setting it by her elbow. He craned his neck over to see Ivy's paper, curious as to what was causing the look of deep frustration on her face.

Convert the following molecular formulas into line-bond structures that are consistent with valence rules:

a) C3H3

b) CH5N…

Jack blinked rapidly at the paper. "What under the earth is this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Ivy groaned, letting her face fall into her hands, and scrubbing at her face. "I've gotten most of chem done, but there's still like…so many pages left."

Jack eyed her own mound of paperwork with growing concern. "Is this all…?"

"Nah, there's other stuff," she assured him (although Jack felt far from assured). She began to point to her organized stacks, listing off the subjects as she picked up her cup and took a long drink. "That's the rest of chem, there's my calc, history, and that -" she pointed with particular disdain at the largest pile - "is my stupid literature work."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Jack frowned. "What all do you have to do? Read and write?"

"Too bad? Jack, I hate essays! We can't all be fancy writers like you." Despite her tone, Jack felt a surge of pride at the strange compliment. "And I can't even start them without reading all these books and it's just -" she groaned again, flopping back against the chair, dropping her cup against the edge of a nearby table. "I dunno. Every time I try to open the books, I'm fine for like three pages, then it's like ants are crawling across the page and I just - I can't focus. At least with this," she said, gesturing to her current work, "there's a pattern to it, y'know? You can kinda get into a rhythm. But that? It's -" she broke off again, crossing her arms. "It's stupid, I know."

"I don't think so." Jack knelt, tracing his finger over the titles of the books. He didn't recognize them but felt his own mind swim with the thought of having to complete this. "This is from the time you were here?"

"Yeah." Ivy blew out a breath, her hair rising and falling dramatically. "The Schulleiter said that if I finish this, then maybe I won't have to repeat a year." She kicked her foot, gaze going far away.

Jack wasn't sure what was so bad about that, but it was clear Ivy was upset. He knew she was smart, and seemed to like learning well enough, so why when it happened matter? But regardless, the look on her face continued to gnaw away at him, a small seed of guilt taking root in his chest.

If she hadn't come to Halloween, a dark whisper in the back of his mind pointed out, then she wouldn't be dealing with this.

I didn't bring her here, Jack mentally snapped back.

You didn't look to hard to find her a way home, though.

Deep down, Jack couldn't bring himself to regret anything - that he couldn't get her home, that he hadn't prevented her from being there in the first place.

Even after seeing what it's done? My, that's rather selfish, Jack.

It wasn't worth arguing with himself about it, what was done was done. He couldn't change how the Human World was welcoming her back any more than he could change the past.

But the silence in the room, combined with the look of utter dejection on his favorite human's face (and perhaps the growing noise in his mind) was enough to prompt Jack to motion. "Well, you've been working away for quite some time, so let's get you some proper homework, eh?"

The far-away gaze was broken. "What?"

"Come now," he ordered playfully, standing to his full height and sending a full-body crack through his frame. "Scaring lesson!"

Ivy's eyes went wide. "Jack, I don't have time, I -"

"Nonsense." He grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet, sending her paperwork scattering. "You're a Citizen, after all, and you must keep in practice!" He tapped the end of her nose, laughing at the way she went cross-eyed to follow it. "How about it? We can even go into the Human World so you can get home faster."

Ivy, who had knelt to pull her work together, raised an eyebrow. "What are we gonna do there?"

Jack rolled his sockets. "Scaring, what else? Surely you don't think we limit ourselves to Halloween alone, yes?"

"I kinda did," she admitted, shoving papers into her backpack in a way that made Jack wince. "What do you do outside of that? I though you weren't allowed to go there not on Halloween?"

"Not just any monster," Jack clarified loftily, preening just a tad. "But what would be the fun if humans were only scared one day a year?"

She blinked rapidly at him. Jack always found it funny when she did that - nobody emoted clear confusion as well as a human could, and particularly his human. "So, what, you just pop through and - and what, scare the shit out of us?"

Jack grinned at her, making sure to show every one of his teeth. "How about you come along and find out for yourself?"

Her eyes flickered back to her backpack, but Jack couldn't resist. He could see and recognize the signs - the energy living in her feet, the restlessness that moved her towards him even as she hefted her bag over her shoulder. Come on, love, he urged her. We need this.

He felt the exact moment she changed her mind, the sour energy dissipating from her as she gave him a wry grin. "Ok, fine. That can beat chemistry any day, for sure."

"Excellent." He extended his arm, beginning to throw his aura out to sense for passageways through reality. "Let's indulge in the beautiful sounds of fear, shall we?"


Thanks for all the support for the first chapter! Having Ivy grow up with you all has been a delight. Off to the Human Realm for some spooks...

-Aria