A/N: Here's the final chapter! I have two short bonus scenes/one-shots that I will add as another chapter(s), so I'll keep the story marked as unfinished until then. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Rise of the Guardians, NCIS, and all their characters belong to their respective owners
Chapter 7: Going Home (Reprise)
A few minutes later Jamie found himself at the door to the autopsy lab. Ducky and Palmer were nowhere to be seen, so they were alone, save for the cadavers in the freezers... and the skeleton on the exam table. The already cold temperatures dropped even lower as the winter Guardian followed into the room behind him. Jack slowly walked up to the table, an unreadable expression on his pale, worn-out face.
"Jack?" Jamie asked hesitantly, stepping up next to his friend and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't really know exactly when their roles had reversed, when he became the one who comforted and protected Jack. But that's what he was going to do, and continue to do, for as long as he lived. Jack had always been there for him, and he for Jack, but now that he was an adult, there were some things that he now understood much more deeply than he had thirteen years ago.
Gibbs stood quietly by the door as he watched the twenty-two-year-old adult try to be a comforting presence for the three-hundred-something-year-old teenager. After a moment, the silence was broken by a soft voice.
"It's strange," Jack said quietly. "You know, ever since I got my memories back, I never really thought about my death much. I mean, who would want to? It had never even occurred to me that maybe... but then again... I suppose I should have known. After all, if I really still had my physical body, I wouldn't be invisible to the world. It wouldn't be possible to be seen through or walked through or unable to be heard. Though... I suppose, even if I had realized it, or suspected it, the water freezes the instant I touch it, so I would never have been able to go into the pond to even check for myself... to just be sure. It's just... so surreal. To think I had still been down there all this time. Maybe... maybe that's why, even after I remembered, I never quite felt like I had closure. Like there was something still missing, a part of me that was still scared and alone in the dark."
Jack stared at his open palm, a look of curious contemplation gracing his features, while his other hand subconsciously tightened around his staff. He slowly and gently placed his hand on the fragile ribcage of his physical remains, right above where his heart would have been.
A light glow emanated from his palm and into the chest, its ethereal energy pulsing like a beating heart. With each beat, a delicate frost grew across the remains, as if flowing through an invisible bloodstream, until the entire skeleton was covered in intricately patterned ice formations. Then, with one final pulse the light faded, and with it, so too did the last remnants of Jack's mortal body.
Jamie and Gibbs watched in wonder as the remains disintegrated into soft, glowing particles, like sluggish fireflies ascending into the night sky, or dandelion tufts drifting in a gentle breeze. They floated away and faded into nothing, leaving no evidence that anything had been there at all. The lights were soon gone, leaving the room in a serene silence.
Jack rubbed his nose and turned to the others. His complexion was no longer a sickly, dull grey. Though still very pale, tinges of warm pink graced the skin on his cheeks and nose and ears. The deep purple circles under his now-brighter eyes were gone, and his lips no longer had a bluish, cold tint to them. He looked more alive than Jamie had ever seen him. A soft smile adorned his face as unshed tears filled his brilliant-blue eyes.
"Jack?" Jamie asked again, his voice now brimming with hope.
"I feel... lighter," Jack said after a moment of reflection. "Like something that had always been weighing heavily on my chest has finally been lifted... like I can breathe for the first time."
He looked up at Jamie with a bright smile, a huff of laughter escaping his throat, and the tears finally falling from his eyes, forming delicate ice crystal trails along his radiant cheeks.
"I feel free."
~~~''\*/''~~~
"Can I open my eyes yet?"
"No, not yet."
Not even two seconds later, "How 'bout now?" An exasperated laugh fills the air.
"Seriously, Jack?"
"If I fall and break something, I'm blaming you." That was totally a fake threat.
"We're almost there, just a little further." A few more shuffled steps forward and he can hear the rustling of leaves and sticks. The smell of pine fills the air and he can feel the prickly branches brush against his clothes.
"Alright, stand right here," Warm hands on his shoulders guide him forward and to a stop. "Now... open your eyes."
Jack had been curious when Jamie came to visit Burgess in the early spring, claiming he had the weekend off. Normally, Jack would move on to the cooler climates by now, but Jamie had insisted that he meet him once the snow had melted; something about a surprise. So here Jack was, being clumsily lead around with his eyes closed, and he could swear Jamie was walking him in circles, all the while trying to think of where they could possibly be going.
Jack slowly opened his eyes, blinking back the bright light of the sun. When his eyes finally adjusted, he stood there in dumbfounded shock, not quite processing what was before him. In a tiny clearing, densely surrounded by large evergreen trees, were three small, weathered headstones. While old and cracked, they looked as if they had recently been cleaned up, the overgrowth cut away and moss scraped off of stone. They were his family's. His mother was in the center. To the right was his father. On the left was his sister. And next to hers... a simple but beautiful wooden cross, with freshly planted white Easter lilies at its base.
Across the widest piece of the wood was a carved inscription.
Jack Overland
Son, Brother, Friend
Guardian
Jack felt like he couldn't speak, "J-Jamie, how...?"
"I had a lot of help from Gibbs and Abby, actually. We were able to find some public records at the court house that had old plot maps of the local cemeteries. Turns out, your family had been here all along. The evergreen trees and overgrowth had just grown so large and dense over the years that they became completely concealed. That's why you were never able to find them." Jamie scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "Technically we weren't allowed to be adding anything here, but... well, according to the map, you're marker should have been right there– your family had a plot for you even though they never actually buried your body– but it must have been wood or something and just rotted over time..." Jamie was rambling now. "And, well, Gibbs was able to pull a few strings but they wouldn't let us do an actual headstone here since it would 'disturb the authenticity of the historic section of the cemetery' or something but we managed to sneak this in. It looks like wood, but it's actually high-density polyethylene, so it should hold up a really long time, like a hundred years or more. Gibbs built it, actually. Did you know he builds whole-ass boats in his basement? I swear, that dude—"
Jack suddenly pulled Jamie into a tight hug. The brunette could feel tears soak through his shirt as he returned the embrace. Shuddering breaths shook the immortal teens form as a whirlwind of emotions overwhelmed him.
"Thank you, Jamie. Thank you."
~~~''\*/''~~~
If anyone asked, the mysterious body had been claimed by a relative. The temperature in the building had returned to normal on its own, much to the confusion of the maintenance staff. When the team pestered Gibbs about what happened in the conference room, he simply smirked and replied, "Rule Number Four: the best way to keep a secret is to keep it to yourself." When director Vance pestered Gibbs about what was going on with his team's weird behavior, he gave a fond, knowing smile and answered with Rule Number Eight: never take anything for granted. If someone were to ask Agent Jamie Bennett what rule he learned that day, he would have told them Number Twenty-eight: when you need help, ask. And if anyone were to question why the snow seemed extra light and sparkling that winter, and why the cold wind didn't quite nip at one's nose like it should have, well, Jack Frost doesn't like to follow rules.
End.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This is the first fanfiction that I've ever actually completed, so I'm very proud of myself for seeing it through to the end. I hope I can bring you guys more (finished) stories in the future :)
Also, stay tuned for some bonus chapters! They're just little snippets and scenes that take place after the story (And maybe even set the grounds for a sequel, who knows?) Right now I have 2 written, but I might add more later.
Anywho~~ Thank you to all of you who read, followed and favorited! It means a lot to me :) (And it's still not too late to leave some reviews *wink*)
