Now that Jack has settled comfortably into Aster's nest, he lets his guard down and darkness swarms him. Thankfully, Aster has sharp ears and is ready to help.

(-)

He said, "Now hush love, here's your gown.
There's the bed, lantern's down."
"But I don't want to go to sleep:

In all my dreams, I drown."

In All My Dreams I Drown- Jessica Lowndes (Devil's Carnival)

Aster woke to the sounds of Jack whimpering. He was tossing and turning, but those components could mean he was dreaming something it would be awkward for Aster to interrupt. When Jack started coughing and choking, Aster felt certain it wasn't any kind of good dream and leapt up to wake the boy.

Aster's room was covered in a fine layer of frost over every surface, and Jack was spluttering and crying, curled in the middle of Aster's nest. The rabbit hopped down into the nest to stroke a paw down Jack's arm, hopefully a soothing way to wake the boy.

Jack gasped and sat up, shaking and crying. He didn't seem to notice Aster until the rabbit pulled him into a hug. Jack promptly latched on, frosting Aster over. And damn if Aster wasn't starting to enjoy that. Both parts of that.

He held the boy tight until he calmed down. The Warren managed to melt the ice as he did. The first thing Jack said was, "I'm sorry to wake you."

Rolling his eyes, Aster said, "You were choking in your sleep. Damn right I want to wake up and help you."

Jack's cheeks frosted purple, and he snuggled into Aster's embrace, once again on the rabbit's lap. "Thank you."

"What were you dreaming about, Frostbite?"

Jack shivered against him. "Drowning. Falling through the ice and drowning."

Of course. Aster might have anticipated that, if he knew Jack had nightmares. "You had that one before?"

Jack nodded. "Ever since I got my memories back, it's been pretty common. Tonight was really bad, probably because…Jamie."

Something about that twigged Aster's instincts. "Wait, you've been having nightmares since then? And didn't think to tell us?"

"Calm down, Bunny," Jack said, finally getting some space between them. "Not everything is about Pitch. I've had nightmares for three hundred years. The drowning was really common after I was first born, although I didn't really understand what was happening or why. But over three hundred years I've added a lot to my collection, so the variety keeps it from getting predictable."

Jack was trying to make light of it, but this was a serious problem, not something he should live with. "Jack, we're taking you to Sandy." Aster considered Sandy's palace in the desert not being the best for the little spirit, then said, "Or bringing him here. This is no way for you to live."

Abrupt panic filled Jack's features. "Don't tell Sandy! I won't wake you up again, I promise!"

Aster sighed. "It's not about that; wake me up as often as you like. But I can't believe you've been having nightmares for three hundred years and never tried getting help. Do you ever get a decent night's sleep?"

"Sometimes." Jack shrugged and tried to smile. Aster interpreted that as "rarely," and he was probably right.

"Why don't you want to tell Sandy?" That seemed to be Jack's biggest problem with this suggestion.

Jack shrugged and climbed off of Aster entirely, turning away from the rabbit. Aster wasn't sure what to do with that, except to note that he felt somehow colder when the boy left him. Aster didn't like that; he knew he was in way over his head already.

"Fine. We won't tell Sandy now. But if this keeps up or gets worse, we're going to have a talk with him."

Jack turned and gave Aster a shy smile. "Thanks, Bunny. I'm really sorry I keep freezing things, especially you."

Aster shivered a little, and he saw Jack take note, looking curious. "Not a problem, mate. The Warren is Springtime, period. A little bit of winter isn't going to do any real damage."

"And you?"

This time, Aster stifled the desire to shiver. "You aren't hurting me, Frostbite. Don't worry about it." When Jack just kept giving him that curious look, Aster said, "Besides, I have something to try tomorrow that, if it doesn't provide a long-term solution, should at least take the edge off your cold front for a little while."

Jack grinned. "Is that right, Cottontail? I look forward to the challenge."

And even if it was mostly a front, Jack looked a bit more like himself. Aster smirked. "Careful what you wish for. I intend to put you through your paces, you bloody show pony."

Jack's laugh was music to Aster's ears.

(-)

If Aster was less powerful in his own right, and if he didn't know Jack as well as he did, he might have been frightened. He had set up targets for Jack to hit, trying to expend as much power as he could to wear him out and maybe reset him to normal, but it had been hours and Jack showed no signs of slowing. In the Warren, Bastion of Springtime, Jack's power was potent and unrelenting. The last ice was hardly melted before Jack came back around to the same target again.

"Hold up, mate!" Aster shouted.

Jack set his staff down and leaned on it, giving Aster that same adorable look he had when the rabbit had lured him into the alley in Burgess. "Yeah? Am I doing it wrong?"

Aster sighed. "Are you even tired, mate?"

Jack considered it, then shrugged. "Maybe a little. Why?"

Aster rubbed his face. "Mate, if other spirits could see what I'm seeing now, you'd intimidate and scare them all the more."

Jack's face twisted. "Scare them? Why?"

Aster was confused at Jack's confusion. Then it made sense why Jack never boasted about his reputation and power. He didn't know about them. No one talked to Jack. Those like Aster, who were powerful enough to not be intimidated, just found the boy annoying. Those who had no hope of ever matching him despite the fact that no one believed in him found him terrifying.

"You really don't know how special and unique you are, do you, Frostbite?"

"You mean how I was invisible and isolated for three centuries?" Jack sounded a little bitter.

"Actually, yeah. Guardians have a sharper line when it comes to believers and existing, but all spirits need to be believed in by someone. You should have faded away after a decade or two. But, you, Jack Frost, survived for three hundred years with not a soul believing in you. You have power and influence that no un-believed spirit should have, and the North Wind is at your beck and call, and it is known for being uncontrollable."

Jack looked incredulous. "But…the Wind is the only friend I've always had. Even if it isn't a person, it's the only thing that's always been on my side, since the moment I was born. And I still don't see why being a pathetic, invisible loner would scare anyone."

"Because you've never been pathetic. You should have hardly existed, but you outclass plenty of spirits who have lots of believers. All but the most powerful Spirits of Winter hate you for showing them up. They have rules to follow that don't seem to apply to you. Yer a bloody miracle, mate. Don't let anyone tell ya different." Aster hoped that would settle the matter.

It didn't. "That doesn't matter now. I have believers. I feel incredibly believed in. It's amazing."

"Seven. Seven children know about you, and you are making a mess of ice in the Bastion of Spring with little effort and not getting tired."

Jack shook his head, frowning in thought. "Feels like a lot more than that. I hadn't really thought about it but…this isn't just Jamie and his friends."

Well wasn't that peculiar. "Where'd you pick up more believers?" Spirits had a gauge, so to speak, of how many believers they had, and the most powerful could often get a feel for where the belief in them sprang up.

"All over. The highest concentration is in Burgess, obviously. But they're all around the globe."

That was a little concerning. Snowflake's popularity continually increasing would explain why he couldn't stabilize his power. It kept fluctuating to greater heights. But how was he doing it?

"What have you been up to, Jack Frost, that has so many children knowing your name?"

"Just my regular fun. I've been spending lots of time with…Jamie, though."

Aster and Jack shared a look. "Jamie."

Aster said, "We need to get to the bottom of this. Not that I don't like you having more believers, but we need to know how it's happening. You can't control yourself because you keep getting more power from more believers."

Jack nodded. "We could go see Jamie now."

"Actually, I want to keep you at this for at least another hour, see if you start to get tired." Aster wanted to see if Jack's new power was really as inexhaustible as it seemed.

Frowning, Jack said, "It really hasn't been that tiring so far."

But Aster was hoping, probably in vain, that Jack might get rid of some of the power that was putting a thrill through the rabbit at even the idea of cold. "What time is it over there anyway; the kid is probably still in school."

Jack nodded after a moment of thought. "I think he is."

"Then get to it; you can't keep this up forever."

Two hours of that same exuberant force later, Jack started breathing a little heavier. "Feels a bit more like a workout now."

"Five or six hours of throwing winter around the Warren, and you're a little tired. Mate, you're starting to scare even me a little." It was true. Aster had immense power from his notoriety, and he had had a resurgence of even more believers as the Guardians bounced back from the Pitch Crisis, but he wouldn't be up to throwing springtime around in a winter domain, so far from his elemental strength. The patch of springtime that day with Jamie wasn't the Herculean effort it might once have been, but it had been a strain, and Aster couldn't have done much more with it.

Jack gave him the look of a kicked puppy. "Why would you be scared? You're the well-established Guardian of Hope. And you know I don't want to hurt you."

Aster ruffled the boy's hair, hoping to calm him. "I'm not afraid, Jack. But the kind of power you have is scary in and of itself. If it was anyone but you wielding it, I might really be scared."

Jack grinned at that. "Aww, thanks, Bunny. You kind of scare me too."

Snorting, Aster said, "About another hour till the kid's free, yeah? How about I make us a quick lunch?"

That had Jack nodding and bouncing up and down before walking ahead of Aster back to his Burrow. "Yes! I may not be that tired, but I am starving. And I love your food."

Aster tried not to let that go to his head. Jack wasn't used to any kind of cooking, he imagined. "Probably a step up from whatever raw things you can rustle up."

Jack looked embarrassed. "Actually…while I don't sneak around people's homes, I do snitch food from restaurants. From the kitchen, not from people's tables. Especially if an order gets messed up, it often disappears before it gets to the trash. Those gourmet chefs are kind of control freaks, though; it's fun to watch them freak out when things can't be explained. Although some are catching onto the correlation between that and open windows with cold breezes. There's no way they can see the food just float out the window, though."

Okay, now it was going to Aster's head. "You eat from gourmet restaurants, but you love my food? It's nothing fancy."

Grinning, Jack said, "So? It's delicious. You probably make it with Love, right? Must make all the difference."

Aster was glad that Jack couldn't see how his faced warmed from his teasing. Because, yes, now that he was feeding Jack, the rabbit put extra effort into his meals. He wouldn't call it "Love", though. "What other secret ingredient is there?"

Jack laughed. "Actually, there's this one restaurant in France where the chef puts trace amounts of some drug into the meals to addict people and make them come back. Anytime I swing through France, I stop by and steal his drugs. Think control-freak chefs are fun to watch freaking out and accusing people? Try watching a drug-addled chef freaking out and unable to accuse anyone of stealing his drugs. I've been trying to think of a way to tip off the cops next time, though. Seeing what happens to his customers is the opposite of fun. They come to him for good food, not to get messed up and have no idea why or how."

Jack hadn't turned to look at him, so he didn't see Aster's mouth drop open. Jack Frost, secret invisible crime fighter. Who knew? "Very civically responsible of ya, Frostbite. I'm proud of you."

Whirling around as he came to a dead stop, Jack barely noticed Aster nearly running him over. "You are?"

Just when Aster thought the kid couldn't get anymore endearing or innocent, Jack proved him wrong. Well, he'd said it before: Jack Frost was nothing if not full of surprises. "Of course, Jack. The rest of us don't have the time or interest to take in humans, but you do. And you obviously take the welfare of all the humans seriously, not just the children. You're pretty noble, Frostbite. Especially given how alone you've been."

Jack nodded, but also frowned darkly. "When Arlette started coming to eat there with her parents, it was the final straw. It had been bad, but there was absolutely nothing funny about a child getting messed up on drugs."

Aster felt anger flare inside him as well. "You want some help figuring out how to tip off the cops, let me know. I might decide that the eggs in his kitchen need a talking-to. He might find them growing legs and walking off."

That got Aster a brilliant grin from the smaller spirit. "You can do that?"

"I can do a lot of things you don't know about, Jack." Aster had only meant to impress Jack a bit with the range of his powers, but Jack got that deep purple frost that looked so fetching on his pale face. Aster realized that might have come out sounding different than he intended. Especially in the low growling tone it had been delivered in. "I am the Easter Bunny, after all." Hopefully that would mitigate the awkwardness.

Jack giggled and turned back to walking to the Burrow. "You are."

It wasn't till Jack opened Aster's front door and stopped dead again that he spoke. "Bunny. I don't know where I'd be without you. I'd probably be hurting people and not knowing why. I'm…I'm so glad I have you, Bunny. I'm not alone now that I have you, and you aren't afraid of me. Not really."

Aster swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. He was glad Jack's back was still to him, because tears were threatening his eyes. "You don't have to keep thanking me, Frostbite. You're important to me." Felt a bit dangerous to say that on a personal level, and not simply as one of the Guardians. But it was all too true. Jack was deep under his skin, worming his way to the center of Aster's heart. The Guardian of Hope was hopelessly screwed.

And you see the things they never see
All you wanted I could be
Now you know me and I'm not afraid
And I wanna tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man
They can't break me
As long as I know who I am

I'm Still Here- John Rzeznik (Treasure Island)

(-)

Had to put a second lyrical quote at the end, since it was so different from the beginning. Too much? Do you hate them altogether? Let me know.

Also, any idea how Jamie might be behind Jack's power surge around the globe? I know, but I'm curious if there's enough hints for it to be obvious.

And it seems fair to warn you, what was intended as a fluffy smutty hurt/comfort fic has gained plot and further darkness. Gotta tweak the summary once we hit those parts. The ice has gotten thinner, folks.