Well, I missed my deadline, my apologies. I wanted to show you all the letter in this chapter, but no matter how I wrangled it around, I couldn't get it done in less than two chapters. I didn't want to be a tease, so… I finished both. I may be late, but you're actually getting 3x as much material now. So! I'm gonna post this transition chapter today, and tomorrow evening, after editing, I can post the chapter you've all been waiting for… where everyone learns what's in Thor's letter. Sound good?
Alright, also, new rule for the fic – whenever one of the Guardians mentions a time, it's in American Eastern Standard Time. This is because it's very hard to talk about time when half the characters are scattered across the world. Tooth is half a day ahead of everyone, Bunny's in the lower hemisphere, I'm not sure WHAT timezone North's workshop is in, and don't even get me started on Sandy. They probably all have their own ways of tracking time and keeping schedules, but, let's just assume that, for Jack's benefit, they all run on Burgess-time – so Jack will stop having an excuse for missing/being late for Guardian meetings. ("What? Me, late?" Jack asks, faking innocence. "No, no. You guys are just never clear on the time.")
So if someone says "See you tomorrow evening" or "Be here at 3 pm sharp," it's in Burgess-time/Eastern Standard Time. Which, coincidentally, is the exact time the Avengers run on, too.
Anyway, Here's Chapter 3. Please read and review. I really appreciate all the reviews I've gotten, by the way, and if I haven't answered your review yet it's because I am a slowpoke and have never gotten this many reviews before, ever. I really have read them all, and I smile every time I see one in my inbox – the feedback is very helpful, and I hope I can continue to entertain you all. Thank you, and happy reading!
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A Quiet Christmas Eve
North finds his way back up to the roof, stepping into the cold midnight air.
The wind rushes to meet him. Its gentle touch swirls about his shoulders, kicking up flurries of snowflakes. It circles North once like an excited puppy before racing back to the sleigh.
And there is Jack, perched atop the high back seat of the sleigh. He is crouched, peering precariously over the skyscraper's edge, a cookie hanging from his mouth.
The wind reaches Jack and swirls about him like an old friend, ruffling his already messy white hair. Jack does not even blink. He is concentrating hard, focusing on the task at hand. His arm is outstretched, pointing the crooked end of his staff at the windows below. Blue magic sparks from the tip of his staff, conjuring layers upon layers of frost to coat the blank, glassy canvas below.
Jack is trying his hardest to frost Stark Tower's heated windows, but to no avail. Each fernlike pattern melts within seconds, leaving only dewdrops behind.
North approaches, chuckling. "Bored already, Jack?"
Surprised, Jack's arm jerks and he accidentally dips forward, nearly falling off the back of the sleigh.
Quickly, Jack catches and rights himself, laughing in surprise. He slowly swings around to face North, the panicked tension ebbing from his shoulders. Jack leans on his staff, takes the cookie from his mouth, and turns a shining smile on the one who surprised him.
"North, you're back," Jack says, his voice playful. "…So soon? I didn't hear a single explosion."
North just grins. "Ah, job was not nearly as tough as expected," he answers, starting forward. He stops by a restless reindeer to adjust the beast's harness, which is slightly askew.
Jack shrugs and looks down the skyscraper's edge, a glint of interest in his eyes. "Sorry for slacking off. It's just—did you know the windows are heated? That is fancy. My frost won't even stick. I don't know whether to be insulted or impressed."
"Ah, that. You should stop frosting windows—it bothers Jarvis." North explains, climbing into the sleigh with a groan. His joints are creaking from the long night's work. Maybe he's getting too old for this.
Jack tilts his head. "Uh… who's Jarvis?"
"The Avenger's AI. Lives in the tower."
Jack gives him an odd look. "Wait—wait, you mean the Avengers have, like, a Hal or a GlaDOS guarding their tower?" he asks, and though North doesn't know precisely what pop culture reference the boy is referring to, he nods anyway. Jack's eyes light up. "That's so cool! How'd you get past it?"
"Asked nicely."
A pause. Jack blinks. "No seriously, North. How."
North shrugs. "Jack, Jarvis just knew me, that is all. Most robots know me. I am legend among AI." Jack's skepticism is easy enough to read, and North insists; "No really, Jack. I created Earth's first robot, a Djinni! Is enough to make me famous, no?"
"Uhuh." Jack says, eyes skeptical. He knows North is an inventor, so it's not impossible, but it's certainly strange. "And where is this robot? I've never seen it."
"You are sitting on him."
Jack's eyes snap open. Bewildered, he looks at the sleigh beneath his feet.
"As for why Djinni is now a sleigh—that is long story," North shrugs.
"Huh," says Jack, "you'll… have to tell me the story later. It sounds… interesting." He relaxes slowly, blue eyes curious. After a moment of silence, Jack moves, gently prodding the sleigh's dashboard with his staff a few times, like he's expecting it to jump up and bite him. When nothing particularly magical happens, Jack sits back on his heels and stares thoughtfully at it. Curious, wondering. Absently, he takes another bite of his gingerbread man, deep in thought.
North blinks at the cookie, probably pilfered from the sleigh's cookie stash. "Ah. Stealing cookies, Jack?"
Jack stops mid-chew, then looks down at the cookie in his hands like he's never seen it before. Eyes wide, he looks up at North. "…I can explain," he begins guiltily, his hand literally caught in the cookie jar.
Jack's words almost—almost—make North frown. I can explain—it's a phrase Jack picked up recently and uses whenever he thinks he's done something very, very wrong. North suspects he started using it after Easter. When Jack went missing, causing Easter's downfall, Bunny, Tooth, and even North had failed to listen to Jack's explanation, which would have saved them all a lot of heartache.
Now, whenever something goes wrong, Jack's first reaction is to get his side of the story out as fast as possible. North does his best to listen, now, even though it's disheartening to watch Jack metaphorically tiptoe around him and the others, like Jack fears he'll be sent away at any moment.
But this time, North ignores Jack's rushed explanations, simply because I can explain is a phrase that shouldn't be used for something as small and as innocent as stealing a few cookies.
"Nonsense, Jack," North waves off Jack's worry. "If you are hungry, eat. Here. Have more." He empties his pocketful of cookies into Jack's hands. Jack fumbles with the newfound bounty, squeaks in delight, and nearly devours them all at once.
With that finished, North takes up the reigns and leans forward to inspect the navigation system on the sleigh's dashboard. "Now let's see. Where to next?"
Jack slides down into the seat next to North. "Buh-nny cah-lled." He says through a mouthful of cookies. "Ee sayhd wur a'ead a edsl."
"…Eh?"
Jack pauses, then with a struggle, swallows the large mouthful off Christmas cookies. With a wince, he speaks again. "I said Bunny called." Jack repeats. "We're ahead of schedule. According to your computers the Pole. Not that Bunny trusts computers."
Similar to how Jack is guarding the sleigh, the other Guardians are helping out too—Bunnymund is guarding the Pole, and also babysitting North's navigational computers while he's at it. However, the Pooka is less than savvy with technology, and North doesn't exactly trust his findings.
"Ahead of schedule?" he repeats, bewildered. He leans forward to double check the navigation system on the sleigh's dashboard. Sure enough, they are a full 5 minutes ahead.
North can only sit back and blink. This is… well, quite frankly, it's never happened before. North is always running late, due to one problem or another. Other spirits sometimes make it a game to ruin Christmas for fun, and with Pitch on the prowl this year, North was sure something would go terribly, terribly wrong.
But, perhaps accepting help from his fellow Guardians this year had been not only a great deterrent, but has actually helped move Christmas along?
"Actually, Sandy called too. Asked us to slow down or take a break," Jack says, leaving North even more bewildered. Catching the big guy's confusion, Jack clarifies. "He's putting the next town to sleep. Hard to get sugarplums dancing above kids' heads if we beat the Sandman there."
"…Oh." North can only blink in surprise.
"So, looks like we've got five minutes to kill. What do you wanna do?" Jack leans back in his seat, propping his feet up on the dashboard.
North pauses, taking a moment to sit back and take a deep breath. A break? It sounds absurd. North wants to protest—he hasn't taken a break during Christmas for centuries, thank you very much. If he is ahead of schedule, surely he should keep up the good pace?
Then again—
North takes a deep breath and looks over the New York City skyline; at the quarter moon hanging in the sky, and the city buzzing below. Delivering Christmas presents is quite an arduous task, and North is always left feeling exhausted afterwards. Though he's not even close to done with his route, the dull ache in his joints is starting to grow. A break certainly would be nice.
North, caught in indecision, looks over to ask Jack his opinion. Jack is relaxed, sitting with a hand outstretched as the wind threads through his fingers. Despite his calm exterior, Jack is still alert, keeping one eye on the long shadows cast over Stark Tower's roof. Waiting for Pitch, or anyone who might surprise them.
Suddenly, as North watches Jack's eyes sweep to and fro, he remembers the letter. He realizes this is the perfect time to tell Jack. Besides, Jack's gaze is already starting to wander back to Stark Tower's windows, sparking with a hint of mischief and temptation.
Leaning back in his seat, North grins. "Jack, I have a surprise for you!" he announces, earning Jack's attention.
Jack is suddenly all ears. "…Is it more cookies?"
"…No." North ignores Jack's small, disappointed aww, and says, "Is better than that! One of your believers wrote you a letter!"
"A letter?" Jack blinks. "Okay, I'll bite. Who wrote it? Jamie? Claude?"
"No, not from Burgess. From here!" North makes an extravagant gesture to Stark Tower.
Again, Jack blinks. "…Huh?"
North pulls the paper from his coat pocket with a grin. "You have a new believer!" Which brings the grand total up to… eight. Seven Burgess kids and one Avenger. Quite frankly, it's an odd combination.
North offers the letter eagerly for Jack to take. Jack does, confused, and blinks at the paper for a moment. North explains, "He wrote you a letter. Well, wrote me a letter, but it is about you. Is interesting, no?" He watches Jack expectantly, waiting for a reaction. It's proof of a new believer, and that's big news—and besides, North is more than a little curious about what's written on the inside.
For a moment, Jack just stares at the letter, his eyes running across the delicately detailed marks. There is silence, and then—
"Jack, you—you are holding it upside down."
"…Oh." Jack says, but makes no attempt to flip the letter over. He blinks at it once, then gives North a slight smile. "Cool. Maybe you can read it to me later," he says, handing it back.
North accepts it, puzzled, and watches for a moment as Jack leans back into his seat. The boy's eyes flicker curiously down at the letter in North's hands again, then away. Clearly, the boy is curious at the letter's contents, so why…?
For a moment longer, North stares, then the answer dawns on him. "…You can't read," he says.
Jack just laughs. "North, If I could read—I'd have written my name on every frosty window in the world until someone believed in me!" he exclaims, eyes dancing in amusement.
North's happiness deflates a little. It always does, somehow, whenever Jack mentions his lack of believers. Seven children—that is only a fraction of North's believers. A fraction of a fraction. North probably even loses seven kids, or more, every day. And because a Guardian's powers—and a Guardian's life—are dependent on how many children believe in them, it's frightening to think that Jack is so close to Zero. But, despite having only a few believers, Jack seems content.
It's humbling, in a way.
North and the others have all truly been trying to get him more believers, but Jack Frost's status as "just an expression" seems very firmly stuck in place. In addition, the Guardians have been frantically trying to do damage control since the Easter debacle, and the Alien invasion during Summer hasn't helped matters.
North leans back to look at the moon, thinking. After finishing Christmas this year, he'd have to make Jack's believer base his top priority. He wouldn't stop until Jack had at least one new believer.
Well, he thinks, eyes flickering down to the letter in his large hands. One more new believer.
Jack sits forward suddenly, catching North's attention. "Say, speaking of believers," he says, a smile tugging at his lips. "You know what we should do after we finish delivering presents? …We should stop in Burgess!"
"…To see Jamie?" North asks, guessing the hidden agenda.
Jack is completely unashamed at his motives. "And the others. Please?" the teen asks, clasping his hands together. He puts on the best puppydog face he can muster. "Pleeease?"
North chuckles, his fingers gripping the letter tighter. "Alright, Jack, if that's what you want."
Jack smiles, practically glowing. "Thanks!" he says. "I mean, I'm sure Jamie and the others are going to have an awesome Christmas, but I just want to make sure it's…"
Bing! The sleigh's dashboard interrupts loudly. It's North's schedule timer, announcing it's time to move on to the next town.
"…Perfect," Jack finishes. He grins and hops up, taking up his guard post at the back of the sleigh again. "Time to go?"
"Time to go."
Jack nods, settling into place, crouched and ready for takeoff. His eyes are alert again, sweeping the shadows around the roof and beneath the sleigh. When he sees no sign of their familiar foe, he gives the all-clear. "So where to next?"
"Well, we are done with New York, so—down to Jersey." North says, putting the letter away into his inner coat pocket and grabbing up the reigns. He stands, taking the helm of the sleigh.
The reindeer are suddenly restless again, sensing movement. They stomp the ground with their hooves and toss their heads, eager for flight. North won't have them wait any longer. With the snap of the reins, the restless beasts take off in a full gallop, surging across the wide, flat rooftop and off into the air.
North pulls out a large snowglobe and whispers a location into it. The snow inside swirls and thickens, and North throws it straight forward. A blast shakes the air as a portal forms, opening a blue swirling vortex to a city in the south.
North glances backwards to make sure Jack is still holding on tight. The boy has reclaimed his lookout point at the back seat, but his eyes are distant, looking down at Stark Tower. The gaze is only a moment long, but it's enough to make North think.
Gently, North pats his jacket, and the letter underneath, wondering what's on Jack's mind.
The wind catches up to them, dancing about Jack like a whirlwind, and Jack finally smiles. He cups his hands to his mouth and, loud enough to startle, he shouts out a couple trademark words.
"Ho, ho, ho!" he calls, and his deep voice bounds off the many skyscrapers below. "Merry Christmas!"
North cannot help but grin.
He turns and urges the reindeer forward. The sleigh enters the portal at top speed, vanishing from the sky. In a bright flash of light, the portal is gone too, leaving behind nothing but a watchful moon and a quiet Christmas Eve.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reminder: Tune in tomorrow for some Guardian family bonding, Jack's trickster antics, and the revealing of Thor's mysterious letter.