Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or Once Upon a Time.
Chapter 7: Dark Dreams
In the Enchanted Forest…
Frost opened his eyes and sat bolt upright with a gasp, glancing around frantically. For a moment, it had felt as if he was at the bottom of the lake again, feeling the icy water fill his lungs.
"Are you all right?" Snow asked from nearby as she sat up, startled by his abrupt movement.
Frost looked around, breathing rapidly as he tried to calm himself. "Yes… yes, I'm all right. I just… I had a nightmare."
"About what?"
He sighed. "Drowning."
Snow walked over and sat down next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently.
Frost looked up at her. "Actually, yes, I do." His eyes narrowed, and he lowered his head, looking at the glowing embers of the cooking fire they'd made earlier. "When I told you that I fell into a lake, I wasn't telling the whole story."
She frowned. "So what happened, then?"
"I didn't just fall into that lake." Frost looked over at her. "I woke up at the bottom of it." His eyes closed for a moment, and he shuddered, remembering the cold. "I couldn't remember anything; I didn't know who I was, where I was from, whether I had family…" He sighed. "Everything's gone. I don't even know my own name."
Snow had been watching him quietly as he spoke, an expression of mingled pity and compassion on her face. "Hey," she murmured, drawing his attention. "It's going to be all right. We're going to fix this." She smiled. "We'll find out what happened to you, and I will help you get your memories back. I promise."
Frost's lips curved in a smile. "Thank you, Snow. I'm extremely grateful."
"Well, you did save my life," Snow reminded him. "So I owe you one." She grinned.
"I'm certainly glad I–" Frost was cut off by an odd sensation that ran up the back of his neck, as if his hair had stood on end. He shivered, noting a sudden chill in the air, and sat up, glancing around.
"What's wrong?" Snow inquired.
"I don't know, but… something doesn't feel right." He stood up, picking up his staff with one hand, and looked around again. Nothing moved among the trees surrounding their camp.
That was when he heard it; a faint whispering noise, barely audible.
He frowned. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Snow stood, drawing her knife and gazing warily into the dark forest.
The whispering was slowly growing louder. No words could be determined; it almost sounded more like a snake hissing than a person speaking. Frost tightened his grip on his staff, as another chill ran through him.
Then he heard another sound; the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.
Snow heard it this time; she whipped around, staring fixedly into the trees. "We should go," she whispered. "Those soldiers–"
"No," Frost hissed, cutting her off. "It's not them."
"Then who is it?"
Another rustling sound, followed by a low, scratchy hiss, echoed through the trees.
"That didn't sound like it came from a who," Frost stated.
And then there was a flash of movement, and it burst out of the shadows, heading straight for them.
It was unbelievably fast, but Frost caught a glimpse of it as it charged. A powerful, low-slung body, covered in jet-black fur, and running on four legs; two eyes, visible only as glowing orange slits; and a mouth filled with dagger-like teeth. Shadows seemed to bend and ripple around it, blurring its outline and making it difficult to see where its feet touched the ground.
The creature was upon them in an instant; letting out a vicious snarl, it lunged at Frost, fangs bared.
With a cry, Frost swung his staff like a club, catching the creature with a solid whack across the head. It hit the ground next to him and skidded to a halt, whirling around and lunging again. Again, he warded it off with a blow of the staff, but it reared up, slashing at him with long, razor-sharp claws on its front feet.
He recoiled, staggering backwards as the creature spun and lashed out with a long tail that slammed against his legs, sweeping his feet out from under him. He hit the ground flat on his back, gasping for air as he attempted to get up.
Before Frost could regain his feet, the creature leaped at him again and tackled him, yanking him off-balance and landing on top of him. He grabbed its throat with one hand, holding off the claws with his staff as it lunged, snapping at his head and neck.
"Hey!" Snow yelled, raising her knife. "Leave him alone!"
The creature turned, fixing its gaze on her, and hissed again, shifting its weight and preparing to spring.
"No!" Frost roared, heaving upwards and lashing out convulsively, throwing the creature off of him. As it rolled over and whipped around to face him again, he extended one hand towards it, remembering the surge of power that had filled him the previous day, when he had coated that soldier in ice. He fell back into that rage, felt it coursing through his veins. Once again, he felt that sensation like icy water pouring down his back.
Frost's eyes narrowed, and a chill pulsed outward through the air around him. Then he shoved his hand forward, and a blast of glowing blue-white energy shot from his palm, striking the creature. Instantly, a thick coating of frost spread over its dark fur, covering the beast in ice. The creature shrieked, a deafening, inhuman sound, and stumbled backwards, shaking itself like a wet dog in an attempt to remove the ice, but the frost clung stubbornly to its body.
With another shriek, the creature turned and fled, staggering drunkenly. It slammed against a tree, scraping off some of the frost, and broke into a run, disappearing into the trees. One last snarl echoed through the trees, and then it was gone.
Frost scrambled to his feet, looking around wide-eyed. The creature had vanished completely; the forest was dark and silent.
Snow walked slowly over to him. "What the hell was that?" she asked in disbelief.
He looked back over at her, his expression grave. "I don't know." Feeling another chill run down his spine, he looked back around at the trees. "But I think we should get moving. This place isn't safe anymore."
Nodding, Snow began gathering up their possessions. Frost joined her, but not before taking one last look into the trees.
What was that thing? he thought to himself, feeling an ominous tinge of foreboding.
Storybrooke, Maine
Jackson walked down a leaf-strewn sidewalk, listening to the sounds of birds chirping in the nearby trees.
It had been almost two weeks since Valentine's Day, and Jackson was starting to get somewhat bored with Storybrooke. While he'd been able to entertain himself so far, there was actually very little to do in town, so he'd ended up spending most of his free time hiking through the woods surrounding the area. That was enjoyable, but Jackson was losing interest.
Jackson's walk came to a halt in front of Granny's Diner. He ducked through the front door, seating himself in a corner booth just as Ruby exited the kitchen. She grinned upon seeing him, and he smiled back, waving at her.
As he waited for Ruby, Jackson noticed an argument between three men at the bar. One of them stood to leave, just as the front door opened.
Jackson turned, to see that Mary Margaret had just entered the room. She seemed somewhat nervous as she took a step forward, glancing around the room, and finally spoke. "Excuse me," she called. "Can I have everyone's attention, please?"
All eyes turned to Mary Margaret, and the entire diner went silent.
Jackson frowned. What's going on?
"I'm sorry to interrupt your morning," she continued, "but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us; Miner's Day. As always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved, and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So… who wants to join me?"
The silence continued. No one raised a hand to volunteer.
Okay, something's seriously wrong here, Jackson thought.
The man who had just gotten up to leave walked towards the door. Mary Margaret's eyes widened in surprise. "Leroy?" she asked. "You want to volunteer?"
The man – Leroy, Jackson assumed – snorted. "I want to leave, sister," he said coolly. "You're blocking the door."
Mary Margaret nodded slowly. "Of course," she replied softly. "Uh, you know; if you wanted to help, it could really be a–"
"Yeah, right," Leroy shot back. "Quite a team we'd make – town harlot, town drunk. The only person in this town that people like less than me is you. If you're coming to me, you're screwed." With that, he pushed past her and walked out of the diner without another word.
Mary Margaret stood motionless for a moment, stunned. Then she turned, not speaking, and left the room. A blonde woman, who Jackson recognized as Sheriff Emma Swan, hurried after her.
Jackson glanced after her, his eyes wide in puzzlement.
"You okay?" Ruby asked as she set down his food, drawing his attention back to the diner's interior.
He blinked, looking up at her. "Oh, yeah, sorry." He smiled, but it was clear that his attention was elsewhere. After a moment, he looked back over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Mary Margaret and Emma walking down the sidewalk outside. "What's going on with her?"
"You haven't heard?" Ruby sighed. "Turns out she's been having an affair with a married guy for the past few weeks."
Jackson raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Well, that would explain the reactions."
"Yeah." Ruby shrugged. "I never would have thought she'd do something like that, but she's admitted it herself."
"Yikes." Jackson contemplated that for a moment. "So, out of curiosity… what's Miner's Day?"
Ruby grinned. "Right, you're not from Storybrooke, so you wouldn't know. It's an annual holiday, for an old tradition here in town. The town had some old coal mines a long time ago; the nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal. Now they use it as a fundraiser." She winked at him. "You should come. It's always an amazing party; everyone loves it."
"Well, that depends." A smirk flickered across his face. "Will I see you there?"
Ruby's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Definitely."
"Then yeah, I'd love to." Jackson chuckled. "Where is this thing, exactly?"
Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop
Storybrooke, Maine
Regina stormed into the pawnshop, banging the door against the wall. "Gold!" she snapped.
As if her words had summoned him, Mr. Gold promptly appeared in the doorway to the back room, brushing aside a curtain. "Ah, Madame Mayor," he said in a friendly manner. "What can I do for you?"
"Don't play games with me," Regina snarled. "How the hell did you find him? Did you have a plan set up with him before the curse went into effect?"
Gold frowned. "Him? Whom exactly are you referring to?"
"Oh, cut the crap, Gold." Her eyes blazed. "He wasn't affected by the original curse; I know that, otherwise I would have seen him before now. He didn't come through with the rest of us, and now he shows up out of nowhere, talking to my son, right after the Savior shows up. The only person in this town who could have set this up, other than me, is you. So what the hell did you do?"
Realization suddenly dawned on Gold's face. "Ah, you're talking about the newest resident of our happy little town," he said. "A certain Mr. Jackson Whittemore, or so he told me when I encountered him."
Regina scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. You know exactly who he really is; even if you didn't bring him here, you would've been able to recognize him."
"And indeed I have." Gold casually leaned against the counter. "Jack Frost." It was a statement of fact, not a guess.
"So you do remember him." Regina's eyes narrowed. "And you're seriously still going to tell me that he just showed up here by himself?"
He nodded. "I am." Before she could protest, he held up a hand. "I made no deals with Frost prior to the Curse's enactment. And, in case you weren't aware, he may not have ended up in Storybrooke with us, but he doesn't have the faintest idea who he really is, or who any of us are." He smiled thinly. "He has no more memories of our land than anyone else in this town."
"That still doesn't explain how he got here in the first place."
Gold shrugged. "He's been in this land before, dearie. This one, and others." He smirked. "Jack Frost is – was – a realm-jumper. He could have brought himself from our old land to this one as easily as opening a door; he wouldn't need a curse, portal, or magic bean. The downside is, he cannot transport others with him when he does this; he must always go alone."
"So, that's how he must have gotten here," Regina theorized. "But it still doesn't explain why he can't remember anything."
"Well, considering that, for the most part, magic doesn't exist in this world, it's probably very fortunate for us that he has no memories." Gold considered for a moment. "For now, I would suggest avoiding him; without your powers, you'd be no match for Frost if he remembers who we are and still has his magic."
She looked at him skeptically. "Why would he still have his magic?"
"I've rarely ever seen anything like Frost's power," Gold explained matter-of-factly. "But he has told me that he's always been able to use it, even in lands without magic of their own. So, if he remembers how to use his powers, then trust me… he'll be able to use magic, whether the rest of us can or not."
After a moment, Regina nodded. "Right. In that case, I'll be sure to avoid him." A glint entered her eyes. "At least until I can figure out how to get rid of him."
"That won't be easy," Gold warned. "Even if he doesn't remember who he is, Frost was always a tough one."
"I know." Regina smiled coldly. "But so am I."
Miners' Day Festival
Jackson strolled through the festival, glancing around for any sign of Ruby. He didn't recognize most of the people around him, only a couple of faces here and there. All the same, this festival was impressive.
Finally, he spotted Ruby, leaning against a tree and watching the festivities with disinterest.
A grin flashed across Jackson's face. "Ruby!" he called, waving.
She turned, her face lighting up as soon as she saw him. "Jackson!"
With a chuckle, Jackson ran forward to meet her. When he reached her, acting on an impulse, he wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug, lifted her in the air and spun her around. It seemed oddly natural, although he'd never done that before.
Ruby laughed, hugging him. "Happy to see me?" she asked.
"You have no idea," Jackson admitted honestly. He was actually surprised by how much he'd missed her; then again, Ruby was one of the few people in this town who'd been particularly welcoming to him. She was definitely the only one who he'd become close to.
She actually blushed when she heard that, and then smiled. "Want to grab a drink?"
Jackson shrugged. "Sure."
Just as they headed towards the nearest drinks stand, a thunderous bang echoed across the square; there was an explosion of sparks from the roof of a nearby building, and every light in the square flickered and went out.
Jackson had instinctively placed himself protectively in front of Ruby when the explosion had occurred, but he lowered his arm after a few seconds, glancing around to make sure nothing else was happening.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, somewhat nervously.
Jackson turned back to face her. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He looked around the darkened square again. "What the hell was that?"
She shrugged, looking up at the long strands of lightbulbs on cords that had been stretched over the square. "No idea. The power must've gone out." She snorted. "Perfect time for it to happen, right?"
Looking around, Jackson caught sight of something else; a booth with stacks of large wax candles arranged on the counter. Just a few seconds after he noticed it, two other people hurried over to the booth and took up positions behind the counter.
To Jackson's surprise, the two people operating the candle booth were Mary Margaret and Leroy, the irritable man from the diner.
Jackson's lips curved in a smile.
"Actually, I think it couldn't have happened at a better time," he replied, indicating the booth.
Ruby's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, that's right, the candles!" She started towards the booth, taking his hand and tugging at his arm with a smile. "Come on!"
Jackson chuckled in amusement, following after her.
Within an hour of the power outage, all of the candles had been purchased; everyone at the festival had descended on the booth. Jackson and Ruby were standing next to the booth, each of them holding a lit candle in one hand.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ruby asked softly, looking around at all of the lit candles. "Reminds me of fireflies."
Jackson smiled. "Yeah, it is," he replied.
The sound of laughter drew his attention to the candle booth. Mary Margaret and Leroy were hugging joyously; Leroy even lifted her feet slightly off the floor, which was quite an accomplishment considering that she was significantly taller than him.
Breaking the hug, they both looked across the square. Jackson followed their line of sight with a quick glance, noticing that they appeared to be looking at a group of women in dark blue robes – clearly some of the nuns that he'd heard about.
"Well, go on," Mary Margaret said to Leroy, her voice soft enough that only Leroy and Jackson could hear her. "Give her the news. Have your moment." She smiled, handing him a metal case, and gave him a gentle push, sending him walking off towards the nuns.
Deciding to take advantage of the man's absence, Jackson turned back to Ruby. "Could you excuse me for a second?" he asked.
Ruby nodded with a smile. "Sure," she replied. "Hurry back."
"Your wish is my command." Jackson winked, and strode off towards the booth.
Mary Margaret didn't appear to notice him; she was focused on the scene across the square, where Leroy had now engaged one of the nuns in conversation. Jackson stopped behind her and politely spoke up.
"Uh, excuse me?" he said. "Mary Margaret?"
She turned, frowning in confusion and surprise when she saw him. "Um… I'm sorry, can I help you with something?"
"Well, actually, I just wanted to say thanks." Jackson held up his candle. "You know, for the candles. You two were really a lifesaver there."
Mary Margaret smiled faintly. "I… thank you," she murmured. "You're Jackson, right?"
"Yeah, I am. Nice to officially meet you." Jackson shook her hand with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you too." Mary Margaret looked around with a wistful expression on her face.
"Looking for someone?" Jackson inquired.
"What? No, no, I was just…" Mary Margaret trailed off. "Would you excuse me? I need to make a 'sold out' sign for the booth." She smiled. "This is the first time I can remember that we've needed one."
Jackson grinned. "Well, good luck to you."
"Enjoy the festival." With that, she turned around and ducked behind the booth again, rummaging around in search of some paper.
Left alone again, Jackson made his way back to where he'd left Ruby. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I was just talking to Mary Margaret."
Ruby nodded understandingly. "How's she doing?"
"She's coping, by the looks of it," Jackson answered, "but it's going to take a while before she can get over that. I've seen things like this happen back home, and it usually takes a while before things go back to normal."
"Most of it's just because this has never happened here before," Ruby stated. "That makes it worse, and to think that someone like Mary Margaret would do something like that…"
Jackson frowned. "Seriously? Something like this has never happened in Storybrooke before?"
Ruby shook her head. "Nope. Not as long as I can remember, anyway, and I've lived here my whole life."
Seriously? Jackson thought. You'd think that sort of thing would happen at least occasionally; it does everywhere else I've lived. Seriously, does anything ever happen in this town? Even this festival thing has been going on every year for God knows how long. It's like everyone here just does the exact same thing every day!
He sighed and took another look around the square, just in time to notice the blonde Sheriff, Emma, escorting a tall guy with short, light-brown hair down to where her police car was parked. Mary Margaret was watching them, with an expression of dismay on her face.
"Who's that guy?" Jackson asked, indicating the guy with one hand. The man's face seemed strangely familiar.
Ruby turned in surprise, looking at the guy, and then took a step forward, her eyes wide in surprise. "That's David Nolan," she answered. "He's the guy Mary Margaret was seeing."
As they watched, David climbed into the back seat of the police car. Emma closed the door and walked around to the driver's-side door. She hopped in, started the engine, and the car pulled out onto the road.
"So why's he being arrested?" Jackson wondered.
Ruby shrugged helplessly. "I don't know."
Well, it's official, Jackson thought as he watched the police car drive off. This town is freaking weird.
He sighed. Ah, well; at least it can't possibly be as bad as Beacon Hills.
Across the street from the festival, concealed among the dark trees, a pair of cold, piercing blue eyes watched the ongoing celebration.
The eyes flickered back and forth, looking around the square, taking in everything. But their primary focus was on the tall young man near the center of the plaza, with spiky blonde hair and a confident smirk on his face.
Yes, that's him, the owner of the eyes thought. I'd recognize a scent like that anywhere. An Omega; alone, in need of a pack.
A faint, amused smirk flickered across the figure's lips. Perfect.
The eyes narrowed, focusing on the distant form of Jackson Whittemore. And then, for a moment, they lit up, glowing a bright, burning red.
As quickly and silently as they had appeared, the eyes were gone, vanishing back into the forest.
A/N: And here we are again! Setting some things up for later.
Shoutouts to RHatch89, tablekorner, Guest, BlazeVein, stars4redvines, Lovelife05, and jessuhsuh for reviewing; you guys are awesome! :)
Next chapter, we find out how Jack Frost and Red Riding Hood first met, and Jackson becomes caught up in the investigation into Kathryn Nolan's disappearance… stay tuned!
See you all next time!
Review Q&A:
Q: Is Jack Frost's old friend Elsa the Snow Queen? Awesome update :)
A: An interesting guess… we'll have to wait and see!
Q: Another great update! Looking forward to the next one! Curious to see Jack had something going on with Red, definitely intriguing to see where this goes.
A: We'll learn more about that particular relationship next chapter.
Q: I absolutely love the moments between Jackson/Jack and Ruby/Red! Also, the friend that Jack learned from wouldn't happen to be Elsa, would it? Keep up the good work on the story!
A: Yeah, so do I; hope you liked the moments with them in this chapter, then! And don't worry, there'll be more of Jack and Red's history next chapter.
Again, an interesting guess.
Q: I miss your update. wow, Regina is not happy to see Jack. Now, I'm more intrigued. Nice chap :)
btw, you can answer the reviews in the same page of reviews clicking in that globe/cloud thingie -'reply reviews'- because ffnet sometimes get funny with the author comments or notes (was a real issue a couple years ago).
A: No, she definitely is not happy to see him; I gave some explanation for that in this chapter.
Yeah, I know that I can answer reviews via PM, but this is more convenient, because this way I can provide everyone with answers to their questions at the same time, and I won't have to answer the same questions over and over.
Q: I love this story and how you've approached writing it and the characters. It is so wonderfully written with Jackson (and Jack Frost!) interacting so perfectly with the Storybrooke gang... I'm sorry but I don't think I have the words to give this story justice. I truly love this story and how you are writing it and I look forward to the next chapter.
A: Thanks, I appreciate the compliment! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far; please let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Q: Awesome story...and I have a feeling of the relation between jack and the demon and how Jackson was in beacon hills but as you said you don't want spoilers so I'll keep my mouth shout...for now...but all-in-all can't wait for the next chapter.
A: Well, now you've intrigued me. Please feel free to PM me with your theories; I'd love to hear them! :)
