Jack yawned, feeling tired and queasy; he sighed, leaning into Jamie as Roxas climbed into his lap and fell asleep. Jamie settled the two of them so that they're all comfortable before drawing a blanket around the three of them. Jack nuzzle into Jamie while Roxas nuzzled into them both; Jamie smiled a little before yawning. Yeah... his search could wait... It was early in the morning when Roxas began to grow fussy.
"Alright, alright. Hold on Rox, daddy's got your formula." Jack said tiredly as he stuck the bottle in the baby's hands, he drank it down greedily. Jamie stirred slightly from the fuss that Roxas made; Jack patted Jamie's side gently.
"Go back to sleep." Jamie muttered something unintelligible before settling down again. Jack smiled.
"Daddy's silly isn't he?" Jack whispered, Roxas agreed quietly and they left to room for the nursery where the toys were still scattered about for Roxas to play with. Jamie woke up a few minutes later, not because of the racket or anything, but because his stomach was telling him that he hadn't eaten recently enough. Roxas and Jack were playing a game of tiddlywinks when Jamie came into the room after having gotten himself something to eat.
"Hey." Roxas had managed five in the cup, while Jack had only gotten another blue one in the yellow cup.
"How the heck do you do it Rox?" Jack was amazed that he was being beaten by a boy who was barely over a year old now. Jamie settled down to watch the two of them for a while, intrigued while Roxas giggled; demonstrating again before he let another one fly, but he missed his aim this time and overshot the cup completely. Jack chuckled, he gets another one in.
"Finally, but I lost huh Roxas?" Roxas just giggled and clapped, picking a new color to start chucking at the cup; he didn't know the meaning of winning and losing yet, he was just having fun. Jack smiled, he suddenly felt very sleepy and he face planted on the floor as exhaustion overtook him. Jamie wondered about that, but he said nothing as he picked Jack up and put him back into the bed to sleep. He tucked Jack in before going back to Roxas to play the game with the boy and figure out what in the world it was about anyway. Roxas showed Jamie the game.
"You put the tiply wink here and you toss its in theres and the more you has than the others person yous um... uh... win." Jamie smiled, more in pride at how Roxas was learning more and more to talk than with the game.
"Alright. Let's see if I can manage to do better than your father." Jamie said as he settled to trying his hand at playing. He soon found out that he could easily flick the discs but actually getting them in the cup was another matter altogether... Roxas giggled.
"Lith this papa." He said, flicking his disc easily into the cup; Jamie chuckled.
"Easier said than done son. I think I need to work on my accuracy." He replied before finally getting one into the cup. Roxas giggled, but slowly started to get drowsy as he continued to play.
"I don' want toth sweep." He said as he rubbed his eyes.
"I know, but you probably should if you want to grow up to be as tall as your father." Jamie said with a smile.
"Come on, you can take your nap with him." The boy drowsily rubbed his eyes some more, not wanting to sleep but at this point his body wasn't going to let him stay awake much longer. Jamie picked the boy up and carried him to the bedroom where Jack was and settled him near Jack. It was only when the boy's eyes closed and he dropped off did Jamie step out for a while to go back on his search for the reason he's still alive. Jack hugged Roxas in his sleep, the boy snuggled even closer as he dreamed of Jamie and Jack taking him to a zoo and then what it might have been like if he was taken to a park. Roxas snuggled closer in his sleep; Jack awoke the next morning, holding Roxas closer; he noticed that Jamie was gone.
"Jamie?" Jamie had headed back to the pole as the light was just coming to speak of a new day in Burgess. He was hungry for breakfast and entered the Workshop through the skylight, hovering near the globe as North looked up and greeted him cheerfully. Jack sighed, having taught Roxas how to eat eggs; the boy was doing well, better than any normal child could as he didn't get any on him. North sighed.
"Jamie, he become real depressed," He whispered, talking of Jack of course. "and angry, so I wouldn't go in there quite yet. I'll have yetis bring you breakfast no?" He said smiling. Jamie winced a little but shook his head.
"I'll take my chances. I don't want Jack taking this out on you or the yetis. This is between the two of us." He wasn't looking forward to this, but he wasn't about to let the yetis just sneak crap out either just for his benefit. He had a feeling that would make things worse. So, with an inward sigh, he landed at the kitchen door and walked in.
"Where were you?" Jack's voice was stern, anger bubbling underneath the words though he stayed calm for Roxas' sake.
"Canada." Jamie replied evenly as he got a plate to eat. Jack breathed in deeply.
"Why? Do I bother you or something?" Jamie was about to cut his pancakes but at the question he dropped the knife and looked over at Jack. Genuine surprise and something edging along hurt flickered in his eyes.
"Jack... why would you ever think that? I know I was gone a while to sort things out in my own mind... but..." He took a deep breath a moment to steady himself, struggling to keep calm for Roxas' sake.
"I don't leave because I find you a bother or any such thing." Jack started to cry a little.
"But when I found you not there I thought... I thought you'd leave me again because of me..." Jack was really hurt and Jamie felt it. Jack wasn't angry exactly, he was still heartbroken; Roxas, seeing this, hugged him.
"Dad no cwy." He said, looking at Jack with worry. Jamie left the plate where it was and went over to Jack, he put his arms around him and pulled him close. He gently brushed away the tears before pressing his lips to Jack's in a feather light, loving kiss. When he broke the kiss he spoke quietly.
"I promised I would never leave you alone. I might not always be around because I'm searching for my purpose, but I will never leave you. Whether you want me to or not, whether we're mad at each other or not, whether you are in the same room with me or not... I'll always be here for you." Jack hugged Jamie tightly.
"And I and Roxas will be here for you." Jamie kept Jack in his embrace.
"I know you will, and that's part of why I love you. I will always love you both." Roxas cuddled into Jack and Jamie's chest.
"Dadas no mo fwight." He said, leaning in and kissing both of their chins as it was all he could reach.
"Can't promise that squirt, but I can promise that it won't ever be because of you. Your dad and I won't always see eye to eye, but it's the differences we like about one another. Sometimes people fight, but that doesn't mean we don't still love each other." Roxas pouted in a way like 'why not?' Jack patted his hair with a bit of a smile; Jamie chuckled a little at his expression.
"You'll understand better when you're older." Jamie gently kissed his forehead before kissing Jack again, the kiss just as loving as before but it had a bit more force than the previous. Jack smiled and whispered in Jamie's ear.
"Not in front of Roxas." He chuckled as Roxas got curious and now lay against Jack's chest before suddenly growing curious of how Jack's pants looked different from his own and poked at his hidden, but not hidden enough, libido.
"EehAh!" Jack gasped out as Roxas poked it curiously.
"NO! NO! Roxas no! Don't touch daddy's AHAH!" Jack gasped and handed Roxas over to Jamie so he could cover himself. Jamie chuckled and held Roxas to one side so he couldn't reach Jack.
"Now Roxas, no doing that to other people. That's not a nice place to poke someone." Roxas looked curious at Jack, whose face was a deep shade of red.
"Why no dada?" He asked innocently and Jack shivered.
"It's not a place you should ever touch unless it's your own I suppose." Jack groaned.
"Never mind what I just said, you'll understand when you're older."
"And because you can hurt someone there, it's a very tender spot." Jamie added.
"You don't want to hurt anyone, so just best not to okay?" Jack sighed as Roxas asked.
"What is that in there though?" He asked, more curious and tried to look but Jack yelped.
"No, no!" Jamie decided it was a good idea to take Roxas out of the room.
"That's for when you're older son. Let's see what Auntie Tooth is doing. I saw her around here earlier." Roxas clapped.
"Yay! Auntwi Twooths!" Roxas said, trying to say her name but his lisp messed him up. Jamie found Tooth helping with wrapping some gifts.
"Hey Tooth!" She looked up and smiled a little.
"Hey Jamie! What's up?"
"Roxas wanted to know what you were up to. Mind watching him for a bit?"
"Not at all." She smiled and Jamie set Roxas down, he giggled and toddled over to her as she sat down on the floor now.
"Thanks." Jamie made his way back to Jack. Roxas busied himself wrapping himself in wrapping paper and tape. Jack, meanwhile, was trying to calm down as the voice of Malfor tried yet again to take control over him as he sat on the bed in the room he shared with Jamie and Roxas; apparently the bag idea hadn't stopped that. Jamie went over to the drawer; he wasn't sure this was a good idea but he didn't have any other idea at the moment. He sent a tiny bit of his power to the stone through the back; wrapping it in light and at the same time coating it in a gentle frost. Jack gasped, arching suddenly in the bed as the sensation was rough but gentle too.
"J-j-jamie... what did you do?" Jack asked, shivering.
"A counteract measure I figured out when Chris still had his stone. Granted, the frost won't likely affect you quite as much as it did him." Jack shuddered.
"O-oh... w-where's Chris?" He asked, slightly hopeful that his friend was alive.
"In the infirmary, recovering from the wounds. I don't think he'll be up and about any time soon still, but he might be conscious. I don't know, I haven't exactly gone to check on him." Jack nodded and stared off into space for a second or two before he sat up.
"I think I"ll go check on him." He said, standing up; that was a mood killer if Jamie ever heard one. At that same moment, Roxas had managed to wrap himself up to such a degree that a yeti put a stamp on him, thinking that he was a toy robot; the stamp said he'd be off to China, noticing this however, Tooth managed to rescue Roxas from being shipped off and unwrapped him. Roxas giggled in response while Jack sighed, heading to the infirmary; he knocked on the door only to see that Chris was sitting up reading a comic book based off a story of the Guardians. Jamie followed Jack, not so much because his mind was on finishing what he had started earlier, but because he still didn't trust that other spirit. Even if Chris did owe him his life now.
"Jack." Chris' throat sounds sore, but also relieved to see him. Jack smiles, but the slight glare in his eyes reminds Chris he hasn't forgotten what almost happened.
"Are you okay?" He nods.
"I'm free now, I suppose and I'm really sorry for what happened back there. I was ordered to do so, I couldn't fight him." He looked down at his blankets, distraught; at that Jack sighed and hugged the other spirit. Jamie wasn't sure he believed that, but he kept silent.
"I don't blame you anymore Chris, I know now it wasn't you but Malfor."
"A nasty piece of work that. You said there were others. How many?" It's the first thing Jamie's said to Chris since the trip. Jack suddenly clutches his head in pain, twin boys appear; psychic users.
"Thousands, Jamie." The boy on the right said, they looked exactly alike; brown hair with beady black eyes, even both dressed in blue jeans and red shirts.
"Thousands." The left boy says before the two speak in unison.
"We've come to bring back what is Malfor's." Jack screams in pain as he clutches and pulls at his hair to make it stop; Chris is in pain as well, but he manages to fight it off easier as he's more used to it.
"STOP!" He cries in worry for his friend. Jamie put one hand on Jack's shoulder, his light burst through and pushed back the influence; he sent back his own message to the two in the process.
"Tell your boss that Jack is no longer his. Your interference will not be tolerated. Consider this your only warning." The twins stumbled back under Jamie's power, their eyes wide in shock before they replied back to his message.
"Resistance is futile, Jamie Bennett. He will be Malfor's whether you want him to or not." The left one replied.
"Keep on your toes Bennett." The right boy said before they disappeared into nothingness. Jack groaned, holding his head. Jamie was starting to get fed up with this whole thing. He headed back to the room and picked up the stone from the drawer... Jack wasn't going to thank him for this but he was getting tired of this Malfor... and without the stone, it'd be even harder for the demon thing... or whatever he was, to have a hold over Jack. Jamie took a deep breath as he pulled out the stone from the bag, hesitating for only a moment before he sent his light into the stone; it would protect Jack, but also likely cause him to pass out as he sent ice into the stone and shattered it. Jack gasped in the other room.
"J-jamie!" He screeched before he passed out, convulsing for several minutes as the stone flew into Jack's body; the shattered remains reforming back into the stone and then slipping out of Jack to lay near him. Nothing could destroy it except the power of the one who had created it. Jack gasped, panting in his forced sleep, scrunched in pain. Jamie returned to the room and nearly sighed in frustration when he realized that he wasn't able to destroy it like Malfor had destroyed Chris'. Jack squirmed on the floor, when he woke up he glared at Jamie hard; he was furious, he picked up the stone and walked away silently, not saying a word to Jamie. Well... it was worth a shot. Jamie figured Jack wouldn't speak to him for a good long while for that... but what else was he supposed to do? He wasn't an idiot... not like he could take on the monster itself; he knew he didn't have that kind of power. Even his center had its limits on what it could do. Yes, belief did hold the world together, but it wasn't like he could do just anything with it. He wasn't a god after all or anything even remotely close. With a sigh he went for a walk around the Workshop. Jack, meanwhile, was playing with Roxas while Tooth was helping test some toys; she'd noticed that Jack was unusually silent and even stranger was Jack's lack of reaction when Roxas hit him with a hammer. Tooth took the tool from the child.
"Jack, what's wrong?" Jack didn't say anything, just clutching the stone in one hand, but even that didn't cause him pain. Roxas poked Jack's foot, he'd sensed something was off but he didn't know what. Tooth looked at Jack, worried. Jack didn't move or speak; eventually he just lay his head down on the nearest table, clutching the stone tighter.
"Dada?" Jack looked over at Roxas and grunted in response, he hugged Roxas close. Roxas studied Jack for a while; Tooth nearly sighed in frustration at her lack of ability to get Jack to talk to her.
"Dada hurt?" Tears streamed down Jack's face and he sniffled.
"No baby, dada's not hurt; just upset is all." He hugged the boy as he spoke to him.
"Don't worry about it." Tooth still worried though, wondering what it was that could have upset Jack so.
