Skyla reached for the curtain, certain of who she would find behind it. The bracelet told her how afraid Jack was, too. How determined, how frantic. How hopeful. He was outside and she didn't want to wait a moment longer to see him. If she had to go much longer without being in his arms she was going to do something stupid for sure. Throwing back the curtain, she smiled at the spirit beyond. "It's Jack" she announced to the blonde behind her, "Brandon, it's fine. It's him."
Jack's smiling face was focused on her and he gestured for her to open the window. She flicked the latch and pushed. It didn't budge. Frowning, she pushed harder. Brandon laughed and walked up beside her to help open it, "What would you do without me? This scene could have been romantic, you know. Now it's more like one of the Ross and Rachel screw ups." he managed to get the window open and Jack flew inside, carefully avoiding the human who couldn't see him.
"Skyla!" he breathed out in relief, wrapping his arms around her, "You're safe. I'm so sorry that you were put in danger at all."
Skyla hugged him back, "So you know it's here?"
"Yes. The Guardians are waiting for us to leave... You did well getting Brandon to safety. And grabbing the bracelet. I'm sorry that your courage was necessary, but I'm glad you had it."
"It... wasn't me. He saved me, Jack. He grabbed the bracelet, and me, and dragged me in here without the witch noticing."
Jack held her tighter, "About that. It's not exactly a witch. It's more of a-"
"Sky? This is really weird. You're hugging the air..." Brandon told her.
Embarrassed, she pulled away from Jack, "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. What do we do now?"
Jack took her hand and faced the blonde, "Well, I don't know what he can do. Sky, I need to get you out of here. Brandon should be fine if he just-"
"Jack. Stop. Are the other Guardians around? Brandon and I will be safe in here-"
"No, you're not staying. He can."
"He can not." Focusing on Brandon she explained, "We're fighting over you. Apparently, Jack's a fan of brown eyes... Oh woe is me how could I compete against the great Jack Frost" she smirked. Jack let go of her hand and crossed his arms. "Take a joke, Frost." Skyla told him. His face was still drawn in a frown but she noticed the corners of his mouth twitch up.
Brandon cleared his throat, "I assume that was a joke. Maybe I should say it now; I have no intention of stealing Skyla away. Or making any more moves on her. We can talk about that later, but tell me if we're in danger here?
"Any more?" the spirit asked, "What does he mean by that? Did he- Did anything happen?" Skyla shot him a look to make him stay on topic and he straightened up, "Tell him we're safe. The Guardians are leading the creature out another way. We should still clear the area. Just in case."
Skyla relayed the message then asked, "Jack, is that okay? As much as I want the three of us to get the hell out of here; will the Guardians be able to take that thing out on their own? Is there anything you can do? And- are you alright now? You seem better but-"
"They can take care of it. I'm not fixed yet, and would just get in the way no matter how hard I try. Skyla, it was my fault the creature came after you. When I found out that the Guardians had left to fight it, I wanted to be a part of that. I didn't want them to fight my battles- especially when I wasn't sure they could win. I kind of pissed it off again and it targeted you. It still has my heart- it still has me. But so do you. Now, really, we should get out of here."
"Front door?" she asked Jack and he nodded. She turned to the blonde and nodded at him promising, "I'll explain stuff on the way out."
"...Is it really safe? If it's after Jack- I guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"No, not really. As much as I know you don't want me to tell you this; I think it's time you put a shirt on." Skyla ignored Jack's angry reaction and continued, "How about that black v-neck you wore to Centennial Park that one time? Remember?"
"Yeah. You leaned too far over the fountain and started falling-"
"And you tried to catch me-"
"We both fell in." he finished. The two laughed with each other while Brandon grabbed a hoodie. Zipping it up he mentioned, "I don't even have that shirt anymore. Idiot Michael stole it. I don't talk about him much and you've never really met him. That day when I asked Daniel if you and I could hang out; he was the one who gave me that final kick to get going. He's also the one who empties my fridge out all the time."
"Oh. Damn. I really liked that shirt. Just going to wear the hoodie? It might be a bit cold, what with the Spirit of Winter walking with us-"
Said spirit cut her off, "Good. You remember that I'm here. Sky, I think I deserve some attention, too. Being your hero and all... And your boyfriend..."
Skyla clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Yup. You're my boyfriend. But I'm still mad about the portal thing so for the time being I'm not going to give you any special attention. Shall I lead the way?" she asked, gesturing towards the door.
Jack angrily walked away from her, towards the door. Brandon grabbed her arm, "Am I causing trouble? I don't want him to be mad at me or anything... That's not part of my growing old plan. I probably wouldn't if he get's pissed off enough-"
"He's not going to kill you." Skyla assured. She watched as Jack opened the door and stepped out. "I think?" Dragging the blonde along with her, they all walked through the apartment. For the most part, it didn't look very different. Then the lights went out and she held tighter to Brandon.
"It's okay, Sky. I'm here, and so is Jack. The emergency lights will be on in the hallway so all you have to do is make it that far. Hey, Jack Frost! Go open the door, would you?" he called, not knowing where the spirit was.
"Tell him to shut up!" Jack said back, "I'll open the door, but I don't see what you're so worked up about. Are you really this afraid of the dark? There's a story there, right? One that you'll tell me?"
Skyla ignored him. When he opened the door, light fell in from the hallway. She let go of Brandon and slipped her shoes on, her coat soon following. What few bags she'd taken from Lauren's remained in the apartment but she took the purse she kept her mp3 and other small things in. "I'm ready."
"I can see that" Brandon commented. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders he started to lead her out. "Our grand escape, huh? Not very exciting."
"What's wrong with this guy" Jack wondered, "Is he really going to do that in front of me?"
"Jack" Sky sighed, "Shut up. Let's just get out of here, then I'll explain stuff to you. Right now, because I've decided to tell him everything, I need to tell Brandon all that you've told me. It shouldn't take long, but I'm going to stretch it out. We have quite a few floors to suffer through, seeing as the elevator isn't an option..."
Brandon removed his arm from her shoulders. She gripped the sleeve of his hoodie and he smiled, "If Jack makes me slip on some ice, I'm blaming you."
"He won't. He's nice, you know."
The spirit laughed. "I have a bad side too, you know. I still hold the record on the naughty list. It's forever reserved for me. Besides, you know how my emotions get- It won't be my fault if an ice patch appears at the top of the stairs-"
"Don't you dare" Skyla laughed. Smiling, she kept looking forwards as they walked into the stairwell. Somewhere between Brandon's floor and the lobby, she explained things from Jack's side as best she could. When Brandon found out it was Jack's fault the creature had shown up they had to stop so he could blow off some steam.
Jack also explained that he knew where Brandon's apartment was because he'd followed the human home one night. Gathering information he called it. Skyla didn't inform the already on-edge blonde.
By the time they were walking through the lobby, they were all other two to follow him out. They stayed silent as they quickly crossed the street then maneuvered back roads and alleys. Jack had to fly up several times to make sure they were going the right way.
"We're just trying to get to a rendezvous point." he explained, "Once we get there, we will wait until the Guardians meet us. Then we'll know it's safe. Brandon can go back and you can come with me back to the Pole. Just for a little while. Then we'll have to find someplace else to go..."
Skyla shortly relayed the message then asked, "I have some things back at his place. Then- it's not as if I'm cutting him out of my life so I don't want to just leave him after all of this. Where would we go anyway? Burgess?"
"Burgess is great, Sky. And you don't have to leave him forever. I know I can't ask you to do that. You're obviously really close, but that pisses me off so I'm taking you as far away from here as I can. We'll visit some time, alright? But I'm not leaving you two alone!" he declared.
Skyla hurried to catch up with him, looping her arm with his, "Jack, you know I love you. And, umm, Brandon knows that too. He was going to tell you himself that there's nothing you need to worry about between us so- Give him a break? Me too?"
Jack said nothing for a few minutes. When they left another alley and faced a small playground he mentioned shortly, "That's it. Where we're supposed to meet up. It shouldn't take long for them to get here so say your goodbyes now." he unhooked Skyla from his arm and flew up above the playground.
Brandon followed her gaze as she watched the spirit fly away. Taking her hand he sighed and led her towards the swings. When they sat down he asked, "Is that guy being stubborn? Aren't we trying to tell him that you're his now and I'm not going to steal you away? How much more can we do?"
Sky dug her feet into the ground, "It's not we, it's not you. It's me. He's never believed me when I tell him I love him. I have to think of a way to show him, I guess. Part of that would be moving to Burgess..."
"Don't force yourself to do anything. If he doesn't understand things from your side- If he doesn't understand your feelings even when you tell him- then let him stay that way. He'll learn. Eventually. Just don't give him any more chances to abandon you"
"Definitely not. He's not getting rid of me so easily" she announced with determination. Turning her head to look up at the sky she yelled, "You hear that, Jack Frost?! I'm not giving up on you!" She smiled when she focused on the bracelet and found that he was extremely happy.
"Bracelet stuff?" Brandon asked, pointing to her grin.
"Bracelet stuff." She confirmed. "I guess now we wait? There isn't much else to do... I think Jack's on look out."
"Yeah... I feel a bit useless though. Don't you? I mean, you haven't been able to do much since following him down the rabbit hole-"
"Really? Did you have to say that-"
"Yes. You're usually one to keep busy, right? Cleaning, working, just doing whatever you can. If you've been doing nothing for too long, it must be bothering you."
Skyla started swinging absently, thinking over the days she'd spent not knowing what she could do. It was lazy, it was boring, it was a difficult thing to get used to. But still, "It's not like I did nothing at all. I toured North's Workshop. Met a few yetis. And elves. I hung out with the Easter Bunny- and with Jack Frost. We ate raspberries and did yoga- Well, I've told you all of that. You're right, though. It doesn't seem like much. I was caught up in the situation and didn't notice how useless I was being."
"I didn't mean it like that, Angel. You're not useless. You were doing what you were asked to do and what you could do."
"What should I do then? Ask to be given a job?"
"The time for that has past. If you move somewhere with Jack- something I'm still not crazy about- then you'll have your own house. At the very least a little shack. You can clean that and decorate it. Spend all your time on it. Then spend your time with Jack. Then visit me. Make snow-angels" he smirked, "You'll always have a way to spend your time when you're... On your own out there..."
She looked over at him sadly. Seeing his empty expression she forced a bright smile onto her face. "I won't really be alone. If we settle down somewhere I'll make friends- or at least one. Then, yeah, I'll have Jack. And- I'll call you! Often! E-mails! Whatever we can to stay in touch. I'll be happy, Brandon. I know I will. I just hope... That you will be, too. Is that too much to hope for?"
"That's a bad trick to play, Angel. If I say the wrong thing you'll worry and think you have to stay. You don't. You have to go. For your own happiness. When I know that you're happy, then I'll be happy. I'll be the happiest man-"
"Demon, can I ask you something?" She waited for a reply. Looking over at him again, her eyes met his. She knew he would worry if she phrased it like that. It wasn't exactly on purpose, but she was glad that now he would take it seriously. He nodded slowly and she looked back up at the sky. Sighing she finally questioned, "Would you really be happier if I stayed with you?"
There was a silence for several moments before he answered carefully, "Yes. I'm sure we had the same thought that you and I belonged with each other but that's not what you want right now. Not really. And it's not what I want for you. We have plenty of time to settle down, Angel. Walk on the unpredictable side for a while, will you? Be the wild spontaneous person I always dreamed I could convert you into." he chuckled and the tension eased a bit.
"But-"
"I'll be fine. Like I said. As long as you're happy -and safe- then there's nothing else I want. Make me die alone if you must, just live the life you wish you could dream of."
"Oh, haha. It's funny because I can't dream" she mocked sarcastically.
"I've been meaning to ask; has that Sandman said anything about it?"
Sky thought about it; wondered if maybe the golden man had noticed that she doesn't dream. If he would say anything if he did. "Nope. Nothing. If he even knows. I doubt it." she added with certainty.
"And the Tooth Fairy? Has she looked for your memories?"
"No... I don't think they care. It's not like they think I'm suspicious. Which I'm not, by the way. Jeez, if anyone was listening in on us they would be misled don't you think? Stop it."
He shrugged, "Sorry. A lot of our conversations are like that. They do trust you. They trusted you with Jack, so that's obvious. I'm curious why they haven't at least searched for your name on the naughty list."
"I bet MiM told them not to." she pointed up towards the sky. Between buildings the Moon was plainly visible, "That guy. Man in the Moon. He's the one that brought together the Power Rangers- I mean Guardians" she laughed, "He's the one that convinced North to let me stay at the Pole, too."
"I see... Think he's been watching you for a while? What if he knew about you. What if it really was you all along that was supposed to be with Jack? It wasn't with Lauren at all. Sucks for her" he added under his breath.
"Well, that would be a nice thought. I don't know though. That might mean my whole life has been leading up to this. That my destiny was always to be with Jack Frost. That's... Not a great thought. I would rather assume that we fell in love randomly. That it wasn't the Fates deciding things for us. That we just found each other on our own. Sort of. Lauren helped, I guess. A little."
"He fell for you. Just like I did. Sky, you're not as undesirable as you think you are. You're beautiful, you're clever- You even have a sense of humor! And you're tough which, honestly, is not as bad as people tell you it is. You're guarded. You need to be. Because no matter how tough you are on the outside, I know you're actually a weak, vulnerable, emotional-"
"Hey!" Skyla laughed, "You can stop there! I get it, I'm not superwoman Can we just wait for the Guardians now. Like Jack said, they'll be here soon." Brandon nodded and reached out to take her hand. Their fingers twined together just like they had so many times before. It was warm, it was familiar, and it was all Skyla could do to keep herself from crying.
NOTES:
Hi there
I think
Now is a great time for you
Yes, you
To tell me what you think of this fic overall.
If it should end.
Split into a sequel.
Simply keep going.
It might not matter for a few chapters still but
I would like to know
What with planning n plotting n such.
So please let me know!
Thank you for reading!
Love Y'all *hearts*
