I warn you now that this one is short. It's like four in the morning and I'm becoming slow, so I decided to cut it off while I was still sane.

Seabiscuit: She reminded me of a certain someone. -not hinting at all-

Tanairy Cornelio: I actually quite like Pitch. I can't help it. Every time I picture him with the longer hair, I think of Loki, when he has longer hair and it makes me smile.

CheshireCat: Phil. Phil is dead. Zoe's always in trouble, but yeah she's going to get in a lot worse.

DevineGuardianAngel: I am sadistic. I do torture the poor characters and I will torture you. Mwhahahaaa. Glad you like the sisters.

Soaringpheonix86: -insert usual pessimistic view about chapter here.- This one really does stink though. It's short and I'm tired so please don't expect much from me. I promise to tell you who Seth and Lucas are in the next chapter.

Panda-chan8: Hello, hello, guardians may die. I don't know yet. All I know is that three of the five will die. So, yeah as much in the dark as you are.

Dex Zabeth: Simple. I'm glad you liked it XD

Chapter 9 – Protect me.

I should have done this the day after it first happened. I shouldn't have left it this long. That was totally cruel. Regardless of what has happened. It's only been about half an hour since I left the Samhain sisters, they perked me up a little, it's hard to be all depressive around those two. I was a little shocked to find that they were married to say the least. Jack and I never really spoke of it, not that I think we will either. There are some things you can't forgive, and I think I'm getting pretty high on that list. I concentrate, I shouldn't be thinking of other things. Only one person matters at this moment. Jamie. I breathe in deeply as I sense his spirit, it's not hard the energy around him is practically a beacon. Seeing as he wasn't supposed to die, he still contains most of his life energy and that can be dangerous. I begin my descent and my heart clenches as I see him, he's no longer the young man I saw him as. He's now an eight year old boy, maybe ten. It's hard to tell at that age. He's wearing pyjamas, I tilt my head as I land. Oh god. He's shouting. 'Jack?' Jamie called running from tree to tree. 'You said that you would always be here for me!' He shouts. I can see that he's been crying. I was so wrong to leave it this long. I hope he can forgive me. I drop a few feet away.

'Jamie?' I say softly not wanting to scare him. He spins around frightened, which is understandable. He wouldn't have been able to be seen by anyone. 'Jamie, I know you're frightened. But I'm here to talk to you,' I pull in my wings and tuck my fringe from my face. Trying to look more, well less intimidating. I realise I'm still holding my scythe, I'm reluctant to let it go, but I lean it against the tree, the blade sunk into the snow. He looks at me with a worried look.

'Who are you?' He says warily. I smile and try to force a little warmth into my voice.

'I'm a friend. I'm here to help you, explain a few things.' I say, he moves closer to me and I crouch down to his level.

'Where am I? Why won't anyone talk to me?' He said tears beginning to fall down his cheeks. I give him a half smile, he carries on. 'J-Jack said that he would always be here for me! But he won't come! No matter how much I call! He's supposed to be a Guardian!'

'Jack, he can't hear or see you, child,' I reply.

'You know Jack?' He said in a little wonder. It stopped the tears at least. I bite my lip, how much do I tell him? Well, actually, I think he deserves to know most of it. I surprise myself as I hold my arms out. He holds for a moment but runs to me burying his head in my shoulder.

'I'm going to tell you something Jamie. A lot of it, you won't understand. But I hope it helps,' I say with a smile. I sit on the snow, with Jamie on my lap. 'I know Jack Frost,' I smile, Jamie looks at me, questions in his eyes. I sigh and lean against the tree. 'Okay, I more than ''know'' him, I suppose you could say that I'm his girlfriend, sort of.'

'Girlfriend?!' Jamie sounds shocked but happy. It makes me smile. I laugh at his reaction.

'Yeah, for the last ten years or so,' I say grinning to myself. 'Now, like the Tooth Fairy, I have wings, and they help me do a special duty...' from there I explain in a child's way, what I do. I know Jamie isn't stupid, but I don't want to frighten him with the true reality of the situation. He nods and asks questions, to which most of them I answer truthfully.

'So where's Jack?' He asked looking around.

'He's not coming Jamie. He can't see you,' I say sadly, thinking about how I took that power from him. 'Only I can see you.' His face fell but I ruffled his hair. 'Basically Jamie, you can't be seen or heard by anyone, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Your sister Sophie is still alive, so is your mum, you could visit them. They would be able to feel your presence,' I lie a little at that, but I have feel that it would make him a bit happier. 'Sophie is in her teens now, you could watch her have a family.' I told him about how he died. The total truth, he cried a little at hearing it, but I can see that he understands a lot more now.

'How long will I be like this?' He says quietly as he spun a feather in his fingers.

'Until you were supposed to pass on, so maybe up to sixty years,' I reply softly. 'But, I will always be here Jamie.' I breathe in deeply. 'I will try to make it so that Jack can talk to you as well if you like. But I can't promise anything.' I don't even know if he still wants to be with me, let alone whether he would let me transfer a little of my power to him again. I was hasty to take it away, but it had to be done at the time. Maybe, when this is all over, that's when I'll restore the ''sight,'' if he wants it.

'You'll be around?' Jamie said a little disbelieving.

'I can't die Jamie,' I reveal making woogie hands. I make him laugh, which makes me smile. 'I really can't. I mean, I can go like comatose for a while, but I will always, always wake up,' that one's a given. Thanks man in the moon. You bastard. Jamie smiles brightly, making the temporary ice around my heart soften a little.

'But if you go comatose then you won't be able to talk to me,' he points out.

'Then I'll need you to protect Jack,' I say with a smile. 'Or me, be my protector. I will still be able to hear you, even if I don't reply.' Jamie nods, I feel a little better. This kid is something. We sit in silence for a while. Jamie toying with one of my feathers. I have him leaning against my chest, he's a big ten year old, but I don't blame him wanting a little comfort. I inhale deeply, at this moment in time, it's just me and Jamie. Sitting in comfortable quiet.

'What is that?' Jamie points to the sky. I look up and I can feel myself go pale. I lift him off me and onto the snow. Oh shit. It's the Northern lights. Which means North. He must be in trouble. Everyone will be going. Jack, he'll go. I need to keep him safe. I feel my heart begin to beat fast.

'J-Jamie?' I stutter. 'Is there anywhere you want to go?' I ask, he shakes his head. 'You're fine here?' I confirm. He looks around at the trees and smiles. 'I've got to go Jamie. Now, some thing's happening. Something big. I need to keep Jack safe, do you understand?' I say kneeling to his level and placing my hands on his shoulders.

'Protect Jack,' Jamie confirms. I smile and hug him tightly. I take off rather quickly as soon as I grab my scythe which leant against the tree. Oh god, I hope everyone's okay. Bunny is recovering at North's. I just have to hope that it's a precaution. That North has discovered something. I sigh as I fly, whatever this is, it isn't going to be good. The wind blew my hair into my face, it looks like more of it has paled. I look at my wing on the down stroke and frown, more feathers have turned dark as well. What's happening to me?

…

Jack landed in the stables. It looked like he was the first to arrive. He shook the snow from his hood and pulled it down. Something was wrong. It was too quiet for a start. He frowned and whipped his staff around in his hand, he peered around the doors. He couldn't hear any of the yetis or elves. He couldn't even hear the deer. Which was very strange seeing as they could normally be heard kicking their doors, beams or straying elves. The lack of jingling bells was very disturbing. Jack stepped into one of the occupied stalls, expecting a beast of a creature to snort loudly at him. But the reality was worse. Jack turned away, 'ah shit!' He swore angrily. The deer was indeed in the stall, but it's throat had been slashed. It's life blood stained the bedding that it fell upon, such a powerful and graceful animal reduced to a mound of blood stained fur, half covered in soiled hay. Jack didn't want to look at the rest of the deer but he had to check, unfortunately they all suffered the same fate. It didn't occur to Jack until he was covering the last one with a blanket, that if the deer had been slaughtered, something might have happened to the rest of the household. When it did hit him, he dropped the cotton cover and began to run. He didn't see anything to confirm his fears. He ran up the stairs two at a time, when he was halfway to the top, he heard a high pitched scream. He stopped in shock but then began to run faster. He almost tore the door off it's hinges and was greeted by a scene of some horrible parody. It looked almost fake, the sprays of red up the walls, the crushed corpses of elves. He saw a couple of the yetis, horribly disfigured. It was Tooth who has screamed, by the look of it, she had entered from North's study. She was pale and her flying was unsteady, she wobbled in the air. 'Tooth!' Jack said from the doorway, she spun on the spot before flying over to him, her face distraught.

'What happened?' She trilled. Jack shook his head.

'Where's North?' Jack asked. Tooth looked more panicked. Jack leapt onto the railing that ran around the globe to avoid the bodies, he tried not to look, it was worse than the car crash. He ran around the wooden beam as Tooth flew beside him, soon they reached the other side and saw North slumped, covered in blood. 'North!' Jack yelled slipping on the blood that the Russian had left on the console causing him to fall to the floor, he picked himself up ignoring the new stains to his clothing and ran over to his friend. North was alive and breathing but, there was something in the way that he looked at Jack. Luckily Tooth stepped in and pulled North from Phil's body. Jack stared in horror at Phil. Another friend lost. North pulled his arm from Tooth's and scowled at Jack. He walked over to where his blade was wedged in a beam, pulling it out roughly. He advanced on Jack, Tooth began to look worried. Jack backed up, the expression on North's face looked terrifying.

'What the hell happened?' A voice came from North's study. Jack whipped around to see her and North stopped his advance. She looked a lot different from the last time he saw her, even though it was only a few hours ago. He stared at her, she looked worried and tired. Her hair had a large white streak through it and part of her wings had darkened. He raised a brow at her appearance but couldn't help the skip in his heart at seeing her, despite the situation.

'You,' North stated. His face was red, his eyes bloodshot. 'Get out.'

Rawr. I know it's short. I know it's shit. Sorry. Next one looks like it's gonna be a doozy. Double digits after all. Let's see we have the return of the Samhain sisters and their husbands, North looses it. Pitch reappears (the bastard.)

Oh! And the first of the three will die -evil face here-

Please review. Love you all.

Oh also, if you want to write a Zoe/Jack oneshot, I would love to read it. Any genre you like. I'm curious to what you would write about. Please PM me