Click click click. The only thing Jack could hear was the pronounced clicking of Fury's boots as they echoed throughout the wide hallway. He walked beside Fury as they passed a few agents that were loitering in the hallways, and every single one of them stared bug-eyed in Jack's direction. So now he had a whole Hellicarier full of people who could see him? His head was already spinning about the fact that the first person had seen him 70 years ago, and it felt like yesterday…
"Hey, um.. Fury..." Jack muttered.
Fury's pace didn't slow with his reply. "Yes, Mr. frost?"
"What's a Helicarrier and why is everyone on it staring at me, why can they see me?"
Fury sighed, and his pace slowed to a leisurely walk. Jack matched his steps. "The Helicarrier is an aircraft carrier specifically designed to be itself capable of independent powered flight in addition to the standard functions of aircraft carriers, is the world headquarters and signature capital ship of our agency. It is where a vast majority of our agents work and reside. It can also be used a ship of some sort"
Fury paused. He seemed to be thinking through his next words. "There has been a rumour going around for some time now that a strange being with white hair who can fly had been found frozen in the ice next to.. Steve. I suppose they saw you and concluded that you fit the bill."
Jack nodded to himself. He supposed that was a possibility.
"Kid, when you were laying there, I called in my top scientists and medical examiners in to take a look at you. Observe your condition, take notes, things like that. They thought I was joking! There was nothing there, they said! Well, I thought you had escaped and dropped everything to come see what the hell was going on. When I saw you lyin' in there the exact same way I'd left you, well, I almost whooped their asses. But, kid, they actually couldn't see you. So I had to convince grown men and women to believe that there was, in fact, a lil' white-haired kid layin' in there dozing peacefully. It took a bit, but eventually they saw you. What I really want to know, is why they didn't see you as soon as they walked in."
Jack just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know. I thought I was a ghost until a few years before I crashed into the ice."
Fury watched the boy with wary eyes, wondering what the hell to do. The tired boy looked so bewildered under those ice blue eyes; he kept looking around at everything with a mix of curiosity and fear. Fury composed himself as they stopped at a door like every other door they had passed, except for the fact that this door had a small star at the very top right hand corner. Fury smiled. It was Coulson's idea. "I would like to discuss this later, Frost, if you are willing. But for the moment, we have arrived at our destination. This is Steve's chambers. I will leave you two to catch up. Simply knock on the door three times, Steve will be expecting you."
And with that, the master spy turned on his heel and walked off, leaving a nervous Winter Spirit standing there in the hallway, debating whether or not he should knock on the door. Is he really ready to meet the first person who ever saw him? Maybe Steve could have answers for how to get other people to see him! Having an entire Helicarrier full of people who didn't walk right through him was nice, but Jack wanted others to see him well. It'd be nice if the kids he played with in the snow actually saw Jack playing with them.
Jack Frost smiled at the thought. With renewed confidence, he straightened and knocked on the door, three times as Fury had directed. The door whooshed open, and Jack freaked out for a second, not being used to the alien technology. The hallway had been so quiet and the sudden noise had startled him, as well, which didn't help. It startled Jack so much, in fact, that he found himself high up, facing the door, sticking spider-like onto where the ceiling met the wall and breathing rapidly. The frost spirit nervously laughed at himself. He really needed to chill out. He was Jack Frost for god's sake!
Jack sheepishly floated down from the ceiling and walked across the hall, through the door and into a room. Looking around, Jack noticed that the room wasn't lavishly decorated as he had somehow thought it up to be. A curious white-haired boy noticed comfortable looking beige sofas facing towards a strange flat device with pictures flashing across the screen. He saw a small kitchen and twodoorways that lead to other rooms. But the most noticeable thing Jack saw was a clearly frustrated man, who must be Steve, banging on a thin black device about as long as my hand.
"Stupid remote." Jack heard him mutter.
He didn't seem to notice that Jack was standing there. Fury said he was expecting him, but now he wasn't so sure. Jack shuffled on his feet nervously, and cleared his throat. For a big man, Steve could get to his feet pretty damn quickly. He took on a defensive stance, legs slightly bent and eyes narrowed, staring in the direction of the intruder. If he had a weapon, he would probably point it.
His face changed as soon as he recognised that it was only Jack, from confused to eager, to sheepish. "Oh, hey there! You must be Jack Frost." He scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground. "I, ah, sorry about that. I'm not used to visitors yet."
Steve straightened, and composed himself. After a brief second of hesitation, he walked forward and offered his hand. "I'm Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, Hero, Golden Boy, I've heard it all."
Nervously, Jack took it, and the two made awkward eye contact. Jack decided to speak first. "So, you look pretty good for 90 years old. Besides the clothes and everything you look exactly the same as when I first saw you."
"Likewise Jack! I'm a super soldier, genetically enhanced to be stronger, faster smarter and better. At least that's what they told me. All it ever got me was washboard abs and a frozen ass."
Jack grinned. He liked Steve seemed to be the relatable kind of guy. And anyone who could relate to an immortal kid with ice powers and severe amnesia, of all people, was a person worth getting to know.
Steve stood awkwardly, and he looked at Jack like he was dying to ask him something. Jack grinned at him, sensing his discomfort, and said, "You probably have some questions for me, so ask away."
Steve looked relieved, and Jack's grin widened. "Why did you crash through my ship? How did you get there? How did you survive? I heard you woke up as soon as you were out of the ice! It took me weeks to wake up! Well, I mean you woke up after me, but that's probably because you hit your head real hard. I don't blame you. I mean, as soon as the ice was gone, you were up and about! How did you do that!?"
Jack's grin turned into a smirk, this would be fun to explain. Steve seemed confident in himself at the moment, but he was sure Steve would falter a bit when he tells him all about Jack Frost. "Well Steve, I was flying around the arctic, minding my own business, I was even trying to be productive and planned on expanding the ice flats, but that horrid of yours jet hit me head on and I crashed through your windscreen."
Jacks smirk faltered. His voice went quiet. He didn't really want to continue, but he felt like he owed the guy an explanation, so he continued. "We crashed. It was so hard and so rough I thought we'd been thrown from the jet. There was water everywhere, and I panicked. It's… It's my fault you were frozen. I panicked and froze all the water around us. But… I couldn't unfreeze us, and I blacked out. I woke up as soon someone broke the ice, as you know. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm kind of semi-immortal, so being frozen for that long really didn't matter too much."
Steve was obviously nothing like Fury. His mouth hung agape, his expression showed pure disbelief. He ran his hands through his hair, obviously trying to process as much as he could. Steve walked over and sat down on the sofa. He shook his head, straightening out his thoughts. "H-how. I d-don't..."
'Alright', Jack thought. 'Time to set him straight'. He sat down next to Steve and cringed when he leaned away from Jack a little. "Steve, I can control the wind and snow, ice and frost. That's probably the reason I didn't freeze to death or anything. It was actually kinda cozy in there."
"No way! How come I've never heard of you before? Or seen you before? Wouldn't I have heard of you in the papers or something?"
Jack's eyebrows rose. "Would you believe me if I told you, that you were the first one to see me?"
The soldiers eyebrow's furrowed. "What do you mean? How?"
"Well, I've kind of flown around doing my own thing for a while now. Three hundred years, in fact." Jack's chest puffed out in pride as he went on. "Nobody's really seen me, believe me, I've tried everything, but whether I'm sitting on their shoulders or tapping them of the nose, they don't take notice. They might sneeze, though." Jack frowned.
Steve took a minute to process this. "Ca-Can I see?" He stuttered, obviously referring to his powers Jack had previously mentioned. Jack grinned. He was more than happy to show him what he could do! The boy thought for a moment, tapping his staff against his hands, and his grin broadened. A classic was always the best way to go. Standing up, Jack Frost lightly touched the tip of his decorated staff onto the sofa cushion. As expected, frosted spirals grew from where the twisted wooden staff made contact.
Jack thought it wasn't possible, but Steve's eyes got bigger. "So that's what it does" Jack heard him mutter. At that moment, the frost spirit felt so proud of himself. He had seen people gape in wonder in what he and created. But they never saw him. Never acknowledged him. Jack was always sitting there waiting, hoping, praying that they would turn their head and notice a white-haired boy in the tree, but they never did.
But now, now he had someone who saw him! Saw that he had created these beautiful patterns. He watched proudly as Steve lightly traced his finger over the frosted patterns. And for a brief moment, Jack was so happy; he could've bounced off of the walls a couple of times. But, being the incarnation of Winter, he kept his cool.
While Steve was occupied with cushion Frost, Jack rose into the air, and crouched on top the strange flat device he'd noticed earlier. It was still playing various flashing pictures over and over again. Jack bent his head down to look at it. "What's this?" he asked.
Steve jumped, shattering the frost on the cushion. He looked at the shattered mess wide eyed, and looked really guilty. 'Ah, I'm really sorry about that."
"Don't be." Jack said
He shrugged and gave Jack a quizzical look. "How are you doing that?" Steve asked.
Jack grinned, flying off the device and onto the floor. "I use the wind for balance. It what helps me fly, it also helps me balance. I could balance on Fury's head if I was game enough."
Steve chuckled at this, and walked over to Jack. The two stood there for a second, before Jack said something that had been on his mind. "Hey, um Steve... I uh, I just wanted to say, I….-I'm really sorry for what happened. You know with the ice... I didn't mean to freeze you or anything.. I was just so scared and -"
"Jack, you don't have to explain anything to me. Actually, you saved my life. If it wasn't for you I would've drowned or slowly froze to death. The ice froze both of us instantly, so we both survived."
Jack didn't know what to say. Did Steve just thank him for freezing him in the ice for almost 70 years? Him, Jack Frost, actually saved someone's life?
Jack had tried to save people before, when that huge boat sank, and all of those people were screaming, he had tried pulling them up to safety but his arm went right through them. All Jack ever ended up doing was making the water colder. He didn't sleep for almost a year after that night. Jack had sat with lost mountain hikers on cold nights and watched them slowly freeze to death right before his eyes, and all he could do was make imprints in the snow in the morning so rescuers could find their bodies. But Jack had saved someone this one time. He had done something right.
A voice echoed through the room and they both jumped. Jack hadn't heard what it had said but Steve's face faltered. He extended his hand towards the strange boy once more and Jack took it confidently, but still wary of the voice that came from the strange device in the corner of the room. "It's was good to finally meet you, Jack. You saved my life, and for that, I will always be grateful to you. And, well, it looks like you're the first friend I've made since I've woken up."
Jack's face split into a delighted grin. He had never had a friend before. Well, a friend that wasn't the wind. "Same here, Steve!" Jack replied. Steve's face turned serious. "Directory Fury is expecting you; he will be waiting at the door."
"It really was good to meet you Steve! I'll um, see you later. Bye!"
Jack treaded through the living room and out the door, listening to Steve struggling with the long black thing again, and almost ran straight into Fury. "Jack Frost. How was your chat with Rogers?" He asked. Jack was confused for a second, before he remembered that Rogers was Steve's last name.
'It was actually pretty good. Steve's a relatable guy."
"Do you remember our conversation from earlier?" He asked.
Jack nodded his head.
"Good. I would like to ask you a few questions then."
"Fire away."
Fury started walking down the hall, and Jack followed.
"You have all of these powers, and by the sounds of it, you know how to use them. But have you ever tested your limits? Ever seen how far you can really push yourself? How powerful you really are?
Jack shook his head. He was always too busy either running away from his problems, or searching for answers.
"Have you ever been trained by anyone Mr. Frost?"
The boy shook his head again, his bouncy white curls falling into his eyes. "You were the first real person in the world to ever talk to me, and one of the first to ever actually see me. Why do you ask?
"I thought so. Mr. Frost, would you ever consider staying on the Helicarrier for a while and training with us? We want to find out more about you, and what you can do. I promise you, if you stay and train with us, I will assign a top team of experts who will do everything in your power to help you."
Jack gasped. "With what, exactly?" He asked, hardly believing what he was hearing.
Fury's face was calm. "Look, kid. You obviously have something going on. Whatever that is, therapists, therapy, we'll give it to you"
"I want to remember who I was. Could you find out about my past or who I was? Friends? Family? Anything?"
Fury eyed him warily. "Just how far back are we lookin' kid?"
'Um, three hundred years, give or take?"
Fury didn't say a word. "Damn. That would explain a lot." He muttered. "Well, you've got yourself a deal. If you agree, I'll get my agents right onto it."
Jack knew he needed to think this through more. Here he was, surrounded by an entire aircraft full of people who called all can see him. That know he existed. He even had a friend here, someone's life who he had saved. Here was a man, offering Jack help discovering more about himself and about his powers. Fury was offering to train him, and all he gets out of it was finding out more about Jack.
But what if Jack decided he didn't want to stay? Where would he go this time? Would he ever see Steve again? Jack seriously doubted that this was one of those things where he could just come back later. But what about his freedom? Would he be able to get out once in a while. Jack couldn't stand being trapped indoors for too long.
"Would I be able to leave and go flying?"
Fury seemed to consider this.
"As long as you discuss it with me first, and wear a tracking device at all times, I don't see what the problem is."
Jack's face broke into a grin. He made his choice, and offered his hand out. Fury shook it.
"You've got yourself a deal."
A/N - So, a little more backstory for Jack in this chapter. I would like to thank Auua Ytjoml, Kimori, Sora Mota, tksskm, Maximus Potter, chaos007, Winsofdreams, Shi Uzumaki-Namikaze, FanndisLokidottir, AnimeHuntress, Jesusfreak124, and Kazaru13 for following and reviewing! Special thanks to the people who reveiwed, I am new to this, so its strongly encouraged! If you spot a mistake, or think something can be improved, be sure to let me know! Jack's always been a mischevious person, and I want to add some humor to the story, and any suggestions are apprectiated. I've already got an idea for when Jack decides to explore the Helicarrier.
Brenne: Thank-you so much! You certainly just made my day! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Crossover Junkie - Thank-you for your reveiw! i didnt notice the whole 'I' thing, but re-reading it, its really obvious. I had already written this chapter, so please bear with me, it will be something I will most definateley improve in the next chapter!
Please review!
