Thanks for reviewing! I'm really glad you're enjoying this so far.

Futher A/N at end of chapter.

A Case of Frost

Chapter 2: Bad News For Fun

Saturdays meant sleep-ins. Or rather, they would, for other boys who didn't have little sisters. Unfortunately for Jamie, his sister was not only little but also enjoyed jumping on his bed and was wide awake. When he realised that she was going to persist no matter how growly he sounded when he told her to go away, he climbed out of bed and headed blearily for the kitchen.

He caught sight of his reflection in the microwave door as his mother set a bowl of Froot Loops in front of him. His normally wide eyes were squinting against sleep, accounting for the blurriness in his vision. His hair was sticking up all over the place. Jamie grumbled into his breakfast wordlessly. He hated early mornings.

The kitchen seemed brighter than usual. Jamie looked out the window to try and figure out why that was. There was a thin lining of snow pressing against the outside window pane. He stared at it dumbly for a few seconds, struggling against his sleepy state to decipher the meaning he knew was there.

"Snow," he said groggily, "'S bright."

Feeling pleased with himself for solving the mystery of the brightness, he tucked in to his breakfast. By the time his mother came bustling back into the kitchen with Sophie in tow, Jamie was feeling a bit more awake.

Mrs Bennet also glanced out the window, at the frozen front lawn and icy fence. "Did you see outside, Jamie? It looks like we got a visit from Jack Frost overnight."

Her words clicked after a moment and Jamie was instantly snapped out of his drowsiness. Abandoning his cereal, he raced to the window and pressed his nose against the cold glass. His eyes were now wide, searching the front yard. He was only a little disheartened when the only flash of blue he could find was Sophie's tricycle.

"Hey now, why the rush?" his mother asked him as he shot across the kitchen towards his room.

"Mom, can I go outside and play with my friends?"

"This early?" She gave him a surprised look, and then glanced at the wall clock. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet. "You haven't even finished your breakfast."

"Not hungry," he said. He realised how restless he suddenly was, bouncing from foot to foot in the kitchen doorway. "Please, Mom?"

She looked uncertain, and worried. Jamie knew that look. All the grown-ups had been the same for a few months now. The thing with Leah's dad had shaken them all. It had taken a couple of weeks before Jamie was even let into his own front yard by himself, and his mother still insisted on walking him to and from school every day. They had finally started settling down again. Jamie and his friends had been allowed to go to the park up the street together again, as long as one of their parents were around and they stayed out in the open. But after the other day, with Mark's dad…

"Please?" he tried again, giving his mother the most innocent look he could muster, "I promise, we'll all stay together and we'll only go to the park and we'll be careful!"

Jamie had been scared at first. The panic from the grown-ups had a way of rubbing off on him and the other neighbourhood children. Now, though, he was sure that they'd be safe. If Jack was back, Jamie knew he wouldn't let anything hurt anyone.

His mother finally relented, with a heavy sigh. "Okay, Jamie. But make sure to rug up. It's cold outside."
He smiled brightly at her. "I will!"

It took him a while to dig out his winter clothes from the back of his wardrobe. Longer still to locate his hat and boots. Winter had come suddenly, springing on Burgess like Sophie sprung onto Jamie's bed that morning. It was shocking in its spontaneity. But, he supposed, that was usually the way when Jack came to town.

The second his coat was no longer inside-out, and his gloves were on the correct hands, Jamie was dashing out the door. Cupcake lived closest, so he went to her house first and banged on her front door. She answered it herself and stood before him, large and intimidating. The appearance was deceptive, though. Cupcake was as sweet as her name implied, once you got to know her. And when Jamie exclaimed, "Jack Frost is here!" her face lit up with the brightest smile that she was capable of. She took almost no time in pulling her winter clothes over her dress, and shouting a goodbye to her parents, before she and Jamie ran back out to the street.

The rest of their friends were already outside and running towards the park. The group had grown since the bogeyman incident from a couple of years ago. There was now over a dozen kids that knew exactly who brought the snow and ice, and their joint understanding threw them together into a strange mix of best friends. Most of them were gathered in the park now, around the bronze statue of Thadeus Burgess, and the excitement in the air was thick.

"Jack Frost! Jack Frost!" some of them chanted, explaining to the others unnecessarily.

"Where is he?"

"Do you see him?"

"He should be right here!"

"Maybe it just snowed without him?"

"No, it's still only November! Do you really think it would snow this much so soon if it wasn't him?"

"Where is he?"

Jamie was also straining to see. He looked at the trees, the statue, the snow, the sky. He tried to find a streak of blue and brown, or an unnatural gust of wind, or a bubbling laugh. All telltale signs of Jack's presence.

He was so busy looking that he didn't see the snowball until it splatted right into his face. An excited laugh burst out of his mouth, and he didn't have to look any further.

Jack Frost floated down from the tree and came to a landing right in front of the group. Everyone had been holding their breaths in silence since the snowball had hit Jamie, watching Jack in awe.

"Hey kids," he said, "Miss me?"

Then he swept his staff along the ground, the action throwing up snow to rain down over their heads and forming more snowballs to attack each other with. The amazed silence dissipated immediately, to be replace by happy shouts and shrieks and laughter. Jamie wasted no time in joining the fun, pelting snow at his friends as often as he was hit himself. He might have imagined it, but he thought that Jack, dancing around between or above the group of friends, was favouring him with ammunition over any of the others. The sparkle in blue eyes when they found his own, though, gave nothing away.

They played for a solid hour, by the end of which everyone bar Jack Frost himself was utterly exhausted. Most of the children flopped back into the snow, not minding the cold in the least. A few of them retired to the much less tiring task of building a snowman. Jack urged them to get back up and keep playing, but to no avail. He didn't seem at all put out by it, however, and there was a grin still on his face when he took a seat atop the highest ledge of the statue's base, hugging his staff across his chest. Jamie joined him as best as he could, sitting on the lowest ledge and leaning his head back to rest on the plaque.

"Thanks, Jack. That was so much fun!"

Jack's grin widened. "No worries, kiddo. It is my job, after all."

"I've missed you." And how could he not? Despite his group of friends having grown over the recent years, Jamie still considered Jack his best friend. "Where were you over summer? Or for the rest of the last ten months, for that matter?"

"Ten months? Was it really?" Jack sounded honestly surprised, and then Jamie heard him counting the months under his breath. "Huh. Sorry, Jamie. I guess time flies."

"You didn't answer my question," Jamie said accusingly. He wanted to hear everything. After a long absence, Jack always returned with exciting stories from all over the world. Tales of adventures, and international happenings, and funny pranks were always what Jamie looked most forward to.

"I was south, mostly," Jack admitted, "Although I worked on a great blizzard in London in September. You should have seen everyone's faces! I spent a few days at the Pole last week. Cleared out quickly, though. With Christmas right around the corner, those elves are unbearable! North suggested I find myself my own home. What do you think, Jamie? Maybe I'll build an ice castle, or something. You'll be welcome to visit anytime, of course."

Jamie felt his eyes go wide at the suggestion. A guest at Jack Frost's house? "Really?" he breathed.

"Sure. It's the least I can do. I'm thinking I'll check out Antarctica when I'm done here. Great views down that way. Location, location. And it'll keep me busy next summer. There's only so much snow I can spread in Australia before Bunny gets suspicious."

Jamie giggled. He loved the cool, oversized, boomerang-wielding rabbit as much as the next kid, but the stories of the pranks Jack pulled on him were always amusing. And regardless of how much he laughed at poor Bunny's misfortune, he could always count on finding the very best and most intricately painted eggs in every egg hunt.

Jack had gone quiet, and when Jamie looked back up he found him watching the other kids with a small frown over his eyes.

"Only ten of you," he said, "Where's Mark and Leah?"

At his question, a solemn silence fell over the group. Cupcake and Sarah stopped building their snowman, and everyone who had been laying in the snow sat up slowly.

Jack jumped down from his perch on the statue. He took in the expressions on the children's faces and Jamie saw the hands grasping his staff tighten.

"Don't tell me." He swallowed nervously and the ever-cheerful gleam in his eyes dimmed slightly. "They haven't stopped..?"

"They still believe in you," Jamie assured him quickly, and Jack relaxed minutely, "At least, I think they do. It's just…" He broke off, uncertain how to continue. How did one tell the Guardian of Fun that two people had been violently killed?

"Something bad happened," said Monty, shuffling his feet.

"Bad?"

"Their - their dads," said Pippa. She hugged herself and looked at the snow on the ground before finishing in a whisper. "Their dads…died."

Jack looked shocked, and then horrified. "What?"

It was worse than Jamie had been expecting. Jack never looked right without the wide grin on his face, or the laughter in his eyes, or the carefree way he held himself. To see it all gone, replaced by hurt and horror, was almost scary.

"They were both killed," Jamie explained. He felt that he needed to be the one to tell Jack this, no matter how much he hated to. "Mr Jones a few months ago, and Mr Greenberg just the other night."

"Are Leah and Mark okay?"

"Leah moved in with her mom not long ago. I don't think Mark's too good. None of us have seen him since Wednesday."

Jack pushed a trembling hand through his windblown white hair, messing it up more than usual. His staff was held tightly to his body, as though he was trying to hide behind it. "I don't… How could this have happened?" he asked. Jamie didn't know whether he was talking to himself or not, but he answered anyway.

"Jack, there's something in this town. Something bad." His friends all exchanged nervous looks, but a murmur of agreement rose up amongst them. "Something scary."

His eyes sharpened at that. Jamie recognised the look, and knew what it meant. Jack was no longer merely the children's friend, nor just the Spirit of Winter and Fun. He was a Guardian, and he was prepared to protect the children.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to stop this," he said, guilt flickering in his voice, "But you don't need to be scared, okay? You're all going to be alright. I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt."

It was exactly the reassurance that the children needed. Although most of them knew already that Jack would protect them and their families, hearing him confirm it allowed everyone to brighten up considerably. When they all smiled at him, even Jack looked rather happier. He twirled his staff up over his shoulder.

"Jamie," he said, "Mark lives in the little house with the red roof, right?"

"Right."

"Thanks, kiddo. I'll go talk to him. You kids keep playing." He waved his fingers at them, sending snowflakes floating towards ten different noses. "Have fun."

He jumped back onto the statue and used it to propel himself into the air, and he was gone.

A/N: The chapters are starting to get a bit longer!

A huge thank you goes to 'A Little Lost 1', 'miraeyeteeth', and 'Kagirinai-Eternal' for my first reviews, and especially to the latter for their advice regarding formatting. Thank you!

As always, critique and general reviews are very welcome! Thanks for reading - I hope you're still enjoying it!