5. Taken

The kid was standing precariously on the edge of the building and didn't seem to notice when Tony landed behind him. Steve was beside Tony soon after, having jumped his way across the rooftops with his super serum powered jumps. He looked questioningly at Tony and then at the kid, and Tony nodded his helmeted head. Tony walked a few steps towards the kid and raised his hand. It was best to stun the kid now that he was still unaware of them. Just then, the kid turned around, and for a second Tony was sure the kid would fall right off the edge. But he didn't. The kid pointed his stick at Tony and Steve, surprise written on his pale features.

"Hello," Tony said almost merrily, deftly concealing his disappointment on their failed sneak-attack.

"Oh, it's you," the kid said after an awkward silence, "Tony Stark, right?"

"Yep, that's me," Tony said, briefly opening his mask to prove it. Might as well gain the kid's trust and get him to come quietly, "Nice weather."

The kid didn't answer. He didn't seem to be much of a talker. At least not in Tony's company. The kid's eyes flickered to Steve, and he frowned.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" the kid asked, pointing an unhealthily pale finger at Steve.

"Um, on TV?" Steve said uncertainly, "I don't believe we've met in person."

"Well, we have now," the kid smiled, "And you see me too!"

Tony knew there were S.H.I.E.L.D. -agents closing in on them. He hoped the kid wouldn't be too alarmed by that. Just being in the presence of two people seemed to put the kid on edge. Or maybe it was just that those two people were a part of the group who had defeated an alien invasion around a year ago.

"Hey, Stark," the kid suddenly said, "If you're here because of that knocking-you-out-thing, I said I was sorry, okay? No hard feelings?"

Steve looked at Tony and mouthed something like "That kid knocked you out?" but Tony smartly ignored it. The agents were on the roof now. Tony could see them moving out of the corner of one of the screens in his field of vision. And apparently the kid saw them too. He took a small step back, almost over the edge.

"Hey," Steve said in a calming tone, raising his hands, "There's no need to get nervous. We're not going to hurt you."

The kid obviously didn't believe him. He raised his staff again, but then shook his head and bit his lip in some silent conflict.

Then he jumped.

"Oh, goddamnit!" Tony blurted out and hurried with Steve to the edge. The kid fell a few feet before suddenly shooting to the side like a leaf caught in the wind. Then he righted himself and was flying away.

"Okay," Tony sighed, "So the kid can fly. I'm on it."

Jack felt like cursing. Okay, he did a few times too. It had been almost a month after he had busted into Stark's tower, and he had already been sure Stark would have let the whole thing slide by now. But there the man was now, in his armour and everything. And he had brought friends. One of them was that guy - Captain America? - who was a part of that superhero team, whatever Jamie had called them when Jack had last visited the boy... Oh, yes, the Avengers. And the rest were some sort of agents. Hadn't the Avengers been founded by some law-enforcement unit with a funny acronym for a name? Well, in any case, Jack had a feeling he was in serious trouble. He hoped he would have snatched an extra snowglobe from North for situations like this.

Stark was after him now, flying in that high-tech suit. The man could really go fast if he told the suit to put some power into it. Jack urged the wind to take him faster, diving under power lines and taking random turns between the buildings. Stark's suit seemed to move fluidly even in the labyrinth of houses, but Jack was way smaller, way skinnier, and way nimbler. And if things got really tough, he could dive close to the streets, into the throng of people. He was invisible to most of the pedestrians, but Stark definitely wasn't. After getting the man off his tail, Jack would take the north wind all the way to the Pole and hide it out there until the heat was off. North would always welcome him with open arms. It was a good plan, now to actually execute it.

Stark suddenly appeared from behind a corner, flanking Jack and extending an armoured hand. Jack flipped over the man in the air and instinctively fired a blast of magic from his staff. It hit the man right in the chest and sent him spinning into the wall of a building. Jack cringed.

"Okay, a bit harsh," he said out loud.

The man seemed to be okay, though. At least if the blast of energy he fired out of his palm was any indication. Jack twisted his body out of the way and then shot upwards, the wind whistling reassuringly in his ears. Well, so much for the "dive down among the pedestrians" -plan. Now there was shooting involved. That was something that definitely shouldn't happen among civilians. Jack passed the highest buildings and saw just open, clear sky ahead. He smiled. He was almost home free.

Something struck him in the shoulder, knocking him off-balance.

Damn, the kid was fast. And he packed quite a punch. Of ice. Tony sped after the kid, immensely glad the kid hadn't tried the freeze ray trick inside Stark Tower. Things could have been damaged, and then it would have got ugly. The kid was already above the skyline, and Tony hoped the kid had forgotten to pack his wormhole-globes for this trip. Tracking the kid down again would just be a pain.

Tony fired a repulsor ray at the kid's retreating back, careful not to aim at anything vital. It grazed the kid's shoulder, sending the kid into chaotic spinning. The kid flailed his arms and steadied himself in the air, shooting a blast of ice back at Tony. It sizzled harmlessly past Tony's ear, but there was more where that came from. Tony threw himself to the side to avoid two more attacks, even though he knew it would buy the kid enough time to get even more of a head start when the kid decided to get back on the move. Sure enough, the kid was flying away even as the last shot was still coming. Tony cursed under his breath and fired his own blast at the ice, causing a small explosion which he didn't have time to avoid. He flew through the scattering traces of energy and wondered if something like this had caused the lights above Manhattan as well.

The kid zipped a few rounds over the city with Tony hot on his trail. The kid showed no signs of tiring with their game of aerial cat-and-mouse. He even had the guts to laugh at some points when he avoided Tony with a daring somersault in the air. Tony, however, was getting very tired of this. He stretched out his hand again when the kid turned his back for a second. Time for a retry of the sneak-attack that had failed earlier on the roof.

It failed this time as well. The kid spun in the air almost quicker than Tony could follow and swung his staff, a stream of icy energy blasting Tony back. His suit protected him again, but he could feel the force of the blow even through it. He definitely had to get that staff away from the kid's hands.

"Hey, as fun as this is...!" the kid suddenly yelled, his voice audible even over the harsh winds above the city, "I don't want any trouble with you, you hear me?"

"Oh, yeah, I hear you," Tony said nonchalantly, "I just kind of find it hard to believe."

He took careful aim now that the kid was momentarily more or less staying in one place. He fired. The kid dodged, gasping in surprise and bringing his staff in front of him for protection, most likely out of instinct. Tony fired again. He hit bullseye.

The ray hit the kid right in the hand that was holding the staff. The kid let out a pained shout and curled into a ball in the air, the staff tumbling down towards the ground. Tony smirked for his victory. His smirk died, however, when the kid suddenly fell as if whatever had been carrying him through the air had decided to suddenly pack its bags and leave.

"Oh, shit!" Tony yelled, "JARVIS! All excess power to the thrusters!"

He shot after the kid. The kid was falling like a rock, in an almost surreal contrast to his earlier grace in the air. Long, skinny limbs flailed in a panicked manner, and Tony cringed when the kid hit a building on his way down with bone-shattering force. It didn't even do much to halt the kid's descend, just made him bounce much like the tooth box had done some weeks ago. This time Tony wasn't close enough to catch the falling thing mid-bounce. But thankfully, Tony wasn't alone this time either.

Steve Rogers sprinted across the rooftop of the building below and jumped. Captain America's super jump carried him over the street below, and the man caught the kid into a tight hold on the way. Steve landed on his feet onto the building across the street, the kid hanging limply in his arms.

"Nice catch, Cap," Tony said as he landed onto the roof next to Steve, "He's not dead, is he?"

Steve quickly set the kid's limp form onto the concrete roof and checked his vitals with professional ease. The kid was a bit bruised, and there was a tear in the front of the faded hoodie. Otherwise he seemed to be remarkably unscathed.

"He's alive," Steve confirmed, "Impressive, considering the hit he just took from that house."

"Well, he could be serumed like you, or something" Tony remarked, "A secret lab rat of some weirdo group who recruit homeless kids from the streets."

Steve shook his head.
"I really hope not."

The kid groaned, his eyelids fluttering and his hands curling instinctively into fists. The too-bright eyes snapped open when the kid seemed to realize he was unarmed. He gasped and tried to sit up. Steve stopped him with a firm hand on the shoulder.
"Easy there," Steve said comfortingly, "You might be hurt."

The kid stared at Steve in confusion before realizing who he was talking to.
"Hey, now I know where I've seen you before," the kid said weakly, sounding a bit disoriented.

"Really?" Steve asked, still playing the nice guy. The role he was born to play, "We can maybe talk about it later?"

The kid shook his head. Tony sighed.
"Stand back, Steve. I'll knock him out."

"What?" the kid asked, his eyes widening.

Tony aimed a blast at the kid's chest, and the kid only had time to yelp in surprise before his eyes rolled back and he passed out.

"Relax," Tony said when Steve glared at him accusingly, "I told you I'd just knock him out. Besides, he's way tougher than he looks."

Steve sighed.
"Yeah, definitely seems like it."

"You can carry him," Tony said and looked down over the edge of the roof, "I'll see if I can find the kid's stick. I'll catch up with you."

What went unnoticed by them all was a pair of sinister amber eyes in the shadows of a skyscraper.

Nicholas St. North was in a very good mood. The preparations for Christmas were going nicely, the elves had stayed out of trouble for an exceptionally long while and the weather was crisp and as pleasant the Arctic weather could. The only thing dampening his spirits was the fact that Pitch Black was still at large. To be fair, the Boogeyman hadn't really done anything after that failed attempt at stealing the children's memories – again – and there had been no sign of him for a month. Maybe Pitch had just slipped back under his bed to recover, to wait for the fear and lingering belief to power him enough so that he could go back to preying on dreams. That would give the Guardians time to prepare for him. Because he would be back. He always would.

North had settled into his favourite armchair and had a mug of tea waiting for him on the table. Fire crackled merrily in the fireplace. In every way, it was a perfect evening. Something which of course had to be ruined with very grave news.

North had just sipped his tea when a flash of feathers burst into the room through one of the large windows. The few yetis who had been close to the window stumbled backwards in alarm, some dropping what they were carrying. North was startled as well by Toothiana's sudden entrance, and he only barely managed to keep his tea from spilling.

"Toothy?" North asked worriedly when the fairy stopped in mid-air, surrounded by her little helpers, all having a panicked expression on their faces, "What's the matter?"

Tooth took a deep breath and explained in a shaky voice. North listened with growing dread and then without a second thought went for the Guardian signal. The northern lights were early that night. Nobody noticed, except for the hidden spirits the lights were meant for. They were in the North Pole in just a few moments, Sandy flying his dreamsand aeroplane through the same window Tooth had used to enter and Bunnymund hopping in a while later, complaining about the cold.

North didn't even wait for the others to ask what was wrong. He wrung his hands and looked gravely at his companions. There indeed was a very noticeable lack of one three-hundred-year-old teenager in the group.
"Tooth just found out..." North began quietly, "Jack has been taken."

Author's Note: I thought I promised slower updates a couple of chapters ago? Not that anyone's complaining, I suppose :). Well, after this they definitely will be a bit slower, because I have other stuff to do and there's still some serious editing going on in chapters after this. But yeah, Steve can see Jack too now, because he was told there was a kid they needed to find... The other agents might or might not believe, I suppose it's up to them.

Since this story takes place mostly in USA, I have to apologize in advance, because my geography knowledge on USA is pretty abysmal. I try to do my research and keep the locations vague enough - with a few exceptions of course - so that the distracting errors with distances and such will be minimized... Again, I am open for criticism and errors are free to be pointed out.

Thank you thank you for the awesome reviews again!