Stand My Ground

I just know there's no escape now
Once it sets its eyes on you
But I won't run,
Have to stare it in the eye

Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I've got to face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground

- Within Temptation, Stand My Ground, watch?v=4PIPfmHOJhg

Tooth blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again, but the scene before her remained the same.

The game before had been one thing, but this...

A sheet of plastic lay on the floor while North sat to the side, manning some kind of spinner, and the other three twisted around each other with their hands and feet firmly planted on colored dots. Bunny crouched over Jack, his leg stretched under the winter spirit's stomach, who in his turn was stretched over the board, back arched and – though he didn't know it – backside displayed in almost irresistible invitation.

Sandy, under both and at a clear disadvantage with his shorter arms and legs, was laughing too hard to stay in the game much longer.

Resisting the temptation that Jack's position gave her (but only just, and with a silent reminder of both audience and lack of permission to keep her strong), Tooth settled next to North, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he continued to spin and call out position and color combinations. She'd like to accuse them of wasting time, of not taking the threat of the fae seriously, but they were working just as hard as she was to find them...when they weren't doing silly games and challenges like this one.

Actually, given the sidelong glances and amused, fond smiles the other three Guardians were giving her and Jack, she was pretty sure they not only were doing these games to blow off steam, let Jack feel like one of them, but because they knew she was courting Jack, and that these games she'd caught them at were their contribution – the contests to prove Jack's seriousness about this.

If it was, then she expected a few to come her way fairly soon, to prove she was serious about Jack. She was rather looking forward to it, really.

The only thing spoiling it was her wonder if Jack knew what was going on, or if he just thought they were playing for the fun of it.

Then again...there were those snowdrops left in her palace, in an icy vase that had yet to melt...true, the flower language was more Bunny's thing, not something she had grown up with, but...on one of their flights Jack had admitted to liking the frail little flowers, and they were the ones she and the other Guardians associated with Jack...and giving flowers would be something he would do for courting...

A yeti stormed into the room, yelling frantically, shocking Tooth out of her thoughts and surprising Bunny and Jack into collapsing. Sandy darted out from under them with surprising speed for someone who spent most of his time sleeping, silently laughing.

"Aw, c'mon! We were so close!" Jack protested. "Ugh, Bunny, you're heavier than you look, get off."

"Solid muscle, Frostbite," Bunny shot back, grinning as he levered off the smaller spirit slowly before dropping back down, starting yet another brotherly squabble.

The yeti ignored their wrangling, still jabbering away at North rapid-fire, too fast for anyone who didn't hear Yeti on a daily basis to follow. North was irritated at first at the interruption of the game, an irritation that switched quickly to anger and action.

"Children going missing!" he exclaimed, dropping the spinner as he stood in a rush, striding towards the door. "All from same town. Yeti investigated, say it stinks of fae!"

Bunny leapt to his feet, freeing Jack, following after the disappearing North at a run. Tooth followed after, Sandy close at her heels.

Jack split off to whisper something to the yeti who'd brought the news, who nodded and rushed off, catching up to them as they rushed toward the sleigh bay with a bundle that he passed to Jack.

Tooth was quietly furious, hands clenching in a silent wish for her sabers – quiet because she knew it frightened her enemies more than yelling, and if she started yelling she may never stop. The treaty was to keep things like this from happening!

"The sleigh again, mate?" Bunny complained mildly, the old argument good at distracting nerves from the battle ahead. Jack bumped his shoulder gently against Tooth's, distracting her from the byplay in front of them.

She glanced down at him and he cautiously offered her the bundle the yeti had passed to him. "North mentioned you used to use swords," he said quietly, so as not to distract the others, who were getting their destination from the yetis who had discovered the problem, "and that you kept an extra set here, so I asked Sasha to grab them for you. Thought you might need them when we get there."

Tooth found herself staring blankly at Jack for precious seconds before rapidly unwrapping the bundle. Inside, just as he'd said, where her spare sabers, that she'd kept at the Pole for emergencies, along with the sword belt they hung from.

She gave Jack a feral grin that he returned, just as feral as she. Oh, but she'd chosen a good one for a mate!

Still grinning, she slung the belt around her waist, feeling her blood rise at the familiar/unfamiliar feel of the leather around her waist. It had been far too long since she'd allowed herself the use of live steel in battle, settling for her wings for years.

If the look on Jack's face was anything to go by, her sudden bloodthirsty grin and expert checking of her weaponry did nothing to deter how he felt for her, if he cared for her the way she did him. If anything, he looked more impressed than when she used just fists or wings, ready to stand by her side in battle the way a proper mate should.

They leapt into the sleigh, the contraption jolting into motion almost before they were inside, North in too much of a rush to wait for them to settle before taking off. He only waited long enough for the sleigh to be airborne and steady before calling out their destination, throwing the snowglobe in a rush of light and color.

Jack didn't recognize the village they appeared over – it was tiny, and he assumed it was somewhere in Europe. The fae they were after tended to stay in Europe, since the other areas tended to have their own native spirits that didn't take well to the fae infringing on their territory. Not that the fae didn't – they were too powerful not to try, and too arrogant to believe they didn't have the right to go where they wanted – but right now, with them having to know the Guardians were looking for them, there was no way they were anywhere but Europe, where their powers were the strongest.

They circled over the village all eyes trained to the ground, seeking out faerie circles or children.

"Down there," Tooth cried, pointing with a saber. North swung the sleigh around, fast enough to make Bunny curse, shooting toward the ground.

They hit the ground with a thud, and Bunny's arm shot out to stop Jack from leaping from the sleigh as soon as it landed. Jack whipped his head around, about to snap at Bunny, pausing as he watched Bunny's ears twitch, his nose wrinkling as he took in the clearing.

The clearing was disturbingly quiet – not a bird, not an insect made a noise, the breeze just barely making the leaves rustle against each other, eerily still.

"I smell fae everywhere," Bunny said softly, "an' kids, an' it's still fresh."

There were giggles from the trees, the bushes, childlike but too high, cloyingly sweet, like the sound of a tingling sweetness of a played wineglass.

The Guardians were instantly on high alert, weapons at the ready, scanning for any hint of fae or child as the whispers began, echoing and disturbing, drifting out from the trees and brush all around the Guardians.

"Did you come to play, Guardians?"

"Look, he's just as pretty as they said!"

"We want to play with you."

"Come dance with us!"

"We won't harm you, pretty little winter spirit!"

"So pretty!"

"I want to pet him! His hair looks so soft..."

"We'll take good care of you..."

"Okay, consider me thoroughly creeped out," Jack muttered, and Tooth managed a quick laugh despite her rising anger.

"Where are children?" North roared, cutting over the whispers.

"So irude/i..."

"Maybe we could trade?" one suggested, from high in the branches.

"No! I want the children!" another protested angrily.

"But a winter spirit..."

"But the children are so small..."

"So young..."

"So sweet..."

"Why should we give them back?"

"You're breaking the treaty," Bunny snarled, paws tight on his boomerangs. Just give him a target, just one!

Jack shook his head, wincing. He could hear music, so faint he could barely hear it, but it was there, and it wouldn't stop! Giving his head another shake, he forced himself to ignore it, glaring at the trees around them.

Tooth saw Jack shaking his head out of the corner of her eye, inching closer to him in concern. "What is it?" she hissed, just this side of audible.

"Music – can just hear it," he hissed back, Bunny flicking an ear to indicate he heard them. "Anyone else hearing it?"

A round of denials met the quiet question, and Jack stiffened even as Tooth quietly cursed. Bunny reached over and pulled Jack closer carefully, putting him close enough to protect. The fae didn't get him before, so now they were deliberately targeting Jack. It was a gamble if they could make music powerful enough to enchant Jack, powerful as he was and with all of them aware the fae were trying it, but none of them wanted to take that chance.

A bit of shuffling put Jack in the center of the sleigh, where he'd have to fly to get past them if the music grew strong enough to draw him away from them.

There was a scuffle on the edge of the clearing, the sound of fae moving back as hoof beats thudded on the soft earth. Bunny kept his attention of the edges of the clearing, still thrumming with tension, as the others turned to face the new threat.

The huge black horse nearly blended into the shadows under the trees, its glowing yellow eyes the only thing clearly visible about it. The rider on its back was just as difficult to see, clad head to toe in flowing black. Their hair, flowing down their back, was as black as their clothing, and their face was masked.

"Knight of the Unseelie Court," Tooth hissed under her breath to a confused Jack, who tightened his grip on his staff.

The Knight raised his hands, arms going into a familiar position, and Jack barely had time to yell, "Look out!" before the Knight fired, a blast of energy shooting through the group.

The Guardians scattered about the sleigh, hitting the ground hard as they lunged out of the way of the energy blast. They tried to regroup even as more energy arrows slammed into the ground between them, scattering them further apart.

At that point, the smaller fae poured out of the woods, converging on the scattered Guardians, forcing them farther into the trees.

Tooth spun, her sabers flashing, keeping the fae at a respectful distance. She couldn't see the others, but she could hear them. She forced her way toward their voices, separate from each other but coming closer as they copied her, trying to regroup.

She saw Jack, further away than the rest, his frost lightening lighting up the woods around him as he tried to keep the fae away. Angling her attack, she began to work her way towards him, and the others followed her lead, inching closer to where Jack was surrounded.

Another bright flash of frost lightning around Jack, and the rest of his attackers fled, those that weren't already frozen solid.

The fae blocking the path of the other Guardians melted into the woods as if hearing some call, as if they'd never been there at all.

He glanced up, and their eyes met. He grinned and took a step towards Tooth. Even as he did, a black blur bore down on him, a strong arm latching around his stomach and hauling him onto horseback even as he cried out in shock, reaching for Tooth.

She screamed his name, Jack and the Black Knight that had grabbed him disappearing from sight before she could finish the word, leaving nothing but the echoes of hoof beats behind them.

A/N: ...so...apparently I can't even write fluff without doing something like this. I know, I did something similar earlier, but...