January 5

"I hate this place," Jack muttered. Aster nodded in agreement. It was about five thirty in the afternoon, but it looked like they weren't going to be getting dinner any time soon because of the work load in their hands.

Ana glared momentarily at both of them. "Doesn't give you an excuse to slack off. Are you two even working?" She turned away from them, back to Windy and Dr. Moon. This was the first time the two adults had stopped by to visit the new residence of the teenagers, and they didn't seem very impressed by what they saw in the abandoned warehouse. "It's just temporary," she assured them. "We are not staying here any longer than we have to, but North can't build a home in the snow right now because of the ice."

The building was dark seventeen hours of the day and looked even worse from the yellow light when it wasn't. There was still heating in the building for whatever reason, but it wasn't always enough to accommodate them when it was in the negatives. They had a supply of flashlights by their makeshift beds, which were essentially all the blankets that could have been spared from Dr. Moon's and Wind's house. The canned food had yet to run out, and they still had a little less than five bags left. Some of their meals had come from the two adults and others had come from random acts of theft, the latter being something the two adults didn't need to know about for a long time.

Aster glanced at Jack, who shrugged, not sure if Ana wanted to know how far they had gotten or not. They went back to what they were doing, bending over the maps of the town and the schedules for school. The last few days had been spent figuring out where every child lived and what time they would get out from school, as well as what route they would take. Some of this had been relatively easy to figure out, like the time class was released, but the rest had been found out by hiding in bushes. It was going to take several weeks to map out every child's schedule and Aster and Sandy were already planning break-ins at the schools to find out which child was playing what sport and who rode what bus.

Sandy opened the door to the warehouse, hurriedly closed it behind him, and then ran over to where the others were standing and sitting. He and North had been out trying to figure out some of the paths students took to walk home. Luckily, they had caught a break and noticed that some kids who lived in the same neighborhood traveled in packs. He didn't look excited now, instead worried.

Ana didn't notice him, going right back to trying to calm the adults' fears. "Really, it just looks bad, we haven't had any serious problems yet-"

"Except for the mice," Jack muttered.

Ana kicked him lightly and Aster snickered. "What have you two gotten done?" she said impatiently. Sandy waved at her as he approached, attempting to call attention to himself. She was too focused on the other four around her to even register his motions.

"We have most of the high school kids mapped out, surprisingly, because a whole lot of them are driving themselves and others home. The rest travel in groups home or ride the bus. The main problem is that there are some sports that are interfering with our time maps," Jack said.

"We've got ta get inta the school," Aster said firmly. Sandy tugged on his sleeve but Aster shook his head, holding up a finger to tell him to wait a moment. "We can't do much if we're stuck here drawin' maps. It's ridiculous. Any change from the normal is throwin' us off, like when a student gets picked up from school when they shoulda been ridin' the bus."

Ana sighed and then turned back to Dr. Moon and Windy. "North and Sandy are out figuring out the paths of some more kids right now. We're trying to get the older kids first so we know immediately when their pattern changes."

"Why would that matter?" Windy asked. Sandy stomped his foot behind her and jumped, trying to get someone's attention. Her height blocked most of his gestures.

"It'll tell us as soon as Pitch gets a new follower," Jack explained. "It's better to figure out who he has on his pay role now instead of later. Unfortunately, this also means we have to mark what students are going to what college so we can make sure they're actually going out of the area and we don't have to worry about them anymore."

"Wait, what if they come back ta help Pitch ta pay off student loans?"

Ana and Jack exchanged exasperated expressions.

"And now we have to record that, too," Jack muttered.

Sandy waved his hands directly in Ana's face to get her attention. She jumped and then gestured for him to go ahead with whatever he had to say. He scribbled down a note on a pad of paper and handed it to her. She read it quickly and then frowned. "I didn't think it was snowing that badly," she said. "Are you sure?"

"It wasn't too bad this morning when you were outside," Jack said, "but when I went out around ten an hour or so after you were out there, it was the beginning of a huge storm."

"That's part of the reason why we stopped by," Dr. Moon said. "What's wrong?"

"Some kids got trapped under the elementary school playground in all the snow," Ana said. She handed the pad back. "Where's North."

Sandy underlined the part on his pad of paper that said under the playground.

"With the kids?"

He nodded. Blankets, he wrote.

Ana glanced at the others. "Let's go grab some shovels and see if we can't get them all out. We can dig a hole large enough to get some blankets through and then work on getting everyone out."

"Ana, there's a full-fledged blizzard going on," Windy said. "You can't go out right now."

Aster began grabbing up all the blankets around him, shoving the maps aside. Jack bundled up the ones he hadn't gotten to yet and they shoved the two stacks together. "Grab some 'a the food," Aster said, pointing towards the grocery bags as he separated the two piles out into loads that could be more easily carried. "They probably haven't eaten in a while an' we don't know how long it'll take to get 'em out."

"Nobody listens to me," Windy sighed.

"Let's grab some shovels, but we're going to need something else, too," Jack said. "Once we get close to where the kids will be, we can't risk hitting one of them with a snow shovel."

"We'll have to get in there and dig with our hands when we reach that point," Ana said, taking the pile of blankets Aster handed to her. "Windy, were there a lot of people outside when you guys came in or do we not have to worry about that?"

She shook her head, resigned. "No, you'll be fine. I'll give you guys a ride there. We'll help."

"Not suggesting we call the police?" Dr. Moon asked lightly, noticing the change in how the officer was dealing with things.

"North's under there, so he'd get arrested, and we don't know why the kids didn't leave for home so it could be dangerous. The police won't be expecting that," she said mournfully, as if watching the funeral of her sanity. "I can't believe I'm helping you do this."

"It's for a good cause," Jack chirped lightly. "Okay, we're going to have to grab snow shovels from somewhere…"

"The doctor will pick them up," Windy said, not even bothering to ask if that was alright with him. "We better get you straight there if you want to get the kids out any time before next week." She turned and led the way outside. The rest followed, walking briskly with blankets bundled in their arms.

-.-.-.-

The first few feet of snow had come off relatively easy. They knew what the structure looked like and were trying to burrow their way between two steps and into the cavity at the center. By doing so, they lowered the risk of accidentally burying the kids in snow. The first half hour had been simple enough, most of it being done by hand. The snow hadn't settled down long enough to pack in tightly and could mostly be brushed off.

The second half hour was harder. They were bitterly cold by that point and the blizzard was gaining strength. The effort to uncover them immediately was postponed and a small hole was dug through until they pushed through to the other side. An arm stuck out from the other side and waved at them. In return, Aster gave North's hand a can of peaches. North pulled back, surprised, but then stuck his hand through again a moment later so Aster could give him the can opener. A few more cans were pushed through before work continued on a hole large enough to get the kids through. The blankets went next, each getting shoved through one after the other. After a few minutes of pondering it, Windy left temporarily to go grab chocolate for the kids. They might as well make it as enjoyable as they could for them.

With a small hole already made, they did their best to enlarge it as fast as they could. The hole collapsed several times and had to be unburied from the large amount that had fallen on it. Windy and Dr. Moon did the best they could to help, but there was only so much space for them to work with. After an hour, they all agreed to take shifts working to enlarge the hole and getting warm in Windy's car.

When the hole was a foot wide in diameter, North finally called out to them. "You will have to pull children out once they are in tunnel!"

The three on shift, all of the teenagers but Sandy, exchanged confused looks. "Say that again, mate, we didn't catch it," Aster said loudly, unsure if they had heard him correctly.

"Children are cold and moving slowly! You will have to help pull them out!"

"Oh great," Aster muttered.

"Ana, go get something like a rope from Windy," Jack said. Ana nodded and ran for the police cruiser without a second thought."I'll go in there and you can toss me whatever it is you find. We'll use it to pull the kids out."

"Hey, why-?"

"Because you're too tall, Ana's not strong enough, and Sandy won't be able to reach far enough to get the kids into the tunnel."

"Oh."

Ana came back a moment later with rope. Windy had taken to carrying various miscellaneous items around in preparation for the escapades the teenagers had started on. Jack took one end in his hand and climbed up the side of the playground set. He moved into the tunnel, careful so as not to cause anything to fall on him. It didn't collapse, thankfully, but he did knock a few clumps loose as he passed through. On the other end, it was even darker than outside and was disturbingly quiet. "Hello?" he said.

"Jack!" North rested a hand on his shoulder and helped him out. "What are you doing in here?"

Jack put the end of the rope in North's hand. "We're going to use this to pull the kids out. Should we get the smallest first?"

"Yes, I think so. Over here."

He led Jack over by the arm to one particular spot and crouched down in front of someone. "We are getting your sister out first because she is smallest," he said to someone, presumably the sibling of the youngest.

"Okay," the older brother replied. "Here," he said, helping them take his sister. She made a sound, a mix between a happy sigh and a sound meaning she wanted to go back to sleep. "She wiggles," he warned.

"Thanks," Jack replied, wrapping a rope around the youngest girl's arm and tying it in front. North and he then lifted her up into the tunnel. She lay down on her back and her coat acted as a sled, letting her get easily pulled out. It was only when her feet disappeared that Jack realized they were without rope again.

"Whoops."

North chuckled. "Go get rope back. I am too big."

Jack frowned in the dark. "That's right. We're going to have to get you out somehow, though… Here, boost me up, will you?" North obliged and Jack was back in the tunnel a few seconds later. Aster handed him the rope when he got to the end, and he awkwardly shuffled backwards into the cavity once more. He and North got the next child into the tunnel without trouble, as well as the third and fourth within the next ten minutes.

The last two children had remained silent throughout the whole affair, not speaking or moving. Their quiet had gone unnoticed in the hurry to get the others out. Now as North and Jack tried to wake them, it was a major concern. Neither child was responding, although both were breathing.

"It's the onset of hypothermia," Jack murmured. "Come on, let's get them out. The faster they get to Dr. Moon, the better. Which one seems worse?"

North pulled one child off the snowy wall and helped Jack tie the knot around him. "This one," he said. They raised the child into the tunnel and he was pulled away a second later. North crouched down by the last child and picked him up. "Here," he said. "Climb out with him. It will be faster than grabbing rope."

"You're going to come out behind me, right?"

"That is the plan," North replied, a smile in his voice. "I trust if I do not make it, someone will come back for me."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Duh." They lifted the last boy into the tunnel, and North helped Jack up after him.

He used one arm to hold him close and pull him along, while shuffling his knees forward across the ground to move forward. He used his free arm to stabilize himself as he moved. It didn't take long to get out, although it seemed as if it did. Hands were already reaching for them as they came out into the open air. Windy and Aster took the boy from him and he was whisked away to Dr. Moon's car. Windy's was already full.

"Okay, you kids got to scram," she said. "I called an ambulance and they'll be here any minute now."

"Go on," Jack said, waving the other three off. "North's almost out." None of the teenagers moved, however, until their Russian friend was out of the snow and on his feet. Only then did they turn tail and begin running back to the abandoned warehouse with sore arms and legs, cold limbs, tired heads, and little comfort waiting for them since they were leaving all their blankets behind with the children.

-.-.-.-

January 6

Windy stayed in the room of the two kids who had been the last to get out of the snow. The doctors had told them there would be no lasting damage, and they had not, in fact, succumbed to hypothermia. The real cause of their sleep had remained unknown, but any concerns had disappeared when the two brothers had begun throwing pillows at each other within minutes of waking up.

Dr. Moon had kept an eye on all the children, making sure all of them were just as alright as they seemed to be. They were all going to be held for a day to keep them under observation to be sure they were alright. Parents had been called and the adults were already fussing over their kids, hugging them, occasionally crying, and insistently asking what had happened to force the children under there long enough for the snow to bury them. The kids always fell silent when that question came up, glanced nervously at each other, and then would go back to whatever they had been talking about before the interruption.

Within a few hours, the children could no longer be contained. Claude, the twin who had been out last, was standing on his mattress and demanding to be let out while down the hall, the youngest child was running around her room laughing hysterically while her parents tried to get her back onto the hospital bed. After a few minutes of discussion, the majority of the kids were gathered in one hospital room to see if any answers could be coaxed out of them that way. The rest of the children were asleep, thankfully for their parents.

Sure enough, within two minutes, the kids were already sharing stories excitedly and conferring. Claude started it, exclaiming, "I saw him, I saw him!"

"He was bigger than I expected!" Jamie, the authority on all things supernatural, stated as if observing a surprising change in an experiment.

"I got carried by him!" Caleb exclaimed, whooping and punching the air triumphantly. He pointed at the rest, rubbing in that he had gotten special treatment even though it was just because he had fallen asleep.

"Which one?" Pippa asked.

"The Easter Bunny!"

"Yeah, well, I was carried by Santa Claus!"

"For two seconds! And it was just because he was moving you up into the tunnel!"

Jamie grinned. "It makes perfect sense that the two of them know each other, don't you think? They both have holidays revolving around kids. I wonder if they're others out there."

"I'll bet the Tooth Fairy's out there," Pippa said, leaving no room for debate."If the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are out there, she definitely is too. I waited all night for her to come one night, and she still got the tooth and put a quarter underneath without me noticing!"

Her parents remained silent, not mentioning that she had, in fact, fallen asleep.

"Honey," Jamie's mom said, "what are you guys talking about?"

He turned to her, practically bouncing with excitement. "We were under the playground and-and the snow was piling up – and it was getting so high, Mom, you should've seen it! – and we thought we were going to be buried – and we kinda were, I suppose – and Santa came! He had on this big red coat. It was getting dark because the snow was blocking out the sun so we didn't see how long his beard was. Anyway, he started packing in the snow to stop it from falling in on us and we helped! I packed the most."

"No, I did!"

"I totally did!"

"I'm sure you all packed in a lot of snow," Jamie's mother said, trying to move the conversation along. The kids beamed at her.

"After that, it had totally piled up and I was sure we were going to be stuck down there for a long time. So Santa started telling us stories! It was so cool. And then a while later, the Easter Bunny tunneled through the snow and got us food!"

"Wasn't that nice of him…"

"And chocolate!"

The parents resisted the urge to exchange exasperated looks.

"And blankets too, but the chocolate was the best part. Oh, and Jack Frost – you know, the nippin-on-your-nose guy –, he helped the Easter Bunny burrow in!"

"Don't forget the battle!" Claude chimed in.

"Battle?!"

"Yeah! See, we got stuck under there 'cause the Boogeyman was out there! And he had-had…uh…someone with him!"

"Nightmares!" Pippa said.

"Yeah, that's probably what they were! Or-or-or Nightmare Men!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Ooohhh," the others said.

The parents looked utterly bewildered at this point.

"And so the Easter Bunny had to go fight them off before he came and got us."

"I'll bet the Tooth Fairy helped him!"

"The two of them fought off the Boogeyman's entire army! Cool!"

"Well, maybe they had help."

"Sandman?"

"Yeah, I'll bet the Sandman helped!"

Jamie's mother stepped in again. "I'll bet that's what happened," she said decisively. "But you know they're so very secretive. How were you lucky enough to see just who it was while you were in the dark and snow?"

The kids gave her a look, like it was sad she hadn't figured it out yet. "Well," Jamie said in an authoritative voice, "it wasn't the police or firemen. And random strangers wouldn't have stayed under there with us for so long. Santa had a big coat on and had a really deep voice, so it must have been him. And the tunnel was at least four feet deep, so there must have been a expert tunnel-er to get through all that snow to us."

"And they gave us chocolate, so it was obviously the Easter Bunny."

"Yeah, and when Santa gave it to us, he asked if it was like an early Christmas."

Caleb and Claude "oooh"ed, like someone was about to get busted. "Hope the Easter Bunny didn't hear him say that."

"I wonder if they do this kind of thing all the time," Pippa said thoughtfully. She glanced at Jamie. "I mean, it was really nice of them, but I just wonder if they already knew we were in danger or something."

"I'll bet they did," he said, nodding his head. "I'll bet the Boogeyman has been after kids for a long time and the…the…uh, the legends are always making sure he doesn't attack anyone. What do you suppose they're called?"

"Protectors?"

"Uh, the Flying Four? 'Cause the Easter Bunny can't fly…"

"Yeah, but they'd want to include all of them."

"Are you sure the Sandman was there? He was awfully quiet."

"He probably doesn't speak much. I mean, he's busy weaving dreams and all. Hey, they could be the Dream Makers!"

"No, not all of them do that. Like, the Tooth Fairy doesn't, not really."

"What about… uh…"

"Guardians," the man in the corner offered quietly, light reflecting off his glasses like full moons.

"Yeah! I'll bet they're called Guardians!" Jamie said ecstatically.

Windy had been staring at the kids the entire time with a gaping mouth. Now she finally directed her attention to Dr. Moon, who had been standing by the door. He glanced back and smiled at her. After a few moments, she returned it. If current events were anything to go by, it seemed like they had found a cover for the teenagers to work under.

-.-.-.-

January 9

The children who had been rescued had not stopped talking about their adventure since they had gotten to the hospital. The teachers and parents who overheard these discussions let them have their fantasies, content to let them make something wonderful out of what had been so dire of a situation. Soon enough, their own classmates were in on the discussions, oohing and aahing about their tale, which became more elaborate with each passing day as the kids "figured out" more and more about what had actually happened.

A group of kids were not seated around them on the playground, listening as they retold the tale one more time. The younger kids were especially delighted to hear these tales. The ones in Jamie's age group were dismissing the tales, considering he was ten years old and supposedly a little too mature to believe in characters like that, but none of them took the time to bother him about. The rest of the kids who had been trapped had been younger, between the ages of six (Sophie) and nine (Pippa).

Jamie had been proclaimed official storyteller of the group. He could use words better than the rest and kids were more likely to sit still and listen to him than to others. His dramatic speech and hand gestures just added to the flow of the story and made people lean closer in to listen. Adults even enjoyed hearing the stories, if just because it was comical for them to see him getting so engaged in the tale.

"The Boogeyman was drawing ever closer to his prey-"

"That's us," Claude interrupted.

"-and they weren't sure what to do. The only place they could run to was the playground. They ran towards it for shelter, and the only reason they made it was because the snow and wind in front of them stopped long enough to let them through. The Boogeyman started following them, but he was stopped! The winds and snow picked up again!"

The children gasped in surprise.

"Jack Frost had come to the rescue!"

"Yay, Jack!"

"Jack Frost!"

"And behind him came Santa Claus, the one and only! Good ol' St. Nick ran straight towards the kids, battling his way through Nightmares left and right! Not a thing could stop him!"

The kids cheered and clapped their hands.

"Was he on his sleigh?"

"Did he have presents?"

Jamie smiled. "You'll have to wait and see. Now, he finally got to the kids with the Nightmares right on his tail. He fought long and hard, protecting the children if it meant his life!"

A child in the first row gave a surprised hiccup.

"Jack Frost saw what was going on and made it snow harder, putting a barrier between the children and his friend and the Nightmares." The children paused, trying to imagine that. Jamie thought for a moment. "Well, I don't mean they were all separated. Santa and the kids were under the playground and the barrier was between that and the Nightmares."

"Oh."

Jamie pushed on, ignoring the momentary lull. "Jack Frost wasn't left battling the Nightmares on his own, oh no. Who should arrive but the Tooth Fairy, Queen of the Fairy armies herself!"

"Fairies!"

"Yes!"

"And together they began pushing back the forces of the Boogeyman, the forces of fear and darkness. But it wasn't time for rejoicing yet, no, not yet. The children were scared and he fed off that, bringing more Nightmares into the world to fight on his side. All the way across the world in China, meanwhile, the Sandman heard the battle cries of his comrades. He immediately rushed to their aid and struck from behind, attacking the Boogeyman's army!"

"Sandman!"

"Yes, the Sandman, the bringer of good dreams! And this was a good dream for our heroes! As they fought the forces of evil, the Easter Bunny was able to tunnel through the snow Jack Frost had made and give the children special chocolate. It let them remember there was hope for a happy ending. But the hole the Easter Bunny had made was too small. It would only let a small bunny through. So Santa reached into his sack and pulled out a present, one for each child! They took the presents and opened them up. Each one contained a potion that would make them small enough to get through the tunnel. And within two minutes, all the children were out of the tunnel and back outside!

"They weren't safe yet. The forces of good and evil were still battling each other. So Santa called his reindeer, and they all hopped in! The children were dropped off at their homes, and after making sure each was fast asleep, Santa went back to the fight. With the hope of the children on their side, the battle was won and the Boogeyman was defeated for one more day."

The children cheered, hugging each other and Jamie. "Is the Boogeyman going to be back?"one asked.

Jamie shrugged. "He probably will be. But as long as we have the Guardians, it'll all be okay. Besides, we know that Santa is usually nearby. We found some hoof prints from his reindeer out there yesterday."

"Really?!"

"Yep! That's where he and his reindeer train! Of course, there are some other places around the world where he trains, but Burgess is one of those places!"

"That's so cool!"

-.-.-.-

Windy looked inside the warehouse curiously with a small smile on her face. Most of the "Guardians" were asleep, wrapped up in the blankets that had been returned to them after their use had been served. Sandy was awake, having been keeping watch in case someone came by the warehouse. He waved tiredly at Windy as she stepped in, closing the door softly behind her. Dr. Moon was already inside, sitting by Sandy.

After the events four days ago, they had begun piecing together what had actually happened. It seemed like Pitch had been trying to get to one of the children or scare all of them. He had chased them under the playground that afternoon, riding a horse and obscuring himself in a dark cloak. The effort to scare them had evidently worked, as they had remained under there for some time until North had climbed in after them. Whatever Pitch had been trying to do exactly was yet to be known.

It had backfired, no matter what the intent had been. He and his horse had left prints out in the forest, leading children to believe that's where the reindeer were training. The Guardians legend had grown to a ridiculous proportion within a matter of days because of the stories that the kids had been telling. The teenagers had protested the idea immediately of using that as a cover, but it had quickly become obvious that there was going to be no way around it. As of right now, they were just letting the idea sit and see what happened before they tried to elaborate on it. Sandy seemed to have a few ideas but he wasn't saying anything.

Windy gestured to Dr. Moon. He stood up and walked over, turning his back to the Guardians. Windy did the same, and spoke in a low voice to avoid letting any of them hear her. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours. I felt bad that I hadn't been able to see them all, what with the kids being in the hospital and then the five of them running around trying to figure out what exactly happened. Did you know they went to your house afterwards because they didn't have any way to keep warm?"

Windy winced, glancing over her shoulder. Sandy was politely looking the opposite way, giving their conversation privacy. "No, but I can believe it. I thought some food was missing." She looked at the doctor. "The police are curious but not investigating. They're safe this time. I don't know how long they can stay here, though. Once things start picking up, they have to have somewhere secluded they can retreat to."

"There's nothing we can do until winter's over," Dr. Moon said with a sigh.

She nodded, not happy about it. "I know, but… Hopefully, things won't get too bad. How are they holding up?"

"They aren't suffering from any after effects of the cold."

"No, I mean…mentally. Aster's parents were just killed in a car crash and his brother's in a coma. Jack's family's messed up. I don't even know the rest of the story for any of them. They don't trust me enough."

"It's not that, they just…don't want to talk about it. Aster doesn't want to stop and think about what happened. He's got scars from the crash that will never heal, but many of them are mental, too. Jack was there for him throughout his healing and stayed with him at the hospital when they were waiting for Lachlan to wake up."

"Lachlan's his brother?"

"Yes. Because of that, Aster was there for Jack when Jack's father…" He trailed off, going quiet. Windy suppressed a flinch. She already knew Jack's father had been a violent drunk. "And then his mother abandoned the family and Emma was sent to live with their aunt and uncle in Georgia. Anyway, that's why Aster and Jack act so friendly towards each other even if they argue just as much. They both see each other as family because they don't have any biological ones left."

"I know that much, at least. They were going to take Jack away from Burgess, but he was such a troublemaker his distant relatives didn't want to deal with him. Aster was on my case the entire time, trying to get me to find a way to let him stay here."

"North's an orphan, you know that. His adopted parents were loving, but he knew the pain his friends were going through and gave up his own family to help them. Sandy's parents have been helping Pitch deal drugs, and Sandy didn't want to get involved in that. Ana's biological mother is in prison and her father's location is unknown. Her aunt and uncle took her in but lied, saying they were her real parents."

Windy sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. "You think they'll be alright? I mean, it was really brave when they tried to stop Pitch by exposing everything illegal they'd done, but it was brash and stupid. They broke multiple laws in the process and are now fugitives. Do you think they did that because it was the right thing or because they wanted to vent out their frustrations?"

Dr. Moon remained quiet for a few moments. "I don't know. But I think they'll try to do the right thing from now on. It's going to be hard if it works. If they can become the family they never had before… I think they can make it work."

Windy smiled. "What does that make us? Surrogate parents?"

"No, you're more like the favorite older cousin who is always harassing the younger ones for being stupid."

"Well, then you're the old grandfather."

"Thank you. The grandfathers are usually the wisest."

"And are going senile and farting in the night."

"Which is when the cousin is sneaking out and getting drunk."

She rolled her eyes, grinning. "Okay, let's go see what they're working on now. They'll forgive us for waking them up in the middle of the night, I think. And if not, well, that's their problem."

He gestured for her to lead the way. She walked over to where the ring of blankets marked where they slept. Sandy saw her approaching and shook Ana awake. The girl stirred as Windy began waking North and Aster. Jack sat up of his own accord, hearing the rest of his friends begin to stir.

"Hey, what's going on?" he murmured wearily.

"We just wanted to check up on you since we haven't seen you recently," Windy said.

Aster groaned, putting his pillow over his face. "Ya saw us four days ago an' it's two in the mornin'! Go ta sleep!"

"Just get up and listen. What have you guys been doing recently?"

"Sandy and I broke into the school two days ago to get information on routes the kids take home. We combined that with what we already know and we've gotten a lot worked out because of that," Jack said, fighting back a yawn. "North and Aster were looking for Pitch, and while they didn't find him, they've learned he's using a horse to get around. A more stinky method of getting around than using a car, but whatever works for him, I s'pose."

"Do we need to start making tallies of how many laws you break?"

"Why?"

Aster brushed the matter aside. "We started followin' the smaller groups 'a kids who walk home every day from school to make sure Pitch doesn't go after 'em again. Sandy an' Ana ran across two 'a Pitch's guys one time, but we won that fight. Don't know what they were doin', but it didn't look good."

"We met your friend, Ombric, in New York last month," North said, nodding at Dr. Moon. "He said he will come by to see about sponsoring us."

"Ombric?" Windy asked.

"He runs a store called Nightlight," Jack explained. "Messenger pigeons. We're going to use them to send messages across town. We can't use phones because those can be tracked, email would require a laptop so that's too bulky, and radios could be grabbed off us by Pitch and he could find the frequency."

"So you thought…messenger pigeons."

Jack gave her a look. "We're still young and stupid. Let us get through all the bad ideas now, alright? Besides, it could be fun."

Windy rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"He should be stopping by within a week or two," North said. "We can work out details then."

"What are we going to do about food?" Ana asked. "These canned foods won't last forever."

"An' I'm not goin' ta be able ta eat them forever," Aster muttered, nudging Jack playfully. His friend snickered and nodded in agreement. Windy refused to react to that, instantly reminded of what Dr. Moon had just said a few minutes ago.

"We can both supply food," Windy said, gesturing to herself and Dr. Moon. All five kids looked uncertain about that. "Hey, seriously! We're not going to suddenly back out on you guys!"

"No, it's just…" Ana said. "There are five of us, Aster and North eat like they're starving to death, and if someone notices how much food you're buying, they are going to get suspicious. I suppose that'll work short-term, but we need a long-term solution, too."

Windy shook her head and shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank there. We'll figure it out later."

"Later, when it's not time for me ta be sleepin'."

"Sorry," Ana said, "but I've got to agree with Aster on this one."

Windy laughed and stood up. "Alright, we'll leave you guys alone. Sleep well, okay?"

"Sure, Sandy's watching over us!"

"He is Sandman now, is he not?" North pointed out with a grin. Sandy rolled his eyes and made a fist, pointing down at the ground to tell him to go back to sleep.

"Sandman says hit the sack before he hits it for ya," Aster said. Sandy gave him a look, clearly sending the same message his way, too. Aster held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, message received." He flopped back down onto the ground and tugged a blanket back over himself. "Windy, Moon, don't feel required ta drop in every day ta check on us. We're fine."

The doctor waved it aside. "Call me Manfred."

"Manfred? Nah, we're callin' ya Manny. Manfred sounds like yer a Brit in line ta be King 'a England or somethin'." Aster's voice was muffled through the blanket over his head, but he made no move to push it aside.

"Be careful," Windy said firmly, eyeing each of them, before standing up and walking off. "I will come for you if you're not."

"Threats to keep us safe. Anyone else think that's just a little weird?"

Windy brushed it off. Manny left a moment later, and the door closed securely behind him. A few moments of silence passed before all the blankets were thrown off and the teenagers leaned in towards each other to continue what they had been doing before they had been interrupted.

"Okay, what were ya sayin'?" Aster asked, looking at North.

"Area by James Creek is perfect for home we could build," he said. "Foundation sturdy, high enough that it will not flood. We will need supplies to build a home and workshop, though."

"How large are ya thinkin'?"

North shrugged. "Two rooms. One to sleep and eat in, other to be used as workshop. It will depend on how large you need. How much space do you think?" he asked all of them. Sandy gestured to the amount of area they took up and then brought his hands close together. "Smaller than this?" North guessed. Sandy nodded.

"A tight fit, but I think that would work," Ana said. "I don't think we'll always be asleep at the same time as each other. It won't be too bad. Do you think we're going to need a stove and microwave or anything else?"

"Yeah, Ana, we're not barbarians using fires!" Jack said.

"Where are we going to get the supplies to build this from?" Ana asked.

"Well, petty theft would be one place ta start."

"Aster!"

"What?"

"Let's find some of the simpler stuff first," Jack suggested. "We've got the routes planned out for the messenger pigeons, right?"

"Yeah, but I've got a bad feelin' about those bloody birds," Aster said. "They're going to be hard ta control an' keep quiet."

"Ombric can help us with that," Ana said. "Okay, I'll admit, it is nicer to plan this stuff without having those two leaning over our shoulders."

"It is, isn't it?"

"Hey, back to the discussion, please!"

-.-.-.-

a/n: Zephyrus Genesis has a talent for art and has kindly drawn several scenes from Rivers on her account. There hasn't been time to draw any from Crosscurrent, but I'll let you know if she puts more up. The account on DeviantArt is also under the name Zephyrus Genesis. Go check it out!

Anyone think it seems a little interesting that Dr. Moon knows so much about the Guardians when they obviously wouldn't want to talk about their past lives? Interesting, hm?

If you're wondering why Jamie didn't recognize anyone (if you've read Rivers), it's because Jamie never met anyone but Aster.

LIST OF SYMBOLISM (Jack) (sorry, readers from Rivers, but you've already heard this): Hair and drowning – The shock of nearly drowning turned his hair white (this actually can happen, but don't try it at home).

Intelligence – Jack comes up with randomly brilliant plans in this story effortlessly because his frost was so intricate and effortless in the story, but he can't randomly ice things over as a human.

Flying – Uses roofs to get around.

No family he remembers – Father had horrible parenting skills, mother never paid him any attention, Emma went to Georgia.