CHAPTER REVAMPED. Haha to answer one of your questions (thanks anon, my sweetie!) I make LOTS of drafts and I can't decide which is better. But it bears absolutely NO effect on the ones to come so if you do choose to come back and read it (and honest I didn't know you guys did come back to - that makes me all fuzzy inside :3) and find it's not what u read before, don't panic. (: Now then...
H-How did you all manage to read through the last chapter? :O Haha I love u for surviving to the end! U all get a free ride on Jack's motorcycle. ;D
"But you can skyrocket away from me. And never come back if you find another galaxy."
Tan Son Nhat airport, terminal drop off, 10:26 am
Sreeech!
A family taking their luggage out of their van in front of Jack jumped a mile into the air as he savagely braked the motorcycle in front of them.
(Vietnamese) "Damn tourists!" the mother snapped but Jack ignored her.
The second he killed the engine, he exhaled intensely and ran his hand through his brown hair to fix the messy, windswept locks. He felt Tooth's body (and his), still shaking slightly from the motion of the drive.
Toothiana immediately leapt off the motorcycle and scrambled wobbly to stand. Her heart was threatening to explode in her chest as she leaned on a nearby column.
"Never, never, again with you," she choked.
Jack rolled his eyes as he leaned the bike on a foot.
"Oh okay, well thanks Jack," he imitated her earlier quip but she was still yapping to herself.
"A-And we just...flew over that ledge! And I swear to god, we should've...but we didn't because you–"
She suddenly snapped back to him and pointed a finger in his face.
"Do you not remember how many guys I just kicked between the legs? You've been on that list way before any of them, buddy!"
Jack blinked and his head twitched.
"Wh...Can you get out of my face?" Jack snapped and swatted her hand away from his face and just looked at her.
The princess' new hair was sticking out in different directions and her dress was slightly twisted and hanging more to one side. As she fixed herself, Jack kicked down the bike stand and moved off the bike with more grace.
"Trust me," Jack said seriously as he quickly went around the bike wiping away prints, "that drive's really nothing compared to what else I've done."
Somehow that threw off her focus...so was also seeing the way his hair was still wisping to one side. Tooth fell silent as she waited impatiently, hopping stressfully on the balls of her feet. She tried to think about the flight, Pitch's other hitman, and quickly looked down at her necklace.
'Good, it's still hiding in my shirt!' she huffed inwardly. 'REALLY Tooth, no more slip-ups like–'
Jack snapped his fingers to get her attention.
Tooth looked back at him, still fidgeting.
"W-What?"
"Come on, your highness!" he sighed as he raised his hand out for his backpack. "Where's your sense of urgency?!"
And Tooth finally blinked.
"Oh no!"
She hurriedly took it off and handed it back to him. He eyed her quickly as he put it on. Then he moved around the bike and rushed into the airport, but Toothiana spared the awesome, black motorcycle one more look.
One day, if she was lucky, she'd get to drive one herself.
...
Flight 7 non-stop to Moscow, 10:34 am
Tooth thought about the lonely bike one last time as she said 'excuse me' for the umpteenth time walking down the aisle of the plane.
She still couldn't believe their damn luck.
'Maybe it was the luck of the Leprechaun,' she teased herself before the thought of Hubert DunBroch left an ick in the back of her throat.
Still, as the women already on the plane eyed her dress (and more, her bodyguard), Tooth was grateful to Jack's wonderful, natural talent for speed and control.
She wondered if all spies were really as good and as fast as Jack on motorcycles. She really doubted that they could pull off what he did, especially with their land on that last building. It was a miracle.
It was also pretty hot.
She didn't dare turn her head behind to face him as her neck grew warm at the thought.
'Bad, Tooth. BAD!'
The plane was quite large, sitting three at each window and four in the centre, but the aisles were tight. After they got to their seats near the back on the left, Tooth settled in her seat next to the window while Jack put his backpack in the overhead cabin. He then moved his small carryon underneath his feet as he settled beside her in the middle seat. Meanwhile, the older gentleman who was already sitting in his seat on the end was already dozing off.
Feeling claustrophobic beside Jack's blue-clad form, Toothiana moved her eyes down to the new carryon he had brought with him.
It was strange and she still couldn't believe how he ended up with it.
"There!"
When they got to the final check-in gate, no one else was around (having already boarded), and the attendant was busy finishing up.
But seeing the wide, open glass doors and knowing the deep tunnel led to the Flight 7 at the end, made the two of them absolutely relieved. Tooth sighed gratefully and Jack's shoulders visibly unwound.
They actually, freaking made it!
As Jack moved ahead of her to show their tickets, Tooth clutched her side painfully and coughed.
'Holy crap, we did it!' she mentally cheered as she finally got near them.
"You almost cut it very close there," the woman said with a placid smile. She then leaned behind her chair and presented a small blue carryon bag. "But luckily a security guard found it for you and told us to hold it until the flight left. Sorry about the convenience, sir."
Tooth shot the two of them a bewildered look as Jack took the mysterious carryon with a small smile.
"Tell him thank you for me," Jack said politely and when she nodded, she let them go on ahead into the tunnel.
When they were out of earshot, Tooth walked beside him and stared down at the new bag.
"When did you have that?" she whispered. "What security guard?"
Jack looked down at her before looking ahead again.
"Remember when I gave Hue my belt?" he muttered under his breath and lifted it slightly. "It's in here."
Her eyes grew wide.
"It is!?" she hissed suddenly horrified. "Oh my god, Jack!"
Jack had all his weapons as they were now going to board the plane... and he didn't even look nervous. In fact, he looked more relieved.
"Hue has men working for him everywhere. He can smuggle whatever he wants through here," he said then fell silent as they neared the stewardess at the plane entrance.
Jack lifted their tickets and after several cardiac-intensive seconds, she smiled at the two of them.
She then let Tooth, Jack, and his bag full of espionage arsenals through.
Tooth rubbed her head at the disturbing thought.
Oy vey.
"Remember," Jack muttered down into her ear. His cool breath sent a shiver across her skin. "One of Pitch's men is on this plane. And so is whoever he's going to follow."
Tooth's heart skipped a beat. Her mouth fell open as she looked at the chair in front of her blindly.
She'd forgotten.
She'd completely forgotten.
"I-I...I for–"
"So make sure your necklace is hidden alright?" Jack narrowed his eyes down at her throat before he pulled away. "We can't risk another chase, especially here."
And Tooth's tan fingers instantly shot up to her father's chain. She grasped it shakily and gulped, thankful it was beneath the fabric of her dress.
Jack then reached up to fiddle with the AC over his head. When it blew a stronger wind into his face, he flexed the fingers of his ungloved hand and rubbed an eye.
Several minutes later, the plane attendants did their safety routine, everyone signed off their passports, and the plane took off on schedule. Jack and Tooth didn't fully relax until they were sure they off the ground and the seatbelt lights went off.
When they did, Toothiana sighed gratefully and unbuckled herself.
She looked out of the window and stared down at the city with great wonder.
She still loved flying with all her heart, and despite the apparent danger that had surrounded her in the past forty-eight hours, she couldn't help herself. The puffy clouds and the morning sun shining down on the craziest city she'd ever been in, took over her senses.
"How long 'till we land?" she finally turned to ask Jack.
He was staring ahead in deep thought and she almost didn't think he'd reply, until his brown eyes suddenly flit to her face.
"Seven hours and twenty minutes, so we'll get there after dark." And she nodded with a frown before she looked out the window again.
"Right," she mumbled. "It's winter for the rest of the world."
Just because it was warm and like summer down in Southeast Asia during December, didn't mean Russia was the same. As the AC blew cold air down onto Tooth, she shivered in her dress at the thought. She was supposed to be away from all this winter weather – that's why she came home during school break, to soak in the hot rays on the island...
When the man sitting next to Jack coughed and got up to use the washroom, Jack took the opportunity to reach under his seat to pull out his carryon.
As he unzipped it, he knitted his dark eyebrows together. Tooth watched him go through it, seeing the edge of the gun holster and all his belongings. When he lifted his collapsible baton slightly and rubbed its steel side, she bit her lip.
"How are you going to get that through security once we land?" she asked.
Jack quickly looked around before silently pulling at the bag's inside lining and showed her a tear in the corner. She saw what looked like a weird rubber sheer lining the bag all around.
"It's a metal silencer," he explained. "Hue laces all his carryons with it so it counters the magnetic pulse and doesn't go off under the detectors."
Tooth blinked, impressed at the ingenuity.
"Where'd he learn that?" she asked. And as Jack checked the pockets, he raised an eyebrow.
"From me."
He missed as Tooth shot him a small smile.
As she settled more into her seat, feeling a bit more comfortable with him beside her than she'd ever felt (but would never admit), she began to let her mind wander for bit. Eventually she began patting her hands on her thighs to some invisible beat in her head.
"Ouch!" she jumped and Jack stopped abruptly to look down at her.
"What?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes.
Tooth clenched her jaw nervously as she bent over slightly and began to (self-consciously) lift the skirt of her dress. She grimaced when she saw that a long trail of blood had started running down her leg, but luckily it hadn't seeped into the dark hue of the fabric yet.
A deep cut on the side of her right leg started to sting.
"I must have gotten it on the bike," she muttered. She did tell Jack to be careful weaving through all the crap they passed on the sidewalks. She wanted to scowl, but somehow ended up nervously glancing at him instead.
Jack was always annoyed when she slowed him down.
'Just perfect,' she lamented in her head. 'Now I'll have to go to the washroom a–'
"Get up," Jack said in a low voice and when she looked at up him, he was moving something from the carryon into his pocket. Jack sent her hard look as he shoved his bag under his seat again.
"Well?" he urged and she stood up and moved around him to stand in the aisle. When he got up to follow, she immediately moved down the aisle to the back where the last of the washrooms were. She heard him speak into her ear.
"Get inside one but leave the door unlocked," he instructed. "Then count to seven and open it."
He then pulled away quickly and Tooth nodded slowly, continuing to walk with a smile so they didn't attract attention to each other. When they both reached the empty washrooms at the back, Jack and Tooth went in opposite doors simultaneously and shut their doors.
...
1: 47 pm
As soon as Tooth closed the door, she leaned against it and listened. The whooshing of the AC and the plane's engine brought a strange calm to her senses.
She then sighed and pushed her dark, brown hair behind an ear.
"One...two..." she began counting.
She knew why Jack had wanted her to do that – the average attention span of people was seven seconds, so–
"...six...seven," and as soon as she pulled open the door, Jack's form silently slipped passed the aisle and into her stall like a ghost. Tooth saw his washroom door was somehow locked on 'occupied'. She guessed he broke it or did something so people would think they were being separately used.
When she locked the washroom and turned, Toothiana nearly gasped at the closeness of his body. The restroom was small before but now it was like impossibly small.
The small lights overhead gave off a dark shadow over Jack's smooth, pale features and she found her heartbeat skipping.
'God, he's handsome,' she thought achingly while her throat grew dry.
Jack moved around her and pointed to the sink with his leather glove.
"Sit on it," he said and he rolled up the blue sleeves of his shirt more until they were above his elbows. He put the toilet seat down and sat on top of it in front of her. Tooth nodded, by this time more inclined to listen him and not question his motives since he'd already saved her life more than twice this morning.
She even told him so as she hefted herself on the sink's tiny edge.
"Uh...th-thank you for saving my l–"
"Don't."
She blushed with a frown.
'Well, at least he can't say I didn't try,' she growled in her head.
That's when Tooth squeaked.
Goosebumps exploded all across her skin as Jack's hands found her leg.
'Woah there!' she squealed in her head as a blush came on her face. He took the end of her dress and slowly lifted it up, mentally assessing the severity of her cut.
As he pulled the skirt higher, his scowl grew deeper.
He couldn't believe he'd managed to get her injured. He was normally very careful with motorcycle chases when they involved carrying others – he'd done it before for other people and they never sustained a cut from his sideswipes. If they did, it was usually because they got hit with a bullet, and the princess had managed to stop that herself from happening. Knowing that this was because of a simple miscalculation in steering really pissed him off.
Meanwhile, Tooth's face grew warmer the longer Jack lifted her skirt and more intense his gaze was on her legs. When his fingers took hold of her skin, the familiar icy electric jolt made her weak in the legs. She coughed softly to ignore the slight tremors in her fingers and to get his attention.
When he looked up at her, Toothiana rubbed her neck and pointedly avoided his maple-colored gaze.
"A-Are you gonna tell me what you're doing anytime soon?" she tried to joke but it came out more pathetic than sassy.
Jack blinked and rolled his eyes before he dropped the end of her dress atop her thigh. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a few cotton balls, some medicine and the bandages.
Tooth blinked down as he produced them to her.
"From Hue?" she guessed and he nodded.
"He's a dick, but at least he's always considerate of his best customers."
That's when Jack took hold of her right leg again, grasping it in his large palm from underneath, and to tended to it.
Tooth didn't say anything and just watched...dazed and speechless.
She could've easily done all this herself had he just handed her the stuff and let her go to the washroom alone...but then she guessed that after her bail on him earlier in the subway, he probably didn't want to have her pull another crackass run for help. But it wasn't really a guess.
That really was what he actually thought she'd do. So hoo-ha.
Tooth frowned. She watched as he concentrated deeply underneath the dim lighting, wiping the blood away and cleaning the cut above her knee. Every time his fingers brushed a little higher than she felt they were supposed to, her entire body shivered with a warm flutter in her stomach.
He was a really good bodyguard.
Despite all the cold looks, the rude comments, the sass, the fighting, and the screaming she did while he was 'protecting her life', she couldn't help it...her body was beginning to relax itself against the mirror behind her, heartbeat slowing from its usual erratic thumping whenever he was around.
Toothiana willed a tiny smile down serenely at him in the quiet, tiny space around them.
She felt for the first time since they met, being up in the air like this...like she could actually breathe again.
She kept looking at Jack, inwardly adoring the light sprinkle of freckles he had on his cheeks and across his nose. They were nearly impossible to see against his pale white skin but she memorized the pattern anyway.
"So..." Tooth dared to speak softly, "how did you find me in the warehouse when no one else could?"
She wanted him to talk her again, but Jack didn't look up as he continued playing doctor.
"I wasn't looking for you, remember? I was looking for Pitch," Jack mumbled, comfortable speaking about it in the tiny room with the wind drowning out their secret to the rest of world.
He then placed a piece of the bandage between his teeth and pulled it open, "I've apparently been searching for him for more than a year...at least that's the last thing I remember when I woke up."
Tooth's smile slipped over her face as her eyebrows scrunched together worriedly.
"What do you mean...'woke up'?"
"Whatever the GUARDIAN program did to me..." he shot her look daring her to laugh at him again for mentioning it.
When she didn't, and actually appeared sincere to him, he continued.
"Whatever they did...it left me stranded in the middle of nowhere with one thought: to stop Pitch Black. And if any of his hired hitmen, the Nightmares, got in my way...Kill them."
Tooth wanted to ask him about what 'being stranded' and where 'the middle of nowhere' could possibly mean, but Jack didn't tell any more.
She frowned at the crown of his hair, counting the flecks of his real white hair beneath the cover of the dye.
He spoke low again when she didn't.
"So that's why I was there, that's why I need to stop him because that's what the old Me had planned to do. It's my only mission left now."
Tooth frowned.
That's why he was so wayward and caught up on every clue, and why he wanted to fly to Russia and help her find her handmaiden...it would all lead back to Pitch and help Jack understand why he lost his memories a year ago.
Tooth felt a strong weight like lead settle in her throat and onto her stomach. Her heart grew heavy too and the more she stared at Jack's hard, serious features, she suddenly felt the need to comfort him. He always made sure she was alright...she wondered when was the last time anyone had ever done the same for him.
'Probably never,' she guessed glumly.
But why should she?
She tried not to think about the leather glove under her knee that had punched that glass window, or the intense brown eyes on her skin that shot men at point-blank range. She even tried to ignore the pale fingertips pushing her skirt back up as it fell...and forget how they'd snapped a guy's neck just an hour ago.
And she just knew, she just did.
Tooth tilted her head slightly to the left and looked at the door briefly before she stared at Jack again.
"I...I hope you get your memory back, Jack," she said timidly.
His jaw set tightly but she didn't notice as she sent him a warm smile. "I think I can believe that you were, no, are a good person, if you're trying to stop a terrorist...right?"
It was the tone of her voice that finally made Jack pause to look up at her.
And when he did, the muscles in his face slackened and his eyes slightly widened.
The dim light caught her blonde tresses and her skin and he surveyed the way her dark hair curled against her cheeks and shoulders.
And she was...actually smiling down at him, nervously, but smiling all the same.
Neither were aware that his pupils had dilated slightly.
Jack hadn't been blind the whole time...He was a guy. He knew Tooth was attractive from the moment he saw her.
Jack's hold under her knee hesitated just a fraction, his fingers twitching in their gentle grip. He couldn't help but see how bright and pearly she was, truly trying to be strong in the face of everything he was throwing her into.
And something about that gnawed at his insides.
Tooth couldn't erase the expression on his face. For a second back there he almost looked...nervous. His eyebrows were knitting together and his mouth fell open slightly like he wanted to say something. She leaned slightly to him, curious and willing to invite...but he eventually looked back down, still applying the medicine to her leg.
His eyes hardened at the edges.
"You don't know that," he finally bit out. "Neither of us do. For all we know, I worked for someone like Pitch and he was just the competition I needed to kill off."
Tooth leaned more forward.
"B-But I–"
"Princess," he warned and snapped his head up to hers, inches from her face. Jack was frowning but for once, he didn't have that cold squint anymore. His eyes were just wide, serious.
"I mean it," he mumbled. "This is all just a game for someone, and I was a willing pawn. I'm an assassin, that's all...So don't."
He faded out and remained silent, locking himself away like he was good at – like he was trained to.
Tooth bit her lip when she felt his palm twitch strongly under her leg, but she looked away.
"So then...what would you have done if I hadn't been the tooth, if I didn't have it on me?" she spoke accusingly as she glared at the floor. "Remember the knife you put in my face? The threat of leaving me there?...That was true?"
Jack answered without hesitation. "No. I still would've protected you."
"Really?" Tooth mumbled as her heart felt like it was beating a little too hard.
Jack nodded firmly as he finished up and dropped his hands away from her. He then clasped his hands in front of him with a serious gaze.
But then he continued.
"You're a princess, after all. I kind of have to."
"Oh," she stopped.
...I kind of have to.
'Of course, because once again, the title of Princess Toothiana Hypunjam is more important than ME as an actual person.'
Jack must've noticed the tension spike in the washroom as he stared her suddenly bleak expression.
He blinked up at her before he (somewhat guiltily) looked away.
He hadn't purposely meant to make that sound awkward...or did he?
"Other than that...are you hurt anywhere else?" he pedaled through for a change in conversation but it completely irked him – he normally hated idle talk, but he kept going anyway.
Tooth fidgeted with her feathered earring. She shook her head numbly.
"Um...no."
Jack flexed his fingers against his fist and scrunched his eyebrows.
"You certain? Because I have a lot more bandages and I don't want you bleeding all over the place."
When her nervous gaze flew over his head, his eyes fell unconsciously onto the blue-green hues of Tooth's dress.
"No really, that was all."
Tooth smiled again nervously but while Jack didn't return it, she was the tiniest overjoyed that he didn't glare or shoot her a cold look.
"Alright," he finally mumbled.
Jack felt like he couldn't breathe in the tight room all of a sudden. Like Toothiana, he protested enclosed, darkened spaces.
With a sigh, he got up and stood to his full height, as his head cast a shadow over her, Tooth gulped tightly and looked down at her cut.
All the blood was gone and she said a large bandage over the ointment-covered gash. When she pushed the dress down and hopped off the sink, he moved to it to wash his hand.
"Th-Thank you, Jack," she mumbled loudly and blushed as he checked himself in the mirror.
"You're welcome," he replied stiffly, avoiding her gaze entirely.
Then with a nod of confirmation, he moved to unlock the washroom door and pulled it open...just as a stewardess walked past the door.
She eyed him absentmindedly at first until she spotted Tooth standing behind him with her cheeks still warm. The woman glared at the two them.
"This isn't a mile high club," she hissed, obviously suspicious of the fact that two people were in the tiny washroom when it was built for one.
Jack just sent her an exhausted glare before he turned back to stare at Tooth.
He then moved around her.
"Trust me, there is nothing going on between us," he said coldly and stalked down the aisle, all business-like again.
When he was gone, the stewardess went to glare at Tooth. But she stopped and frowned slightly instead.
Tooth's face wasn't at all embarrassed. In fact, the short woman actually looked...crushed.
When Tooth's glassy eyes moved from where Jack was just standing to look at her, her crestfallen gaze told the older woman that maybe they really weren't doing what she'd thought they were.
She gave the (unknown) princess a somber look.
"You all right, sweetheart?" she asked seeing how Tooth's emotions washed all over her face, her cheeks instantly drained of color. But what was Tooth going to say, 'Oh, everything's fine! I just have the biggest crush on this serial killer with amnesia who just stepped on my heart, but it's all good. Do you have any water?'
No, she really couldn't. Not unless she wanted her tight throat to remind her of how childish she was.
There was no real romance in a spy chase, especially with a guy like Jack.
So instead, Tooth slipped a beautiful smile onto her face, but the woman knew it was forced and too wide to be honest.
"Oh yes, don't worry!" she beamed as she moved to the door. Tooth quickly lifted her skirt and showed her the bandage.
"Honestly, he was just helping me." And the woman looked down, before she turned to the blue-clad man that just left the girl behind. She then turned to stare down at Tooth with a sad smile.
"Oh okay, sorry miss...He's one of those huh?" she said and she let Tooth move around her. Toothiana sent her a look over her shoulder, grateful the woman hadn't pried for more.
"Believe me, he's worse," she said with a weak smile and the woman nodded and they parted ways.
...
3:24 pm
After lunch and a lame movie rolled through, Tooth fell asleep in her seat several hours later.
When she leaned her head against the window, the plane went through some turbulence and kept knocking her skull in her sleep. She pulled up many times but kept falling back down until she finally pulled her head all the way to the left and leaned it against her chair.
After a while, she slipped down until her head was leaning against Jack's shoulder.
Jack turned his head slightly at the abrupt touch to his arm.
Since he was taller than her, she was basically using his bicep as a pillow and the edge of his shoulder as a prop, but she otherwise fell deeper into sleep.
Jack grimly creased his forehead.
Her face looked so small and the dark circles under her eyes told him just how exhausted she really was. He had to give her credit. The princess could push and his joke earlier about her being out of her comfort zone really couldn't do her justice.
She was basically a fugitive like him now.
But she wasn't like any of the royal dignitaries he had assumed to be during protection operations...she didn't mind getting uncomfortable and she was humble through and through about everything she was given.
I hope you get your memory back, Jack.
Jack then frowned.
He remembered her smile...
It peeled away all the tired frustration that coated her face since they first met. Toothiana was always frantic and scared, and angry at the people around her (himself included) because they were controlling her life. She became a stubborn princess with a prissy attitude.
But then he remembered the Vietnamese father with the oil drum and the way she bowed to thank him, and the little boy with the canary...and the fashion students' she cooed over...and his dress she put over her body with excitement.
She ran a hand across her cheek and Jack noticed the tear that slipped out.
"Why is this all happening?" she mumbled behind her fist. "Oh my god, Tat..." She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut to stop the rest from leaking out.
Jack suddenly felt like a tight band was wrapping around his ribcage and exhaled harshly through his nostrils.
Unconsciously (albeit bitterly), he was lowering himself in his seat, trying to move away from the princess' head, but it only made him be more at her level.
When he felt her move in her sleep until her ear was resting on his shoulder and her head was in the crook of his neck, Jack bit the inside of his cheek.
He wasn't so callous as to nudge her away when she really needed to sleep – she'd only gotten three hours in the past two days and unlike him, she couldn't go on without rest – but that didn't mean she could use him as pillow.
Jack Frost was still a stranger to her, to everyone around him, and even to himself. He still didn't know why he was a wanted man internationally, when he'd done past criminal activities in multiple continents, and why he could do what he did...including kill people subconsciously.
I think I can believe that you were, no, are a good person, if you're trying to stop a terrorist...right?
His skin tingled as her hair tickled his jaw. All his senses were hypersensitive, and he felt more so when she moved around him like he was her fr–
No.
She shouldn't smile at him and he didn't like that he'd...reacted to it.
And she couldn't get attached to him. He wouldn't let her. This wasn't her world.
He wasn't her friend.
But...
He glanced down briefly and memorized her gentle features one last time.
He'd continue to be her bodyguard. He'd continue to protect her until all the hell was over. Then, he could push her back into the light and continue on his own, creeping through the shadows that acted as a shield around her and the rest of the good people in the world.
Jack may be a loose killer but for the moment, he only wanted his moral compass pointed at one man.
Still, this chase was endless. He went in circles and circles for weeks and he...
Jack rubbed his eye thoughtfully and looked down to his boots where he knew his police belt was hiding in the carryon.
Every day, every month, it felt like he was always two steps or five behind the answers.
Eventually, the darkening sky outside the window began to creep over the horizon as they flew north. Tooth was still asleep by the time the stewardess came around with evening blankets and Jack took one and placed it over her. He wasn't cold or tired so didn't need one, but the hours prolonged in silence and sounds of the airplane lulled into his ears. It also didn't help that the old man sitting on his left was snoring too, signifying the calm and peace for these last few hours before the danger started again.
He wouldn't be able to immediately find Pitch's man or whoever he was supposed to track...Everyone looked like a civilian...And it was cold in Russia and Toothiana would get cold in her dress...
Jack's eyelids fell over his eyes.
He then fell into a deep sleep for what felt like the first time in over a week. And dreamed.
"J-Jack!"
He rubbed his eyes with a free hand before pulling it away to look down. His skin was peachy, a healthy glow of what skin should look like.
"Come on, Jack!"
A voice bounced around the wooded area. Her voice.
Jack looked up and looked out across the trees. He heard shoes running away but didn't see any feet, or a figure, or a shadow. He was alone but the same high voice kept calling.
"Jack! Come on, t-this isn't...J-Jack don't–"
When she screamed, she sounded like she was right beside him. Jack spun and saw a little girl running away from him. Her long, brown hair was billowing behind her as she ran up a steep hill into the sun.
"WAIT!" he screamed but when he put out a hand to start running, the glint from the sunset blinded him and he covered his eyes with an arm.
When the light died down, she was gone.
"J-Jack..."
Then, she was there again on the far side of the forest, holding onto a tree trunk. But her face was cast in dark shadow by the tree and blurred out. His heart raced and his cheeks grew cold from the wind that started to blow.
That's when he was suddenly standing in the middle of sloping road. He was in a mountain village on the side of the Himalayas. A family of sheep herders who had taken him in during his months of wandering, stood outside their house, watching him with knives at their sides.
The dream was always the same, and as Jack clenched his teeth in his sleep, his head slumped atop Tooth's, using her soft hair as a cushion for his dark dreams.
Tooth meanwhile, was suffering from one of her own.
She had been dreaming about her sisters drinking mango juice when Pitch Black appeared with bat wings, but then the dream flashed into a new sequence.
"Has... her highness ever taken you to Ecuador?"
Bless his soul, the man in the dark red uniform. He was trying to make conversation as they were stationed there for the next ten hours.
"N-No."
His fingers twitched on his gun as he stood next to the door of their tiny, beautiful room. From the window, it looked out over the Andes.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang!
"NO! A Nightma–"
"Tulia, move back! BACK–"
But the door flew open and someone shot bullets around the room. One got her red-clad protector in the leg and when he tried pulling up to get into short, combat with the man in a black suit with yellow goggles coming through the door, the latter lifted his gun shot him in the head.
"AHH!"
Then the mysterious stranger spun and the world suddenly went black, like the room had been sucked away by a thick vortex of fabric.
It got hard to breathe...
When the sky outside her window turned dark for the late afternoon winter, the aisle lights of the plane dimmed around them and blanketed them both in a dark shadow.
But both were unaware, as Tooth's erratic breathing matched Jack's fluttering eyelids.
The princess and her bodyguard were trapped in restless sleep while the plane continued to fly them north towards all the disturbing secrets they had yet to uncover, and chilling news they had yet to face.
Chapter's soundtrack: "Birds & Boats" – Gregory & the Hawk
Oh! And sparklevampFTW, bless her heart, made a Youtube playlist with all the songs for each chapter in case anyone actually listens lol. (: The link's in ma profile.