Chapter Text
Jack's days passed much as they had before becoming a Guardian. He had to learn to hide in plain sight for the first time, which took a little trial and error to get used to, but he soon found out that not everyone could see him. Only the ones that believed in him could, and that turned out to be most people. Throughout Burgess he could be seen fairly reliably by the youth, but almost everywhere else he visited it was a rarity to get noticed.
The telephone wires were good for going around Burgess without causing a scene, but for ease of mobility night time was better. There was a reason Sandy, Tooth, and North all worked at night. As fun as it was to be seen the novelty wore off pretty quickly when all he wanted to do was get around.
Except Jamie, he was different. Jack had waited so long by his side, never seen or appreciated, not even hoping to be seen because it felt like too much to ask for. Like if he had wished Jamie could see him the disappointment every time he didn't would bury Jack over time.
So Jack mostly stuck to working at night where he could be seen, and everywhere else during the day. He didn't sleep, so it wasn't like night time shenanigans were problematic in any way.
Jack was spending the night a bit bored, tracing over his own steps on a familiar frozen lake, tapping his staff over any cracks and watching them disappear. Tadpoles could be seen flitting around under the water near the shore and he kept the ice from reaching the bottom to spare them. The ice felt good under his feet, normal and smooth. It was why he didn't tend to spend a lot of time around Tooth's palace, the temperature could get so high with all those little wings flitting around every hour of the day (and night). It made him uncomfortable compared to the steady numb cold he was made of.
Jack had never fully tested how real heat effected him, all he knew was that it was so cloying and made him feel suffocated and dizzy. So he spent his time exploring the same icy haunts he visited time and time again. He had his favorite places, but the world was a big place and he was always finding new and interesting places to cover in snow.
It was a quiet night, Baby Tooth was off with Toothiana, doing her job. Baby Tooth still liked to hang around him when she could, but it was nice to be alone sometimes too. The wind was quiet, and the tree branches crackled with frost when he came too close. The clouds were thick and it was dark without the light of the moon.
It had been a long time since he had felt uneasy on his own, but for some reason the snow shifting and falling off the branches around made him nervous. Without the wind or the sound of falling snow it was too quiet outside, and it was making him aware of just how alone he was. Back when nobody could see him there was little to be afraid of, but somehow being so tangible felt exposed.
A sudden scraping noise made him jump so hard he nearly slipped, spinning around to find the source. He lifted his foot in time for a dark object to slide underneath him and slowly across the ice. It was one of the rocks from around the pond, scuffing the surface of the ice on it way across.
“Hello?” Jack called, looking in the darkness for anything that could have caused the movement. Rocks didn't just slide around on their own.
If his heart still beat it would be pounding out of control right now, but his chest was as still as ever on the inside. In his mind he rationalized that it was probably Bunny playing a prank on him, but as he edged his way closer to where the rock had originated nothing came. No 'boo' or 'surprise' to reassure him that he wasn't being watched by some uninvited guest in the dark.
Just when he was deciding it was time to leave, maybe go spend some time around people he felt it. The wind blew a warm breeze at his back and it was too warm, someone was behind him. The wind howled around him so suddenly he pressed his eyes shut against it and his feet lost traction on the ice. In the span of second there was a searing pain in his lower back and the wind faltered in time with a loud snap. His feet slipped against the ice and he fell hard on his side, his staff knocked out of his hands and spinning away across the ice. Jack opened his eyes just in time to see a cloak part and a hand reach out to pick up his staff, and in the time it took him to blink the staff and the stranger were gone.
The pain in his side was disorienting, it stung and flared hot when he moved. There were so many questions that needed answering, but all he could think of was panic. His staff was gone, he was alone outside in the middle of the night, and he didn't know what to do. He had been the recipient of the occasional blow before, no stranger to pissing people off had its hazards, but a punch didn't compare to this pain.
His fingers came back with blood after he twisted his arm around to touch his lower back where the pain centered. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his own blood, it was still bright and red and said panic.
With no lack of effort he made it off the ice and knelt in the layer of snow on the bank, at a loss for what was going on. Without his staff he couldn't fly, no ice or snow either. He reached down into the snow and picked up a handful, hissing when he pushed it against the throbbing puncture in his, back but it soothed the sting. It was strange to come back with a handful of bloody melting snow, he'd never had snow melt in his hand before. It would just have to go on a number of unanswered problems he was having currently.
He made it to Jamie's porch in a blur before he sat heavily on the steps. What now? He couldn't bother a child with something so serious, but at the same time he had no idea how to get a hold of any of the other guardians. Sandy was long gone for the night, he didn't know any kids offhand that had just lost teeth, and North and Bunny didn't exactly have phones to be reached at. He'd never needed to contact any of them before, he could always just go see them.
Huddling against the wall by Jamie's family's front door he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath that caught in his chest when the stabbing pain intensified. Before he knew what was happening everything had slipped away into unconsciousness.