Chapter Text
He’s lounging on his family's newest designer coach, ignoring the pristinely subtle yet obviously decadent decor of the living room, and reading an old classic for the third time when he hears the front door open and close. He lifts his eyes to the clock over the fireplace and gives a light frown. Tooth’s early today, she usually comes around quarter past nine, but it isn’t even nine yet. He’d have liked those last twenty minutes for himself. It’s not like he dislike Tooth’s company, quite the opposite, she’s fun to hang out with. If it wasn’t for her he’d not get out near as much as he’d like. He hates that he always has to have someone with him when he’s out in public, but it’s better than never getting out at all. Honestly his parents are so overprotective.
‘Jack?’
That’s not Tooth. Unless she’s turned into a man since yesterday but he highly doubts that. There are only three men Tooth would let into the house without informing him first. Sandy is mute, so it can’t be him (he could also be here for all Jack knows though). That leaves North and Bunny, North just left for a week-long trip to New York yesterday so he’s out of the question. Bunny then. Though there is one other, the only man beside Jack to have keys to the house, his dad. The man is never home before five in the afternoon though, so it’s unlikely.
‘I’m in the living room’ he calls back, confident in his deduction.
The man that enters a few moments later is too old to be Bunny and no woman in brightly colored clothing and green stripes in her hair follows. It’s just the man.
‘Dad?’ he asks even if he’s pretty sure of the answer. That’s his dad’s clothes the man is wearing after all.
The other smiles and nods in reply. Jack is up and bouncing on his feet in a moment a bright smile lighting up his face. It’s not often he gets to spend time with his dad, the man is always working, either at his company or in his home office.
‘Why are you home so early?’ Jack can’t help but ask. He stays by the couch, uncertain if his dad has time for him or is just here to collect something he’s forgotten.
‘The fact is, I took the day off.’ The answer makes Jack blink, he can’t remember his dad ever taking a day off unless something serious had happened, but the man doesn’t look worried.
‘Then why did you leave this morning?’
‘I wanted to surprise you,’ comes the easy answer.
Jack thinks he’d have been just as surprised if he’d found his dad was still home when he came down for breakfast earlier, he doesn’t say anything though.
‘Color me surprised then,’ he says as he walks over to his dad to give him a handshake, the man’s never been one for physical contact. And Jack is surprised, he really is, because it’s his dad who always insist that he live by a schedule, who wants everything planned out in advance.
His dad smiles and begins to walk back into the hallway, dragging Jack with him.
‘Are we going somewhere?’ he wonders as his father pushes him towards the shoe stand.
‘It’s a surprise!’ his dad says with a mischievous lilt in his voice and the corner of Jack’s mouth quirks upward, this is a side of his dad he doesn’t get to see near often enough.
Jack ties on his shoes and takes down a light jacket fitting the early autumn breeze. He can feel his heart thumping with anticipation. Tooth is going to love to hear about this, she’s always saying that Jack’s dad need to spend more time with him and Emma. Tooth…
‘I should call Tooth, she’s probably on her way over already.’ He turns to walk back into the living room and pick up his phone where it lies on the coffee table. A hand on his arm stops him.
He looks over his shoulder at his dad who has an odd expression on his face. Jack lifts an eyebrow in question.
‘No need. I’ve already talked with her, she’ll meet us there.’ The man explains easily.
In that case. Jack turns fully towards his dad again and gives him an expectant smile. His dad smiles back and let’s go of his arm.
‘One more thing,’ his dad says and takes a folded scarf out of his pocket. Jack blinks, not getting what the deal is. ‘I said it was a surprise, didn’t I?’ his dad says as way of explanation. Jack remembers that, but what does it have to do with the scarf?
…Oh. It’s a blindfold. He raises an eyebrow wryly, as if to ask, really? He only gets an encouraging nod in answer and with a roll of his eyes and a fond smile Jack turns around and lets his dad tie it on.
He’s carefully led out of the house and over to the car. With help from his dad he is quickly seated, seatbelt on, and soon they’re driving away.
Inside the house Jack’s phone begins to ring on the coffee table. It continues for well over a minute before going to voice mail.
‘You’ve reached Jackson Overland. I can’t answer the phone right now, but leave behind a message and I’ll call you back.’
‘Jack? It’s Tooth. I’m sorry but I’m going to be a bit late today. There’s been an accident and I’m stuck in traffic. Just wanted to let you know, see you soon!’
The call is ended with a beep and the display lights up.
09:12 am
You have one missed call.
It’s almost half past ten when Tooth can finally park her car in front of the Overland house. She gets out and closes the door with a sigh. Sometimes she really wishes the Overlands lives closer to Burgess Center, it would be nice not having to drive here every day. On the other hand, the scenery in inner Burgess has nothing on that around the house. And no neighbors to complain about anything. This house is really a pearl, she knows it. Doesn’t stop her from getting irritated when she gets stuck in traffic.
And today there had been an accident. As far as she knew no one had been seriously hurt, thank heavens for that, so she felt justified in being annoyed at how long it had taken to get traffic going again. She was over an hour late!
She takes a deep breath to calm herself as she reaches the door. Jack doesn’t need to see her like this. She wonders if he’s up for a bit of swimming in the pool in the basement while she soaks in the hot tub, his parents never minds if she uses it and she it would really help her to relax right now.
She’s about to stick her copy of the house key in the lock when she realizes that the door is unlocked. She frowns. Mrs. Overland always locks the door after herself when she leaves. Maybe Bunny is over for a visit? He likes to drop by a few times a week and give Jack some karate training, he usually doesn’t show up until after Sandy has given Jack the day’s lesson though and Sandy never comes over before twelve. Shrugging Tooth opens the door and heads inside. She absently notes that there aren’t any extra pairs of shoes in the hallway, Bunny isn’t here after all, before heading into the living room.
‘Jack?’ she calls out when she doesn’t immediately see him. Usually he’s draped over the couch and reading a book when she arrives. She is a bit late today so he might have just gotten bored and left to do something else. She can see a book on the coffee table so it’s obvious he’s been here earlier.
She doesn’t get an answer. With a frown she goes to check out the kitchen. It’s as empty as the living room. She calls out again, beginning to get a bit worried now. It could be a prank, Jack is not above pranking her, but he usually knows where the line goes, when it’s no longer funny, and this is definitely not funny.
Again there is no answer and she begins to methodically check every room in the house. He could have gone out, but there is still the fact that the door was unlocked, he wouldn’t normally leave it like that. And then it is the fact that even though he complains about his parents being overprotective, he wouldn’t leave the house on his own. He is well aware of how easily he gets lost without anyone to guide him. He could have left with Bunny of course, but then why haven’t she been contacted? A text would have been enough.
He’s not in the house, she even checked Emma and his parents’ rooms. No Jack. She’s back in the upstairs hallway texting Sandy and Bunny to hear if they’re with Jack when she realizes something she hadn’t noticed when she entered. Jack’s shoes are missing. She runs down to double check and there is no doubt. Maybe he’s in the backyard?
Once outside she calls for him again. The only answers she gets are from Bunny and Sandy’s phones. They haven’t seen the boy today.
She knows it’s no use, but she decides to ask North too, maybe he’s up to one of his tricks again. She doubts it, even North knows better than to do something like this
Are you still in New York? No surprise trips home? Please be truthful, it’s important
It’s only as she hits send that it occurs to her to call Jack again. She wonders how stupid she could get as she quickly finds his number and hits call.
She holds her breath as she waits for the first ring.
The sound of Jack’s ring tone drifts to her from inside the house. Eyes wide she stares at the doorway. Was it a prank after all? Hurriedly she returns inside, following the tone from Jack’s phone. She finds it on the coffee table, hidden from view by the book she’d noticed earlier. Frustrated she ends the call, and almost drops her phone at the sound of an incoming message.
Still in New York. Did something happen?
Damn. She bites her lips, she doesn’t know what to tell him, and honestly she needs to talk with Mrs. Overland first. North can wait.
With a deep sigh and a stony weight in her stomach she calls the other woman’s number. She picks up almost instantly, giving Tooth no time to prepare for what to say.
‘Hello?’
‘Mrs. Overland? It’s Tooth. I was wondering, is Jack with you today?’ Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.
‘No, why?’ Tooth can hear the frown in the other woman’s voice, intermingled with a hint of dread.
Tooth swallows hard, has to force herself to speak.
‘I can’t find him, Mrs. Overland. He’s not in the house or with Sandy or Bunny and he’s left his phone.’
‘I’ll be home as quickly as possible,’ Mrs. Overland says with a rush and ends the call.
Tooth sinks to her knees.
He’s floating in darkness when the first wave of pain hits him. He groans loudly and tries to lift his hands to hold his head.
His arms won’t move…
In moments he’s wide awake, pulse running and eyes opening only to have to squint at the harsh fluorescent lights. A new wave of pain floats through his head, a weak whimper escaping his lips. He doesn’t close his eyes, despite how his head throbs, he needs to know. He lowers his eyes towards where he can feel his hands rest against the armrest of the chair he’s sitting in. Oh god. He’s tied to the chair by his wrists.
He licks sweat from his lips and swallows before raising his head to look around. There is someone lounging in a chair before him, he suspects they’ve been there the whole time. The bastard! He flutter his gaze around the rest of the room, there are a couple of armed guards by the door, but it’s otherwise empty, before looking back at the person in the chair. They’re probably the one in charge.
He takes note that no one in the room are hiding they’re faces. That’s not a good thing, never is. They’re not going to just let him go when he’s seen their faces, even if he’d never be able to point them out. They don’t know that though.
‘You’re quite the interesting boy, Jackson Overland, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you’ says the man in the chair. For it is a man, his body shape alone had almost convinced Jack, but the voice cement it.
‘Can’t say I feel the same,’ Jack replies, trying to sound flippant. It’s not really working. He can’t find it in himself care though, he’s too busy trying to breathe evenly. The man had said finally, does it means he has been observing Jack?
‘No, I imagine not.’ There is an amused glint in the man’s eyes. He has crossed his legs and is tapping his fingers together, appearing more interested in watching them than in their conversation. Jack doesn’t believe it for a second, but he takes the opportunity to look around again.
‘How did I get here?’ The last thing he remembers is the drive with his father. They’d just stepped out of the car and there had been this weird smelling cloth…
‘Oh my dear, naive Jackson,’ the man says and Jack can’t help an involuntary shudder. The man stands up and pats down his suit before he walks over with a natural strut. Jack’s instincts are screaming at him to run, but he can’t move and it has nothing to do with the ropes tying him to the chair. His pulse is racing and he’s frozen to the spot. It’s first when an arm reach towards him that he manages movement, he tries to squirm away from it, but the other man will have nothing off it. He takes Jack’s chin in a firm, yet gentle, grip and force him to move his head so their eyes meet. ‘You should know by now that people aren’t always who they claim to be.’
Not always who they claim to be?…Oh.
Jack’s face turn ashen. The man in the house. It hadn’t been his dad. He’d blindly trusted a complete stranger. They know he can’t recognize faces or voices.
‘B… but he ha… had a k… key!’
‘My men are professionals, making a copy of your key was easy enough.’ The man explains easily, thumb stroking Jack’s cheek. Jack shudders again.
‘And Tooth! She’d have to have been just around the corner!’ Don’t let her be involved, please don’t let her be involved.
‘As for Ms. Punjam, I’m afraid there has been an accident.’
Jack thinks his heart just stopped for a moment. The world is spinning before his eyes and he blinks up at his captor, not wanting to comprehend what he just heard.
‘No,’ he lets out in a whisper. No, no, no, no nononono.
‘I’m sorry Jack.’ His captor says and Jack wants to scream at him. Because it can’t be true, it can’t! But something has lodged itself in his throat and he can’t get out a sound.
He barely notices that his captor lets go of his face, is only dimly aware of footsteps moving away from him.
‘Lock him up in his cell.’
‘Yes, sir! Mr. Black.’
The voices are far away, and it isn’t until the two guards are cutting him loose from the chair that the words sink in. Mr. Black.
Jack has heard of him, the infamous crime lord.
Pitch Black.