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Toothiana was about to slip into the child’s room when she saw that the girl was sitting up in bed and was talking to someone sitting next to her. Tooth started to duck under the windowsill, then realized she recognized that messy white hair and leaned into the room.
“Jack,” she called happily.
Jack looked up and then brightened at the sight of her. “Oh hey, we were expecting you!”
The young girl gasped and then bounced slightly. “The Tooth Fairy!”
“See? I told you she’d be here,” Jack said, giving her shoulder a playful squeeze.
Tooth flew over to the bed, smiling even as she gave Jack a reproving look. “Did you talk her into staying up to see me?”
“What?” Jack’s eyes widened innocently. “No, of course not! She wanted to do that on her own.”
“Well, let’s see here…” Tooth slipped her hand under the pillow and retrieved the small tooth. She rolled it between her fingers. “Ah, an incisor, rather healthy though you could probably floss more, dear, and lost in… in…” Shock and then sadness crossed her face. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.”
The girl looked down, tugging idly at her blanket. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay for your mom to hit you like that,” Jack told her. “She’s being abusive. You gotta tell your dad.”
“I did. He’s scared of her. And she… she gets madder, when I tell.” She sniffed.
Jack rubbed her back and Tooth sat next to her as well. This was always heartbreaking, to find memories of abuse in the teeth she collected. Especially as there was nothing she could do. She wasn’t supposed to directly interfere with human lives and most of the time, she wouldn’t be able to actually touch an adult anyway. They didn’t believe in her so she was intangible and invisible to them. All she could do was offer reassurance to the child and try to help them remember the good times.
“I just wish Mom would go away,” the girl muttered. “I want it to just be me and Dad, he’s so nice, and Mom just hurts us all the time.”
“Does she ever say why she hurts you?” Tooth asked in a whisper.
The girl shook her head. “No. She just gets mad about things and does it. And says we deserve it.”
“You don’t,” Jack said firmly. “You don’t deserve to be hit like that, no one does. Hey, you gotta stay strong. I know it’s hard but you can get through this. You said she leaves marks sometimes. You can report her. Tell the police.”
“She says cops can’t be trusted and would just take me away,” she said.
“They won’t. Your dad can testify too, she’s hurt him too. It’ll be scary but the two of you can stand up to her. If they make her leave, you’ll be safe.”
The girl looked unsure but nodded. “I can try…”
The bedroom door was closed but they saw a light suddenly come on in the hallway, then a woman’s voice shouted, “Amber! Who are you talking to?”
“U-uh…” She looked fearfully at Jack and Tooth, then called, “No one, just… myself!”
“You’re supposed to be sleeping, your bedtime was an hour ago!” The door flew open and Amber’s mom marched in, wearing a nightgown and looking tired and angry. “Lay down! Do I need to slap another tooth out?”
“No! I’m sorry!” Amber quickly laid down and yanked the covers up to her chin, squeezing her eyes shut.
Not appeased, her mother came up to the bed and kept shouting at her, oblivious to the presence of Jack and Tooth, who watched silently. “Why can’t you just listen to me the first time? It’s not hard to just do what I tell you!” She lifted her hand like she was going to strike the other.
“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Jack growled and Tooth’s eyes snapped to him. Her eyes widened at the hatred and focus in Jack’s gaze and she could feel a subtle shift in the magic around them, a chill going through her.
The woman abruptly stumbled back and fell to her knees, clutching her chest and gasping hard.
Amber sat back up, opening her eyes. “Mom?”
The woman groaned and said, “G-go to the bathroom and get me… get me my heartburn medicine- ah!” She jerked at the jagged pain in her chest, eyes widening. “Wait, no, call 911- Amber, call-” Then she passed out, falling to the ground.
Breathing hard, Amber leaped from the bed and Jack was there in front of her, leaning down and saying quietly, “She’s having a heart attack. If you wait a while before calling, she’ll probably die. But if you hurry, she’ll survive but be in the hospital for a while. It’s up to you what you want to happen to her.”
“Jack,” Tooth gasped.
Amber stared at him, at her mom, and then back at Jack. “I don’t know, I… I just want her to go away, I don’t want her to die…”
Jack nodded and straightened. “Then go. Hurry and get your dad, and call 911. Quickly. Your strength will get you through this. I’m sorry she hurt you for so long until now.”
Amber set her expression and hugged him, then ran from the room.
Tooth was so shocked she almost forgot what she came here for. Then Jack lifted a brow at her and said, “You should leave the poor girl a dollar, at least.”
“Jack,” she whispered, horrified. She slipped a few quarters under the pillow and then grabbed Jack’s hand, staring briefly at the shaking human on the floor before dragging him toward the window. He lifted up onto the wind and followed her out, and she took him a short distance away before landing on a roof and just staring at him. “What did you do back there?”
Jack blew out an annoyed breath and ran his crook along the shingles as he sat, watching ice coat them. “Amber wished for her mom to go away. I made that happen.”
“By giving her a heart attack? That was… how can you even do something like that?”
“I just have to grow a shard of ice inside one of the chambers of the heart and puncture the internal walls, never fails,” Jack replied easily. He didn’t seem at all bothered by what he did. There was no guilt on his face.
“How long have you been doing things like that?” Tooth asked, unable to help glancing back toward the house they had left.
Jack shrugged, looking up at the stars as he thought about it. “Since I realized how precise my powers are, I guess. Being invisible has its perks, you know? I’ve killed so many child abusers and seriously wounded even more. There’s so many things I can do that're just assumed to be natural causes. Or accidents. If I really want to make sure they die, I go for rupturing brain vessels to cause an aneurysm.” A dark glee crossed Jack’s face then and he looked over at Tooth. “I’m a murderer, Tooth. I’m not sorry for what I did but I’m sorry you had to see it. But I couldn’t just sit there and let that poor girl get yelled at and threatened.”
Tooth sat heavily on the shingles, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring off into the distance. She was no stranger to violence and would certainly lift arms to defend the innocent. But seeing Jack stare someone down with such malice as he tore their heart open from the inside with his ice… it made a brief wave of revulsion go through Tooth.
“I didn’t think you could do something like that,” she said.
Jack chuckled. “Why? Because I’m the Guardian of Fun? Because I’m all about good times and making the children laugh? There’s a lot more to me than you guys know even now. I may be a Guardian, but I’m also Jack Frost. I can be as cold and unforgiving as winter itself when necessary.”
“I see that. Goodness, the others have talked about you killing people, but it always seemed like something you did in your role as a winter spirit, incidental deaths from hypothermia or car accidents because of the ice, and not… not you intentionally killing people.”
“I do both. But the intentional ones are saved for those who deserve it.”
“And you think it’s your place to pass judgment?”
Jack shook his head, resting his crook against his shoulder. “Nope. But then, it isn’t their place to hurt children, is it? Every single person I’ve offed, it’s because I directly saw them in action. I don’t regret any of that. It’s worth it when I see the relief from their victims.” Jack briefly leaned on his hands, then made a face and lifted them from the shingles, brushing asphalt away as it started to sting. “I protect adults too, you know. Anyone I see being hurt. I can never ignore it. I just can’t, Tooth. It’s not who I am.”
She was quiet for a bit, gazing at Amber’s tooth in her palm. “I see. You have a strong sense of justice. But I still believe your methods to be cruel.”
“Cruelty for cruel people,” Jack replied. He glanced over as he heard sirens in the distance and saw that an ambulance was making its way toward the house. “Pitch understands. He admires what I do.”
“I’m not surprised. Though I am surprised he is not with you now.”
“We work separately sometimes. But he’s around. I’ve visited Amber before and he knows I planned to visit her again and maybe try to help her. It’s sheer coincidence she happened to lose a tooth today and you showed up. Also coincidence that her mom flipped out on her while I was there. But hey, it’s over. That lady’s going to the hospital and even if she lives, she’ll be out of her daughter’s life for some time.” Jack stood, watching the ambulance stop in front of the house. “Maybe she’ll change. Maybe she’ll get therapy. But maybe not. It might just be best if her husband divorces her and takes Amber. Welp, I don’t need to stick around! I’m gonna meet up with Pitch.” Jack strolled toward the shadow of the chimney and stuck a foot in it, calling, “Pitch, you around?”
Within seconds, Pitch was rising from the shadow and stepping close to Jack, wrapping an arm around him. “Done already, love?”
“Yeah, Amber’s mom showed up while I was talking to her and she was being such a bitch, she had actually smacked one of Amber’s teeth out earlier! And then she threatened to take out another one.”
Pitch hissed. “What a wretched excuse for a mother. I assume you took care of her?”
“Oh yeah. Heart attack this time, haha, she’ll probably live but she won’t be in any condition to hurt Amber again.” Jack slid his arm around Pitch and led him toward the side of the roof where Tooth was sitting. “Ah, but I had a witness this time.”
Pitch tilted his head. “A witness, who- ah.” He spotted Tooth. “Toothiana! Of course, the girl lost a tooth… well, that must have been quite a fright.”
Tooth swallowed and nodded. “I was angry on the child’s behalf, but I didn’t expect Jack to do what he did.”
“He’s merciless, isn’t he?” Pitch said proudly. He stroked under Jack’s chin and leaned in to kiss him. Jack smirked as he kissed back.
Tooth sighed and looked away, back at the house. She saw the woman being wheeled out on a gurney. She wasn’t moving but she also wasn’t covered with a sheet so she must still be alive. Tooth wondered if she would survive the trip to the hospital. How much damage did Jack do?
“I should return to the Tooth Palace,” Tooth decided, fluttering into the air and squeezing her fist shut around the tooth. She replayed the memories of it again, able to see through Amber’s eyes as she was struck hard in the mouth, tooth ripped free… tasting a flood of blood, it was a baby tooth sure but it hadn’t been ready to come out yet…
Tooth shook her head. “I’ll see you around, Jack. Farewell, Pitch.”
“See ya,” Jack said.
“He really is prime Guardian material, isn’t he?” Pitch said to her. “Look at the lengths he goes to in order to protect children. Hope and gifts are all well and good, but Jack saves them from the monsters in their lives. You all should be very proud of him.”
“We are proud,” Tooth replied. “But not of this. I’m not going to stop you, Jack. But this isn’t something I can approve of. Please don’t let the darkness overtake your light.” She flew off.
Jack waited until she was out of earshot before saying, “I happen to like my darkness.”
“I like it too.” Pitch began pushing a hand up under Jack’s hoodie as they watched the scene in the distance. “Your light shines along with your darkness. In hurting one person, you rescue another. You kill righteously. You could become so dangerous, lose your way so easily. But I don’t think you will. You’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve simply inspired you to do it more.”
“Mhm.” Jack grinned at him. “Probably shouldn’t let the others know about that. But I’m glad I’m helping more people. It feels good. So, you done for the night?”
“I’m satisfied, yes. Are you wishing to return home?”
“Yeah.”
“And then? Would you like me to help you work through some of that lingering bloodlust?”
Jack leaned back against him, closing his eyes. “Oh yeah. I gotta work some of this off.”
“Mm, then let’s not waste any time.” After checking that Jack had his staff, Pitch dragged him back and into the shadows, disappearing with him.