Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark, cold, isolated, nothing but dirt and rocks and the remains of a rotting old bed frame. How many years had passed since the night he was sucked back down into his now earthy prison? Pitch Black stood in the shadows watching his own version of the great globe, watching bitterly as the lights flickered on the dark stone. His plan had been perfect, or at least it would have been had Jack Frost not realized himself a Guardian and interfered. The Nightmare King had gambled on the possibility of the winter spirit would join him, of course their conversation in Antarctica had not been wrong…it would have just been him. After all, Jack would have made a very formidable fearling. He was a free spirit, which meant he would have probably changed his mind and turned against him eventually, it was the only sure way to preserve complete loyalty. But, the dice had not landed in his favor and what he thought to be a shrug-offable turn of events, eventually lead to his current state.

Underestimating Jack Frost had been only one of his mistakes, Pitch frowned ever so slightly, but where else did he go wrong? The Guardians toppled rather quickly after he had taken out the Sandman. In fact it was almost boringly easy to deal with each one after that. The gears were turning in his mind, eventually his last remaining nightmares would bore through the earth and open a new portal for him to escape, and all he had to do was be patient and plan. And plan he did as he turned on his dark boot heel and glided away. Merely standing and waiting never sat well with the Boogieman, he had to keep himself occupied and during the long years he had come to discover a new cavern in his vast labyrinth of a lair. It was many centuries old and mostly flooded, water was not a problem for the dark immortal so such things were merely an irritation than an actual hindrance.

Putting all of that aside, he spent hours examining the large antre, the writings on the wall he recognized from many different eras. What he found most fascinating about this place was that it dated as far back as the dark age, it wasn’t until recently he found that it went back much, much further. There was a language on one of the submerged slabs of stone, a language he had not seen since the golden age. It had been so long he almost couldn’t read it, but he had nothing but time and eventually he discovered mention of an ancient device. The power it possessed was described as being feared by both man and immortal. With such an enticing pull Pitch felt that maybe, just maybe, he had found the instrument to the fall of the Guardians. Of course, he had to find this device and see how it actually worked but if this cave was as large as he felt it was, the device had to be hidden somewhere inside.

A knurled, toothy, grin pulled at the Nightmare King’s face, neither the Man in the Moon or the Guardians were going to know what hit them.

--

A few weeks passed and the start of winter break was fast approaching. While that meant he couldn’t entertain the children of Burgess with glorious snow days, Jack Frost still greatly looked forward to spending two weeks of uninterrupted fun with some of his closest human friends. Besides, he’d been cooking up a snowball fight for the record books. Unlike the other Guardians, Jack’s center allowed for more personal interactions with the children. Sure he often favored Burgess over other places having a hometown bias, but he’d learned to show the same attentiveness to other towns.

With an exuberant grin, the winter spirit streaked through the thick clouds, riding the wind with far more skill than he had a few years ago. Once the small town came into view, he dove down and somersaulted through the streets leaving patches of ice wherever he landed. Even the wind had trouble keeping up with his excitement causing a frigid gust to pass through the streets forcing the pedestrians to pull their coats closer to their bodies or gasp in shock. Letting out a jovial laugh, Jack pressed on until he reached his lake where he slid to a graceful halt. The iced over water under his bare feet solidified a bit more, this was always the first place he went whenever he returned. Running his staff across the surface, Jack caused the entire surface to solidify a good foot below the surface. Since it was the shallowest of the lakes in the area, it wasn’t as warm as the others and as such would stay frozen longer. Besides, the kids favored this lake the most knowing that he frequented it the most.

Pleased with his handywork, Jack Frost slid himself across the surface to the edge before being lifted once more by the wind to land softly on the nearest tree branch. It was the early afternoon so he was a bit early; Jamie and his friends were still in school so he had some time to kill. Just his arrival alone had caused snow to start falling more steadily, with a bit of concentration he could make a good three to four inches fall before school let out. This sort of thing was a no brainer though so the spirit soon grew bored and decided he’d go and visit the school. Having spent the spring and summer months at the North Pole with North and the yeti’s, he wanted to get a glimpse of Jamie to see how he’d been doing.

Leaping from the tree and soaring into the sky, Jack landed on a random roof before leaping from one building to another. Jamie’s school was on the other side of town, a ten minute drive but he cleared it in four. Landing on the wire fence surrounding the school’s playground, Jack hopped down and took a casual stroll through the grounds leaving more ice patches in his wake and even going as far as coating the slides with a thin icy layer. An almost deviant grin split his face, but he knew it would melt after a few goes.

After putting a little Jack Frost twist to the playground, he moved toward the building itself. It took him a few tries before locating the window that looked in on Jamie’s class. He was in high school now if he remembered correctly, a freshman. Jack remembered how excited Jamie was about becoming a highschooler, so now that he had the moment he wanted to see just how fun high school was. Peeking through the window, nose pressed against the steadily cooling glass, cerulean blue eyes scanned for a familiar face. What he saw though didn’t look like fun at all. All the students, including Jamie, had scrunched up faces. A test it looked like, Jack smirked and tapped his finger against the window.

The only one to look up was Jamie; the others hadn’t heard the disturbance. Scanning eyes searched a second then spotted Jack waving. Giving the other a wary smile, Jamie nodded before looking back down at the tormenting paper before him. Jack though just quirked his head to the side before tapping on the window again, and like before Jamie looked up, only this time Jack took his crooked staff and ran it across the whole glass causing it to freeze over slightly. Jamie grinned a bit more before the teacher noticed the distracted boy. Frowning, the rather large woman got to her feet and walked over to the window and shut the blinds, blocking Jack from view.

“Hey!” Jamie heard Jack protest before he was scolded for not paying attention to his test.

Cheeks puffing out in an annoyed pout, Jack huffed before departing. At least Jamie knew he was around, he’d come looking for him after school let out so departing was all the spirit could do for now. Leaving the grounds, Jack took to the air once more and flew around the town. He did have half a mind to throw a snowball at the stuffy teacher, but that would probably get Jamie in trouble. Begrudgingly putting the thought from his mind, Jack lazily made his way back towards the lake.

However, before he reached his destination something large and black slammed into him. Knocked a few feet out of the air before catching himself, Jack’s eyes shot up and darted around for his attacker. When his gaze fell on a sickeningly familiar black stallion heading in the direction of the lake, Jack scowled. “Pitch…”

Not wanting to just leave the nightmarish creature alone, Jack flew after it. Weaving in and out of buildings and tree branches, the nightmare stallion bypassed the lake for a deeper section of woods. Everything about this was starting to feel a little like a trap, where was this monster leading him? Eyes narrowing, he watched as the dark, sandy, creature reached a small cave. Jack Frost was familiar with these woods so he couldn’t remember there ever being a cave here. This only confirmed his suspicions, that Pitch must have found a way back to the surface. The temptation to seal the front of this cave with ice was near over whelming, but something in his gut told him to wait.

Not entering the cave right away, Jack paced for a few minutes, weighing his options. The right, Guardian, thing to do was to go and warn the others. But on the off hand that he was wrong and that nightmare stallion was just a straggler he’d be causing a whole mess of unnecessary worry and that would just give Bunnymund more of a reason to dislike him…not that he actually cared what the oversized kangaroo thought of him. Perhaps a little, but that wasn’t the point now. Letting out a disgruntled groan and settling on taking a quick peek first, Jack approached and entered the cave.

It was dark but he got his bearings quickly, it seemed to go on forever, before he knew it the light from the entrance had vanished. The faint dripping of water against stone and soft whistling of the wind told him that the tunnel was steadily growing bigger. After what felt like hours, the tunnel opened into a large cavern. A strange light seemed to be coming from somewhere, but he couldn’t place it. Gripping his staff tighter with both hands, Jack stepped lightly. That’s when an ominous chuckle broke the eerie silence. He knew that laugh; it belonged to no one but Pitch.

Stopping and going on the defensive, Jack looked around quickly for any sign of the Nightmare King.

“It’s been a long time Jack,” Pitch spoke stepping out of the shadows a few feet in front of the winter spirit,“You’re looking well.” His mockingly casual tone gave away his actual glee at seeing the other. He had thought that with this much time Jack would have at least grown a little smarter. No matter, it was good he was still at least this gullible.

“Pitch, can’t say the same for you.” Was Jack’s reply, he took a step forward to show he wasn’t afraid. Pitch only took a step back.

“Now, now, no need for that, I just thought I’d say hello, that’s all.” Pitch continued, “After all, I’m sure you know how it feels to be alone.”

“Actually, I’ve got that pretty under control,” smirking Jack lowered his staff but kept his guard up, “Well, now that I know you’re in here I’m gonna go and seal that cave now.” He was going to seal it and then tell the Guardians; of course Pitch wasn’t looking nearly as strong as he did before. If the other put up a fight he’d probably be able to hold his own.

“Alright, if you think that will do you any good,” Pitch’s grin grew, he subtly waved his hand as black sand moved away from the path Jack had taken to reach this point, “See you later Jack~”

“What?” Jack set his foot down and paused, but before he could say anything more there was a strange flash. He felt strange, like he was being sucked through a tiny hole, but it only lasted a split second. Landing with a harsh thud, Jack Frost found himself no longer in the large cavern but lying in front of a large black, stone mirror. Quickly looking up, he saw Pitch in the reflection. Instinctly turning with his staff at the ready he shot a bolt of ice behind him but there was nothing there. Turning back towards the mirror, Pitch was laughing and it was then that he realized that the angle in the mirror was wrong. It was like he was looking up at the Nightmare King from inside a hole but he was standing up right. The dark figure then waved to him before the image blackened. Eyes growing wide, Jack charged at the mirror and slammed his fists against the smooth surface,

“PITCH!”

Chapter Text

“PITCH!” Jack repeatedly beat his fists against the mirror but nothing happened, his staff lay forgotten a few feet away as the winter spirit let out an almost animalistic growl. Frustration seared into his entire body he stepped away from the cursed black stone and took a long, slow, shaky breath. His nerves did not settle though but he was able to at least assess the ominous mirror more closely. It looked quite old; he’d never seen anything like it before. Sniffing he ran his fingers over the surface; it was cool to the touch and smooth. It wasn’t very big though, standing maybe an inch or so taller than himself, Jack took another step back only to bump into something.

Spinning around, his eyes fell on a very tall metal shelf. There were boxes stacked as high as he could see. It was only then that he allowed himself to look around and see where it was he had landed. This place, it was definitely not a cave. Warmth was coming from somewhere, there was no wind and the ground was smooth. Looking up there were lamps hanging from a high ceiling, a storage room, but how? The more he saw, the more Jack was starting to feel the sneaking pang of panic well up inside him. His foot bumped against the forgotten staff which brought him out of his growing worries. Crouching down he grabbed his trusty weapon and tapped the straight end against the floor, marking the spot so he wouldn’t forget where it was.

With the lights off, the room was mostly dark. The faint glow of emergency lights made it possible for the teen to walk around without bumping into anything. The further away from the mirror he got, the more bizarre his surroundings got. Now, Jamie had been kind enough to educate him on some of the latest technological breakthroughs but the stuff here was unlike anything he had ever seen or even heard of. Most of the strange devices he stumbled upon looked like weapons of some sort, others looked like old artifacts.

“What is this place…?” since there was nobody around, that he had seen, Jack let out a sigh though a sudden grin lit up his face, “Yes!” the one thing he’d been searching for, a door. It had grown clear to him that there were no windows but these items had to have gotten in here some how, so a door had to be nearby. He could escape this place and get a better idea of where on earth Pitch had trapped him. Reaching a hand out Jack gripped the handle and turned, nothing happened, “No,” he shook it a bit, “No, no, no,” using all of his strength he rattled the door handle, “No, no, no! Don’t be locked!” Giving the door a sharp kick upon releasing it, alarms started going off, “Huh…uh oh…” the heavy sound of running footsteps soon reached Jack’s ears.

Jumping back, Jack moved away from the door expecting it to swing open at any moment. However, that moment never came, instead there was a strange screeching noise followed by a hiss and a thud. There was utter silence, before a voice made Jack flinch; it filled the air and spoke of the compound being completely locked down.

“Ugh, just great…”

Unbenounced to the spirit, there were security camera’s positioned all around the storage room. While the cameras could not see him, they did pick up activity coming from the stone mirror as well as the sudden drop in temperature caused by his little panic attack. Of course, it wasn’t until the pressure sensitive door handle was fussed with that the alarms were finally tripped and his presence made known.

Stepping back, Jack found himself at a complete loss. He was trapped with no foreseeable way of escape. Unsure of what to make of this predicament, he fell back to the stone mirror. The image on the reflective surface was still black, what did this mean? Seeing as he was stuck here he may as well try and figure this accursed contraption out. The last thing he remembered before being sucked here was obviously conversing with Pitch. He knew the Nightmare King wasn’t going to let him leave as easily as he was making it…probably because he knew this would happen. Of course, Jack hadn’t really intended on just leaving the sworn enemy of the Guardians all alone to try and escape.

No, he really got himself in a pickle this time. Tapping the mirror with his staff, the most that happened was a frosty pattern formed over the black surface. He then circled around it but found nothing of use.

--

Meanwhile, several hundred miles away under Cheyenne Mountain, SG-1 was just returning from a routine scouting mission. One of their air surveillance drones had snapped some photos of what looked to be ruins and naturally Daniel wanted to take a look. There had been no signs of Goa'uld activity so the mission was given a go. However, as pointed out by Col. O’Neill, no signs of any vastly superior weapons or technology were found. Regardless, the archeologist seemed pleased despite the lack of big shiny new toys and was fully prepared to take his findings back to his office to properly translate and catalogue.

General Hammond was there to greet them in the gate room, which wasn’t that uncommon; however, the look on his face informed the team that this time he had some pressing news.

“Briefing room, ten minutes,” he instructed, “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“No ‘welcome back’, sir? I’d really like to take a shower you know.” O’Neill commented, but the General just gave him one of his, ‘I’m not joking right now’ looks. Shrugging his arms in displeased defeat, Jack turned to the others, “Alright, let’s go guys…”

“I wonder what’s going on,” Daniel was the next to speak up, “He looked kind of upset.”

“Oh trust me Daniel, that was not,” the grizzled male slapped a hand on the others back, “His upset face, now get a move on it.” He then shoved his long time friend towards the large doors. Whatever was bothering the General, they would learn soon enough.

Once the team had assembled in the briefing room, not more than ten minutes later, General Hammond was the first to speak.

“There’s been an unexplainable breach at the Area 51 compound,” the man stated, “Security cameras captured this,” he turned and clicked the play button on the remote in his hand. The television to his right flickered on and displayed the inside of one of the warehouses.

“Is that what I think it is…?” Jack groaned as the first image that caught everyone’s attention was the stone mirror.

“The alternate reality mirror,” Daniel said next, only to stop when a sudden flash lit up the screen, “Something came through?”

“I don’t think so, there’s nothing there...” Samantha Carter leaned forward in her chair in order to get a better look, “I don’t understand.”

“Keep watching,” the General said.

Everyone remained silent and watched intently; there was another flash only this time the whole back wall looked as if it had been hit by an icy blast. Even the mirror showed signs of freezing before the alarms started going off.

“What was that?” Jack stared; they had seen all sorts of strange things on their exploits through the Stargate, but when it came to that mirror the needle on his strange meter always broke clean off.

“About an hour after lock down, the camera picked this up.” Hammond fast forwarded the tape.

Now everyone, save for Teal’c who simply lifted an eyebrow at what was being displayed, leaned in with baffled expressions.

“It looks like…it’s snowing.” Daniel was kind enough to state the obvious.

“No, wait…look here,” Carter had already gotten up from her seat and had relieved the General of the remote. She had it paused on one particular scene, “Look how the ice forms only in specific spots.”

“So, something did come through that mirror,” O’Neill interrupted with a sigh, “and what, it’s invisible?”

“We have dealt with creatures that could not be seen by the naked eye before.” The Jaffa leaned forward, “I take it we are being asked to investigate this matter.”

“That’s correct Teal’c, so far whatever is causing this mess hasn’t shown any signs of hostile intentions,” Hammond continued, “It’s our job to go in and ascertain the situation and if possible solve it with little to no consequences.” He turned, “You leave immediately.”

Save for the overly sarcastic eye rolling from the Colonel, everyone nodded in understanding. Of course, the same thought was running through all of SG-1’s minds. In their past experiences with the mirror, there was always some sort of Goa'uld influence. Most of the time it was some alternate form of one of them that came through to warn them about an impending attack, or even one of their own being sucked into an alternate earth where the Goa'uld have already conquered and enslaved earth. Regardless of how useful seeing alternate realities could be, they’ve received nothing but trouble from that mirror.

Never the less, SG-1 was quick to pack the necessary gear for this outing and was soon sitting comfortably on a military cargo plane to Area 51. A good five hours had passed since their debriefing which gave Carter some time to run a few tests on the video feed. The security cameras were also built with various scanners should any alien technology prevent them from seeing what was going on. As far as she could tell the only thing that seemed to change from the moment the mirror activated was a sudden drop in temperature. Daniel was busy flipping through one of the journals, while Teal’c and O’Neill conversed.

When the captain announced that they would be arriving in twenty minutes, Jack O’Neill glanced out the small circular window and blinked, “Uh, guys…you better take a look at this.”

The others followed suit and looked out of their own respective windows. The sky had grown grey and overcast, the difference in temperature became more apparent when their breath fogged up the window.

“Those look suspiciously like snow clouds don’tcha think.”

“But that’s impossible; this area never gets snow at this time.” Samantha strained against the window to get a better view, or perhaps a view that made what she was seeing just some silly illusion. However, no matter which way she looked, those were indeed snow clouds. The plane dipped slightly causing the team to haphazardly grab the nearest stable object, the turbulence had picked up but they were making their landing so it didn’t last long.

Once on the ground, Colonel O’Neill ordered them all to put their winter gear on just to be on the safe side. What they found was even more out of place than the snow clouds, the base itself showed signs of freezing over. The warm weather outside was melting most of it, but where one patch of ice melted another would form.

“Looks like somebody left the AC on,” O’Neill stoically joked, “Alright, move out, Carter, Teal’c you take the front, Daniel, follow me.”

With their instructions, the team broke up and went in their respective directions. Sam and Teal’c were the first to reach the front door. Normal protocol would have resulted in their being greeted by whoever was in charge; but apart from them, the base seemed deserted. Testing the doors and finding them frosted over and frozen shut, Sam radioed in.

“Sir, the doors are frozen from the inside.”

There was a second of silence before her superior officer’s voice responded, “Yup, looks that way,” silence again, “Secure the perimeter and then report back, if we have to we’ll shoot our way in.”

“Yes sir,” Sam just gave a half shake of the head, she wasn’t so sure that was a wise idea but if there were people still inside alive they had to get them out as soon as possible, “Come on Teal’c.”

Daniel in the mean time was studying one of the frozen over windows, “Jack, take a look at this,” he had his video recorder out and was filming the window, “The frost looks like it’s giving off some sort of light.”

“It’s probably just the emergency lights,” was the older man’s reply, usually he put up with Daniel’s nerd talk for a solid two minutes before tuning it out, those two minutes had passed about four hours and fifty-eight minutes ago. Besides, he knew a thing or two about cold weather and if the inside was cold enough to freeze the doors shut then it had to be well below zero inside. “What do you think? This look like hostility to you?”

“Oh, I don’t know…I don’t want to jump to conclusions before we get inside,” Daniel took a step back and scanned the walls and windows on the upper floors, “We are going inside right?”

“Colonel O’Neill, the perimeter has been secured,” Teal’c’s voice radioed in, “How shall we proceed?”

Taking a moment to consider his options, O’Neill steeled himself before responding, “Looks like we’re goin’ in.”

Chapter Text

With his staff weapon, Teal’c blasted a hole through the main door. There was a short gust as cool air rapidly escaped before the dust settled and SG-1 was allowed to enter. The explosion did not go unnoticed; Jack Frost looked up and around. Things had grown deathly quiet since he tried messing with the locks…and the air ducts. Truth be told sitting in the same sweltering room for who knew how long had started to grade on the snow spirits nerves. It was a given that Jack didn’t get along with warm temperatures but he also had Pitch to worry about. Having seen no harm in pushing all of the warm air out through the ventilation system, Jack was finally able to cool his head and think a little more clearly. The storeroom itself had taken on a rather winter wonderlandish feel as well. The winter spirit was not aware of what was actually taking place beyond the walls. There was something about this place that didn’t sit well with him, the difficulty of placing what that feeling was, was making him rather fidgety.

Going back to the explosion, Jack stood and strained his ears for some sign of life. For a long stretch there was nothing, he half wondered if he’d just imagined the noise. The Nightmare King certainly out did himself this time, the young Guardian hadn’t figured out were it was that the dark specter had sent him, much less if he could even escape this place. He was not given much time to dwell on the negative though when a thunk made his eyes snap towards the large metal door. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jack left the mirror to go and investigate. The door itself had a rather lovely fern like pattern of frost around its boarders, in his boredom Jack had decorated some of the walls with little ice pictures. Such things were not his main focus though, there was a noise. He was certain now, it sounded like beeping…

Inching closer to the door until he was able to press his ear against the cold metal, a muffled voice shouted something. Right where his ear was, the beeping suddenly sped up before the whole door just exploded. Were he anything but immortal death would have been instant, in Jack’s case he was thrown back with excruciating force. Slamming into one of the many shelves and knocking it over, the spirit let out a groan before blacking out.

==

As the dust, smoke, and rubble cleared, SG-1 stormed into the store room. Weapons raised and ready for whatever menace had come through the mirror, they took in the spectacle before them. For one it was like stepping into a freezer, which was saying something considering the Colonel had made a comment about the hall feeling like a freezer before they had blown the door.

“Huh…” Daniel lowered the pistol he had out and took a few steps away from the group; he then holstered the weapon in favor of his recorder.

“Daniel…” O’Neill started only to have the archeologist turn and completely ignore him, “Tch, alright…Teal’c I need you to stand watch while Daniel and I check out the mirror, Carter do one more sweep of the building for survivors.” While their mission had been to reach the troublesome mirror, the team had searched as many rooms as they passed for signs of life. Every person they found was encased in ice. With Teal’c posted at their makeshift door and Carter already taking off back down the hall, O’Neill heaved a heavy sigh and followed the good doctor.

“Care to tell me why you suddenly got that look tourists get when they see a two for one sale?”

Dr. Jackson didn’t respond right away, he had that fascinated look on his face, the one he gets when he notices something important but can’t place it.

“Daniel?”

“Jack, I don’t think whatever did this is hostile.” And there it was, Jack rolled his eyes in disbelief, “What? I’m serious, I mean look at thi…”

“Daniel, there are about a thirty frozen and certainly dead people out there, probably more,” the man interrupted, “I seriously doubt a friendly whatever would kill all those people.”

The man had a point, but Daniel still wasn’t fully convinced, “I don’t disagree but…” his sentence fell short, the his often difficult friend was giving him was enough to say that his argument wasn’t being bought, “Look, just from what I’ve seen, those people out there weren’t attacked.” It was a terrible loss what had happened to those people, but that didn’t mean it was done intentionally. Though, Daniel couldn’t say that made it any less tragic.

“Oh really?”

Daniel wanted to further explain his reasoning but held off when the two reached their destination. The alternet reality mirror, they all had bitter sweet experiences with the alien device but this case was growing more bizarre the more they tried to find answers. However, in the vast spectrum of knowledge Daniel had on ancient languages, cultures, writings, and the like, the images on several of the walls baffled him. In fact, upon examining the mirror more closely, there was a frosty silhouette decorating the reflective surface. Unlike the other images though, which seemed to illustrate an almost juvenile essence of boredom, this one held a very ominous feel. The gears were turning…

“If whatever did this really wanted to hurt us, don’t you think it would have done it already?” he finally said. Again he was given a less than convinced look from the older man.

==

Another groan came from the dazed spirit, bringing a hand up, Jack rubbed his face. He had to stifle an agitated whimper before rolling onto his side. Jack Frost had been kicked around, thrown, and dropped from very high distances, just to name a few, but never in all his three hundred and eighteen years had he EVER had something literally blow up in his face. He suspected that it could have turned out worse, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. It took him some time but he managed to force himself into a sitting position. Another couple of minutes and he had enough awareness to look himself over…nothing seemed to be broken or miss…

“Oh shi…my staff…!” sobering up right quick, he spun around in a frantic search for his beloved item; he found it lying under a pile of tossed boxes. Letting out a sigh of relief, Jack reached for it and pulled it out. Several of the boxes tumbled to the floor once their support had been removed. The disturbance had drawn the attention of the still guarding Jaffa. Teal’c turned and raised the staff weapon. He could not see what had caused the boxes to fall, but he could sense something.

Jack though, turned in time to see the much…much…larger man walk right through him. The sensation caused from this was something Jack was used to by now, it was unpleasant but not as unbearable as it used to be. However, when this man walked through him, Jack felt something else entirely. Where there was often an empty chill, a boiling hatred festered. A pained cry burst from the spirit as his reflexes caused him to shoot a bolt of ice at Teal’c’s back.

Teal’c had also felt something when he passed through the spirit. The symbiote inside him suddenly started seizing. The distress forced Teal’c to double over, cringing, just narrowly avoiding the icy blast which wound up striking a steel beam creating a frosty blast pattern. Samantha Carter had just returned in time to see Teal’c collapse. Quickly rushing over, and much to Jack’s relief just narrowly avoiding passing though him, she grabbed the large man’s shoulder.

“Teal’c! What happened? Are the others alright?”

Only a discomforting groan came from the other, he appeared to still be fighting to settle the symbiote down. Once he had managed at least that much, he looked up and around.

“I am fine…but there is definitely something here.”

“Y-Yeah…me…ow…” Jack groaned, what on earth was this man? The spirit eyed him warily knowing full well that these people wouldn’t be able to see him much less hear him. He felt sick though, dizzy even.

Having heard the commotion, and seeing the suspicious blue flash, O’Neill and Daniel had come rushing back. They found Sam hovering over a kneeling Teal’c, immediately the Colonel went on guard, bringing his P90 to his shoulder and doing a sweep of the area. Jack Frost on the other hand, had pulled himself to his feet and used his staff for support. The nauseous feeling had started to ease away as he finally took notice of the group. Well, a more conscious notice anyway.

“Sam, what happened?” Daniel approached.

“I don’t know, Teal’c just doubled over…there was a blue flash that looked a lot like a zat blast but I don’t think it hit him.” The Captain replied, “The blast struck over…” she paused when her eyes fell on what should have been a burn mark on the far wall, “That can’t be right.”

Daniel glanced over his shoulder in the same direction, “Ice…” he blinked, “Not a zat gun then.”

Jack tilted his head, they were human as far as he could tell…save for the one that walked through him. The large man they called Teal’c, he wasn’t human so then what did that make him? Brows furrowing in mild frustration, the spirit of winter decided that he already had more pressing questions to get answers to and that asking more would just make his situation that much more difficult. Turning, he started to move towards the large hole.

“You don’t think a Reetu came through the mirror do you?”

Jack stopped, ears straining but then turning, these people…they knew about the mirror?

“No, I would have sensed its presence,” Teal’c spoke up, “My symbiote only responded when I went to check on a disturbance,” he closed his eyes to get his bearings before pushing himself to his feet, “It felt as if something very cold passed through me.”

“Heh, it was the other way around big guy…” Jack muttered.

“Have you ever encountered anything like it before?” Sam asked.

“I have not…”

The two doctors sighed, however their commanding officer had other plans. O’Neill had lowered his gun but still looked ready to strike should the situation call for it. He approached the others and removed his sunglasses.

“Alright kids, we best call this in,” he looked towards Daniel, “Danny boy found some interesting pictures on that mirror he THINKS may be important.”

“Pictures?” Sam looked up questioningly, Daniel looked ready to start explaining but O’Neill held up his hand to stop him.

“Later, Carter, I need you to set up C4 around this store room, if anything…invisible or not…so much as steps out of that hole I want to see it from space got it?” he was not in one of his good moods. The rest of SG-1 could sense it and rightfully so. Rather than wait for the man to reprimand them, the group went to work setting up a perimeter around the store room. Jack on the other hand had to make a decision...follow these people who apparently know more about this mirror than he did, or stay here. What decision?! He’d seen enough of this place to last him another three hundred years, having wasted an unhealthy amount of time already, he was ready for answers.

+++++

=NORTH POLE=

The elves and the yetis were stirring nervously, many had gathered around the Great Globe upon noticing the lights flickering erratically. The most familiar of the yetis, Phil, had gone to fetch North. When he returned with the large, bearded, man, immediately the spirit of wonder leaned in, eyes narrowed. The disturbance on the globe was not natural, though double checking with Phil that there was nothing wrong with the axis or that perhaps there was simply a miscalculation, he was given a troubling response. There was nothing wrong and no miscalculations. That was just it though; something had to be wrong otherwise this shouldn’t be happening.

“Make preparations, we are going to have company…” this situation was starting to feel hauntingly familiar, grasping the lever to the aurora signal, North harrumphed before twisting and pushing it in, activating the great signal. Something in the pit of his stomach was telling him that they had best prepare for the worst. After all, it was only a few years ago since this very event set in motion a great and terrible adventure.

Chapter Text

The time it took for the other three Guardians to arrive was short. Bunnymund was the first to arrive, followed soon after by Tooth and finally Sandy. Much to North's surprise, Jack was not present. Of course they all knew he wasn't one to be the most punctual but he trusted the boy, never the less his absence did not go unnoticed. As the group gathered, North stepped forward and spoke first.
“The globe, it started flickering,” he crossed his large arms across his chest, “Lights have been going out, five just moments ago.”

“What?” Toothiana hovered just above North's right shoulder, “Why?” she didn't even try to hide the concern in her voice as she turned her gaze towards the source of the worry. Before North could answer though, she gasped, six more lights flickered before going dark. Having seen it with their own eyes, everyone's attention turned towards North.

The large man lowered his arms only to place one on his hip while using the other to stroke his beard. In truth he had never seen something like this before. When Pitch tried destroying the children's belief in the Guardian's the globe responded in a similar fashion but the lights only went out at this rate when their belief had dropped almost completely. But none of them were showing signs of non-belief, so what was causing this?

While North was trying to work out an explanation, Bunnymund was starting to show signs of impatience. It was lucky that Easter had already passed but that didn't mean he wasn't busy. Sandy though was watching the globe curiously, he noticed that the majority of the lights that were going out were located in more northern sections of the planet, most of which around the town of Burgess. That's when an exclamation mark formed above his head. Waving his hands, the stout man tried getting the others attention.

Bunnymund was the first to take notice, “What is it mate?” his question had caught the other two's attention. This was good, while he wasn't exactly fond of North's elves, Sandy didn't want to have to use one like he had before to get everybody's attention.

Once the others were looking towards him, several tiny sand images flashed above his head. One in particular they all recognized to be the snowflake Sandy often used to represent Jack, and soon after an image of none other than Jack appeared. Shortly after an arrow pointed to the globe which directed everyone's gaze towards said object. At first they looked a little confused, what was the Sandman trying to tell them?

Sensing that his comrades hadn't understood his message, Sandy rolled his eyes in slight frustration before waving his hands again, regaining their attention. This time, he made the distinct image of the snowflake being crossed out, North was the first to get it.

“No snow?” he carefully answered, Sandy nodded, “No snow...” the large man repeated as if mulling this over.

“We got that mate, but what does that...” the Easter Rabbit's ears suddenly perked up, “Wait a minute...are you saying Jack isn't makin' a pain of himself?”

The Sandman gave the large pooka a look, that wasn't quite what he meant but it wasn't technically wrong either. Bunnymund continued however, in the correct direction so he refrained from signing a remark on the others negative choice of words.

“You know, now that I think about it, I've been hearing from my fairies that certain area's haven't been receiving as much snow these past few days.” Tooth spoke up, she felt a slight pang of guilt for having not put the pieces together. Sure Jack Frost wasn't one to address meetings like this with all seriousness, but he was like clockwork when it came to covering certain places in snow. In fact, it wasn't that long ago when he had mentioned wanting to start the year off with one of his biggest snow days ever. The lack of said snow day didn't even register as odd until that very moment. “You don't think he's missing do you?”

“That would explain his absence now, missy,” the Aussie rabbit commented, “That would also explain the lights going out, Jack hasn't been around and so the children are stopping believing in him.”

“No!” North's booming voice made the other three Guardian's jump, “There has to be more to it, Jack would not just abandon the children.”

“So then what?”

North paced the room, his large hands clenched in and out of fists, which everyone recognized. They were all equally grateful that the man wasn't holding his swords, seeing as he often did this when he was thinking. When St. Nick looked up, the others shifted into attention; however, he did not appear to be prepared to give them an answer. In fact he was looking up at the large skylight, which redirected their eyes in the same direction.

“Manny!” North boomed, and sure enough the moon was in clear view, a moonbeam shone down to verify the Man in the Moon's presence, “What is it old friend?”

MiM's silence surprised the Guardian's for a moment, when the beam intensified on a spot on the floor, a dark shadowy figure formed. They all knew who it was, there could be no denying the shape on the floor was that of Pitch, the Nightmare King.

“But, that's impossible right? We took care 'o him years ago.” Bunnymund's ears twitched, the idea of Pitch having found someway to return didn't sit well with him or any of the others. His question was met with only silence before the moonbeam flickered and the image started to swirl into a different shape. This time a large black stone, from the shadow it did not come across as what it really was but the shape was one that North immediately recognized.

From his younger years, he had heard of this ancient treasure...or rather it was revered as a mystic weapon from millenia ago. MiM knew of it's existence but had long since lost track of its location; however, the strange disturbances and Jack's disappearance held all the tell tale signs of this things work.

“Manny, are you saying that Pitch has the mirror? But that cannot be...” North quickly turned as if wanting not to hear another word, that of course wasn't the case but the concern he'd been feeling...that everybody was feeling, had grown considerably, “It has been lost for centuries.”

The moonbeam flickered only once more, the image MiM showed them made even Bunnymund gasp. It was Jack's silhouette, at first glance they assumed that the other was suggesting that the frost spirit could help, but then the silhouette flickered and cringed as if in pain before dissolving away into nothing. With that, the room dimmed as the moonbeam took its leave, leaving the Guardian's with pale faces and more unanswered questions. All of which were soon turned on North, who apparently knew more than he was telling them.

“North, what is this mirror you were talking about?” Tooth asked, her nervousness having grown to the point where she couldn't hover still, “What does this have to do with Jack?”

“Yeah mate, what's going on here?” Bunny was next, as much as he disliked the mischievous sprite, that didn't mean he didn't worry about the youngest member's well being...though wild horses wouldn't get him to admit to such things.

Sandy only signed a question mark, but the meaning was just as obvious as the others. North shook his head, still having trouble accepting this new bit of information. He trusted MiM above all else so if he said that the mirror was involved then it had to be the truth...no matter how difficult it was.

“It is said, that ancient mirror with great powers once existed here on Earth,” the spirit of wonder started, his voice heavy and solemn, “Said to have existed long before the Golden Age, guarded by ancient beings. It is said that those who look upon it see not their reflection but many different things and are then never seen again.”

Nobody spoke, they could tell that North was having a bit of difficulty telling this story. They could all sense where this was going, but only North knew the full severity of the situation...well, North and MiM of course. Remaining silent, none had the heart to try and break the silence, it wasn't entirely clear if North had finished his tale or not.

“It is said, that it is impossible to know one's fate,” North then continued, his voice a little less strained, “Why is that? Because a person's life is determined by the choices they make, but what if...” he turned to the others, “What if that person made a different choice? Chose to do something good rather than bad, bad rather than good? That person's fate would change, their fates always change with each new choice.”

“What does this have to do with the mirror though?”

“I was getting to that Bunny,” North retorted, making the pooka pull back in slight surprise, “The mirror, has the power to show the outcome of every choice one makes, and...if touched, pulls that person into whatever world is being reflected.”

“You're talkin' about alternate realities aren't you?” Bunny braved again, “So if this mirror is with Pitch, he used it on Jack? Right?”

Tooth and Sandy kept silent, but their expressions shared the same desire for answers as Bunnymund's words. North's expression darkened slightly, this question just brought up the final image that MiM had shown them.

“North, is that what MiM was trying to tell us? That Pitch found this mirror and is planning to use it? Or has already used it...” the weight of the situation suddenly struck Bunny and his emerald green eyes grew, “He's going to come back right?”

The larger Guardian remained silent, this intensified the fear in everyone's eyes. When he spoke, none of them could look at one another, “If we do not find him soon, we may never find him at all.”

“No...” the tooth fairy clasped her hands over her mouth. Ever since that day Jack was chosen to be a Guardian, each one had grown to care for the winter spirit...to a certain degree. The morning he chose to accept his Guardianhood had strengthened the bond between all of them, so the idea that their youngest member may be gone forever...or worst of all, that none of them noticed right away...had left a deep pit in all their stomachs.

“Buck up mates,” Bunny suddenly said, “All we have to do is find Pitch, find the mirror, and beat Jack's location out of the guy and be done with it.” The plan was very much a Bunny plan, but it had done it's job. The others all seemed to cheer up a little, even the feeling of a plan...as crazy as it sounded...was better than nothing.

“Bunny is right, but a word of caution,” North held up a finger, “Pitch has used the mirror once already, he will probably use it again.”

“Right...watch out for stone mirrors...so, what's the plan?”

North motioned for everyone to huddle together, it was time to work out a rescue plan. It would be a race against time, should Jack remain lost to them, his influence would fade to the point where not even Jamie Bennet's belief could keep him alive. He would cease to be...and who knows what fate awaited him in the other world...it would be difficult, painful probably. Because if North knew anything about alternate realities, it was that not all of them had happy endings.

Chapter Text

It was difficult, the world he found outside the storage room was beyond anything he had imagined. Everything was covered in snow and ice, what could have done this? Jack followed close behind the one named Daniel, the closer he looked though the more faces he saw, frozen, lifeless. Just staring at them made an almost painful pit form in the middle of his stomach, his chest clenched tightly. Instinctively reaching out, he made to grab at the first stable object his hand could reach; however, his hand passed right through Daniel's shoulder causing the doctor to stop and shudder.

His reaction did not go unnoticed, Teal'c who was walking behind him had noticed the others reaction, “Daniel Jackson, are you alright?”

The doctor rubbed his shoulder before glancing over it, there was nothing there and yet he could have sworn something had grabbed him. Something cold, the logical thing to do was to mention it, that perhaps their trap didn't do much good in keeping the supposed threat trapped. But Daniel was not one to exactly follow the logical choices, especially when he felt that choice was the wrong one.
“Yeah, I'm fine...just cold, that's all.”

Jack looked up, even though his hand had passed through the adult, he had gotten a strange feeling. The further away from the mirror he got, the more he seemed to notice it. He felt weak, physically, mentally, and it wasn't until the group reached the outside that the full weight of if struck him. This world, the air, the sky, the people, Jack turned his gaze up towards the clouded sky.

“Wind, take me home!” he had to return to Burgess, he would find these people again but first he had to return to something familiar. But, when the wind just whipped around him, biting at his face but not carrying him off like it usually did, Jack stumbled back. He had to use his staff to redirect himself to avoid passing through Teal'c, he did not wish to feel such negative emotions again and he certainly didn't want to cause a commotion. Well, not this time anyway.

Why didn't the wind listen to him? It acted as though it could not hear him, and those clouds, they were snow clouds but he knew better than anyone that it was still summer. What on earth was going on? There had to be a reason, the strange weather, his diminishing strength, this world felt empty...hauntingly so. Seeing that he would not be getting the winds help, Jack tried kicking off from the ground. Usually he could float reasonably well, but he only crashed back down onto the thinly frosted ground. This was bad, there was only one other thing he could do to see if what he was starting to fear was actually happening.

Turning, he scanned quickly until his eyes focused on Daniel. Of the group, he seemed...well...different. Lacing his fingers together, the spirit cracked his knuckles before crouching down and scooping up as much snow as he could. About an inch or so had fallen since SG-1 had entered the building. Just feeling the lack of quality in the snow, Jack did not wish to take credit for it, this snow was not made by his hands, no sir. Breathing some of his magic into the clump of finely packed, yet powdery, snow, Jack pulled his arm back and let the enchanted ball of snow fly. Much to his dismay, most of it fell apart, but enough of it had struck the back of Daniel's head to at least make him stagger slightly.

Spinning around, letting out some very amusing sounds as he tried to scoop the snow from the back of his jacket, Daniel looked behind him and saw nothing. For a moment he felt light headed, probably from being hit in the head, though shortly after he chuckled. He couldn't explain it, as a child he was usually the target in many snowball fights so it wasn't really a positive memory and yet...he could not contain a second more nostalgic laugh.

This was the response Jack was hoping for, though he had never actually used his magic on an adult before. Apparently it worked...sort of...Daniel did not break into the usual fits of laughter that children did whenever he assaulted them with the same type of magic. Instead he just rubbed the back of his head gingerly before turning back to the others. There was no asking who the culprit was, there were no further snowballs being thrown. This was not, though, a completely failed experiment, where he had felt nothing, a familiar warmth started to form. It was brief, and faded after a moment, but it was the feeling of belief.

“Teal'c, Daniel, we've been ordered back to headquarters, our plane will be arriving shortly.” Samantha Carter had reappeared, she had gone to the command tent that had been set up while they were investigating to radio in their progress. The two men just nodded their understanding.

Having moved closer to the group, requiring the use of his staff as more of a walking stick, Jack circled around each one but ultimately returned to Daniel's side.

“Do you really think whatever came through the mirror killed all those people?” Daniel suddenly asked. This question struck Jack quite hard, there was no way he was responsible for that!

“I cannot say for sure Dr. Jackson,” Teal'c replied in his usual manner, “However, I did not sense any ill intent...”

“Thank you!” Jack exclaimed, he was no fool though, he was fully aware that his powers were deadly, but that was not their purpose so whatever had caused all that death couldn't have possibly been him. He did get the impression though that the large man didn't mean what he said in quite the way the spirit had taken it.

“Jack seems to think so...” Daniel continued.

“Say what...” Jack looked up, he knew they couldn't hear him but that never stopped him from talking at people before.

“Well, I believe him...this weather, the people in that building, none of that happened until after the...whatever it was...came through,” Carter interrupted, “Now, I've been running a few tests and just from what I've been reading, the moment the mirror deactivated there was a noticeable drop in temperature. Over the course of several hours, the temperature continued to drop exponentially and that was just inside the store room, outside the air was rapidly cooled...those people, were frozen before they even knew what hit them.”

“No, that's not possible,” Jack shook his head, he'd been cooling the air in the store room but not outside...no, wait, he had been pushing the warm air out but it shouldn't have affected the entire building, much less the outside, “Unless...” he looked up, the wind did not respond to him, perhaps...perhaps by his just being there something changed.

“But there's no way to tell if it was done out of malice,” Daniel interjected, earning him a sympathetic look from the captain and a stoic eyebrow raise from Teal'c, “Okay, I can't prove just yet that it wasn't.”

“Who's side are you on...” Jack muttered, he hadn't given up hope entirely, but things were going from bad to worse, and it was only making the winter spirit all the more restless.
“Alright kids, the plane is three minutes out, grab yer gear and lets head out,” O'Neill's voice broke the steadily growing silence.

Right now, this Dr. Jackson was probably his only option considering he seemed to be more on his side than against. Whether he knew it or not, Jack Frost was going to have to make a believer out of him...he'd never had an adult believer...it was not without it's challenges but turning down such a challenge was not something Jack did very often.

--

Once the plane had arrived and SG-1 boarded, Jack made sure to follow them on board. He'd never ridden on a plane before, having heard Jamie talk about it he had been mildly curious. However, flying was his preferred method of travel. Seeing as he knew not where these people were going or possessed the ability to fly, Jack would be giving this alternative method of flight a try. And quite honestly, once they were in the air, it was down right boring. He'd hoped it would be something like North's sleigh, but he was sadly disappointed. What he wouldn't give to have one of North's snow globes...he could try to reach the North Pole but that would probably take to long.

Taking a seat beside the transfixed archeologist, Jack heaved a heavy sigh...his arms ached as he rested his staff against his shoulder. Daniel shivered again and pulled his jacket a bit closer around his shoulders. Indeed, the further he got from the mirror, the weaker he got...Jack was certain now, he was not believed in, in this world. This must have been the reason why Pitch sent him here, to make him suffer that loneliness again. But still, he intended to make at least one believer, but the task would be more difficult now if his strength continued to dissolve the way it was.

“Don't suppose you can hear me now can ya?” the spirit mumbled, and got no reply from the man sitting beside him, “Maybe if I...” shifting, he extended an arm just enough so that he could touch the screen of Daniel's laptop with his index finger. A small image of a snowflake formed on the screen, the sudden cold made it flicker, making the other jump.

The others around them had not noticed, Daniel looked around but said nothing. He was no fool either, well that was debatable, but never the less, he immediately realized what was happening. Where he to make any sort of commotion on the matter he would not be allowed to prove his theory. So, wiping the snowflake off, he brought up a blank word document and typed.

'Are you there?'

Jack blinked, why had he not thought of this? Shifting a little more so that he was sitting up, he reached out once more and typed back.

'Yes'

He saw the man's eyes light up before glancing around, almost hoping to see something. There it was again, the warmth. This couldn't possibly be going this easily could it? Jack pressed his lips together and dared to hope. He then watched as Daniel started typing again.

'Did you come through the mirror?'

Jack rolled his eyes, these questions should have had obvious answers, but he would answer them all the same if it meant getting this guy to believe.

'Yes' he typed once more.

'Are you causing this weather? Did you kill those people?'

This time it took Jack a solid minute before he could respond, how could he answer a question he wasn't even sure of the answer to? Well, simply enough, he typed.

'I don't know...'

Apparently this answer made Daniel's shoulders droop, he had been hoping for a more positive response but at least it wasn't a yes. While it wasn't a no either, there was still the hope that some good would come of this. Now he had to think of something else, now that he was certain there was somebody else there with them.

“Of course,” he muttered out loud, this drew some eyes, “Why didn't I think of that?”

“Think of what?” O'Neill growled slightly, his sour mood hadn't improved it seemed, “You've been awfully quiet over there.”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and tried to think of an excuse, knowing that Jack would notice of he lied he just shrugged and commented on going over the footage he had taken. He dragged on a bit, which he knew would bore the colonel and eventually make him lose interest, and as he suspected, the man just waved his hand dismissively. Once he was certain the other had gone back to his own affairs, Daniel rolled his shoulders and started to type.

'Who or what are you?'

These short and simple questions were growing to annoy the spirit a little, they were all legitimate questions of course but his diminished state was making him rather irritable. So, simple questions got simple answers. Then he realized, instead of answering, he could be doing the asking as well! Smacking his head at his own negligence, Jack leaned in and poked at the keys.

'My name is Jack Frost.' he thought a moment, 'Who are you people?' the second bit made him feel like a bit of a hypocrite but he shrugged his shoulders and waited to see what Daniel would type. However, when the man did not respond, he looked towards him and saw something that made his face grow a bit pale. It was the look of disbelief, or at least it looked that way. Jack groaned and pulled his hood up over his head, “Just great...”

'Jack Frost? The mythical bringer of frost and snow?' the typing had drawn his eye back to the screen, he lifted an eyebrow, 'I'm Daniel Jackson, I'm a part of a team called SG-1 we travel through the Stargate to other planets.' Now it was Jack's turn to ware the look of disbelief, it would appear that he did exist in this world, which meant that the other Guardian's must as well! Things were going from bad to better now. But a Stargate? Other planets? That was delving into history he was only vaguely familiar with. North had told him of the story about Pitch and the Man in the Moon...something about traveling from a long distance.

'Are you still there?' Daniel typed, he had not gotten a response yet, which snapped Jack out of his little daze.

'You forgot snowballs and fun times.'

Daniel actually laughed out loud, this drew everyone's attention. Teal'c, who had been sitting the closest, was the first to inquire about what had amused the doctor so much. The others waited to see what Daniel had to say. Looking and feeling very much backed into a corner, Daniel quickly typed, 'That kind of hurt you know.' before closing the laptop. Jack just grinned a little.

“Uhhh, well, I may have stumbled onto a lead,” Daniel started to explain, “I can't really verify it just yet but...” his words faded when he averted his eyes. What they landed on had silenced him instantly. Sitting next to him was a boy dressed in nothing but a dark blue hoody and worn brown pants. His hood was up so he couldn't fully make out his face, but he must have been quite pale judging by the hands that appeared to be gripping a long crooked staff for dear life.

Daniel had not seen the boy enter the plane and the fact that he only just appeared after his rather peculiar silent conversation, his identity of this youth had to be none other than Jack Frost. He wasn't exactly what Daniel was expecting to see, he looked human.

“A lead?”

Daniel blinked and shook his head, Jack's presence didn't even falter, clearing his throat and making the boy jump slightly, Daniel quickly turned his attention back to the answer he had stopped in the middle of, “Oh, right...well, it's like I said, I may have discovered something important, but I won't be able to give my report until after we get back. There are some books I need to reference first...”

Jack had peeked out from behind his hood just enough to see that Daniel was looking at him. At first he wasn't sure if the man was just staring off into space or actually looking at him...seeing him. Twisting his hands against his staff he eyed the other with an air of uncertainty. Daniel picked up on this and simply put his laptop away before leaning back and folding his arms.

“Could you see me?”

The sound of the boy's voice was softer than expected, it held the same uncertainty as the look in his eyes. Daniel smiled slightly and gave a subtle nod. The boy suddenly sat up and pulled his hood down revealing a shock of snow white hair and brilliant blue eyes. Certainly not what he was expecting at all. Nothing further was said after that, both sensing that if they continued their interaction now it would draw unwanted attention.

--

The plane ride lasted several hours, the silence had bored Jack into a stooper. By the time they reached their destination, the winter spirit looked far worse for ware than he did when the trip first started. As soon as he was away from the others, Daniel could focus his full attention on Jack. The spirit had managed to follow him thus far, but once they had reached the elevators he had collapsed.

“Hey, what's wrong? You don't look so great.”

“I d-don't feel so great...” Jack mumbled, he pushed himself back up and leaned heavily against his staff, “This world feels, very different...” he looked up, “Which is why I need your help...”

Nodding slowly, Daniel guided Jack down to his office. Glancing around quickly before closing his office door, Daniel turned and watched as the other hobbled over to the nearest chair. Once Jack was seated, Daniel approached and leaned against his desk.

“Alright...tell me everything,” he said pushing up his glasses and crossing his arms, “Starting with why I can suddenly see you and the others can't.”

Chapter Text

Daniel stood, still waiting for the youth to respond to his question. It seemed odd that he was just suddenly able to see the boy when the others could not. He could tell that Jack wasn't looking well either so rather than press the matter further he would wait for when the other was ready, or rather able, to talk.

Jack in the mean time was gripping his staff tightly and resting his head against the familiar wood. He had the answers Daniel was looking for but for that moment he had to catch his breath. Once he felt a little more settled, he looked up and drew a long breath before exhaling slowly. The temperature in the room dropped by a degree or two, but both ignored it.

“Before I answer that, I gotta ask...” he paused and closed his eyes a moment, reopening them he continued, “What exactly does that mirror do? The one I came through...”

Daniel just stared at the other for a moment, it was a fair question if not a bit unusual, “You mean, you don't know?” he tested.

“If I knew I wouldn't be asking...” Jack responded flatly, “It obviously sent me here, and I can tell it's well...Earth...but it doesn't feel the same.”

“Hmm,” Daniel adjusted his arms a bit while scratching the side of his head, “I see...well, that's because you're on a different Earth,” he was met with a confused stare, “An alternate reality, for example, here man has set foot on the moon, in another reality, man may not have...”

“I see...” Jack leaned back in the chair, “Then...that must be...”

“Are you saying man never went to the moon on your Earth?”

“No, of course they did...I saw it though a window...” Jack waved his hand dismissively, “I guess this will help answer your question though,” he sat up once more, “I'm not believed in here, but the fact that you know of me means that I must exist...I just...never became a Guardian.”

Daniel had pushed himself up and was pacing around the office, he was trying hard to make sense of what Jack was saying. For one, he would have to be a full grown adult now to have seen the moon launch and yet he didn't look a day over eighteen. Secondly, the mention of being believed in did he mean that literally or figuratively? And what was a guardian? More questioned formed in the doctors mind but he stuck with his first for the moment.

“So then, why can I see you and the others can't?”

Jack's eyes rolled and an irate groan came from the spirit, “Because, you believed in me,” he answered, “Though honestly, I was surprised it worked on you...being an adult and all.”

“I'm not quite sure I follow...”

“It's almost impossible to see an adult that still believes in magic.” Jack said slightly.

It was right about there that Daniel's shoulders dropped and his hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose. Magic, perhaps he just meant some special technology that was unique to his reality? He could only hope the answer was that simple but the more he thought about it, the more it sort of made sense. On the plane, when he read that it was Jack Frost he was communicating with, his mind had gone back to his childhood, when his foster parents would tell him to bundle up, and hearing choirs around Christmas time singing about Jack Frost nipping at your nose. He honestly believed for a minute that, maybe...just maybe...he was real. It was after that, that the boy appeared.

“Alright then,” Daniel removed his glasses and rubbed his temples next, “Tell me what a guardian is?” realizing how that sounded, he quickly corrected himself, “I mean, I know WHAT a guardian is, but you said that here you aren't one...what did you mean by that?”

“I was chosen by MiM, like the others, to protect the children of the world,” the winter spirit started to answer; however, Daniel interrupted.

“MiM?”

“Man in the Moon,” was the answer he was given, “He's the one that chooses who will be a Guardian,” Jack then continued, “You probably know of them, you know...Santa Claus, Toothfairy, Sandman, and the Easter Bunny.”

For a man as well versed in mythology, ancient and modern languages, ancient civilizations, and the like, Daniel actually found himself skeptical. Deep down he knew he shouldn't be, considering for the last several years he and the other members of SG-1 have faced off against aliens who have posed as gods, that have shaped civilizations. And yet, here he was having trouble believing that in this young man's world, figures such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were real. The thing was, the pieces were fitting together...if Jack Frost is real...then why not the others.

“I could try contacting the Guardian's here, but I have no way of finding them...” Jack was still talking, he had moved on to the next order of business, “Or, I could just try and find myself here!”

“No!” Daniel suddenly interjected, making not only Jack Frost jump, but Jack O'Neill as well. The Colonel blinked and stared at his old friend, while Daniel just bit his lip, “It would have been nice if you'd knocked Jack.” he caught himself a second too late, and quickly cast a glance towards the spirit before looking back towards his friend.

Jack Frost though understood now the guy that just walked in shared a name with him...though he felt there were too many Jack's now. One is good, two was acceptable, but three is always a crowd. Jack Frost, Daniel Jackson, Jack O'Neill...

“Right...” O'Neill still wore a look of suspicious concern, “The General needs us in the briefing room, you alright?”

“Oh! Right!” Daniel stood up straight, he had completely forgotten in his excited curiosity, though when asked if he was alright, the doctor just lifted his eyebrows as if questioning what made the other think anything was wrong. Sensing that an actual answer was desired, Daniel walked up to the Colonel, “Yeah, I'm fine Jack, why?”

Not looking at all convinced, O'Neill took a quick glance around the office, “You took off the second we got back,” he moved passed the doctor and circled the room, Jack Frost had recovered enough to move out of the way when the man walked by, “You've got it pretty cold in here, what's up with that?”

“Cold?” Daniel once again lifted his eyebrows, knowing the answer just not wishing to share it just yet.

Jack Frost though just gave a wayward crooked grin.

“Yeah, cold,” O'Neill turned but recognized the look Daniel was giving him, the man was avoiding the questions which meant he was hiding something, “You know what, forget it...let's go.” he would pester it out of the good doctor later.

“Ah! Wait I need to grab a few things first!”

“Fine, fine, whatever, just make it quick.” The Colonel left the office shortly after. Daniel moved to the door and peeked out into the hall. Once certain that nobody would over hear him, he turned to face Jack.

“You know, they think you killed those people on purpose...” he suddenly said, the words catching the Guardian of Fun off guard, “I don't think that's the case, but you're going to have to explain what happened.”

Jack avoided eye contact, he had put the horrid thought from his mind the second Daniel could see him. But it was still a very serious subject that needed attention.

“You said that...this was an alternate reality...what if my sudden existence here messed something up?” Jack slowly formed his theory.

“Didn't you just say that you already exist here?”

Jack glanced down at the floor, Daniel could tell that the young man was trying to find some sort of explanation, “I think...I may have been wrong...”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier, when you were getting on the plane, I tried calling to the wind but it didn't listen...in fact it acted as if it couldn't even hear me,” Jack leaned heavily against his staff, “I think I existed here, but I never...I just...” the thought brought an actual chill to his bones, but no matter which way he looked at it, it made perfect sense. He existed, once...but here he never became a Guardian. The only reason he became a Guardian was because... “I didn't save her...”

Now Daniel was confused, he walked over to Jack and reached a hand out, but the boy just moved away. “Jack? Who didn't you save?”

“My sister...” Jack answered quietly, though he looked up and finally met Daniel's eyes, “I think I'm starting to see just what kind of world this is...”

“That's the difference between our worlds?” Daniel could almost feel the tension growing in the other, the room had dropped another degree as well, “In your world, you saved your sister and became a Guardian, but here that didn't happen.”

“R-Right...”

“Do people just become invisible when they become a Guardian?” Daniel then asked. Jack gave him a look that said that the question had been a stupid one, but his mood had grown exceptionally negative all of a sudden. However, he took a deep breath...this was a touchy subject now it seemed.

“No...not in my case,” he answered, “We went skating on a pond one morning, the ice seemed safe enough but a few minutes in and it started to crack,” Jack gripped his staff, “I was able to pull her to safety but wound up falling through the ice myself,” Straightening himself, Jack Frost dragged the staff across the floor leaving frosty patterns, “The last thing I remembered, it was cold...and dark...and I was scared.”

“That's when this...MiM chose you?”

“Yeah...it was only recently that I learned about my sister and what I'd done,” Jack sighed, “So here, I don't exist as Jack Frost...which is probably why everything is out of whack. I only used a little bit of my powers to cool that store room down, but this world isn't used to my kind of magic so it reacted...badly.”

This was good news, well not exactly good, good news but it was a step in the right direction. This means that Jack didn't intentionally attack those people. Of course, that made their deaths senseless...it was bitter sweet this new information. Daniel still had many questions about this MiM character and the other Guardian's, but if he kept General Hammond and O'Neill waiting, they would grow suspicious and impatient. Not wanting a repeat of being walked in on, Daniel gathered up his things.

“This is good, well..not good, but with this I can at least provide a good argument for the others,” moving towards the door, Daniel paused, “Though, you should stay here for now, I still have a lot of questions.”

Just tilting his head, Jack gave a nod before pulling his hood back up. He needed a break anyway, some time to fully process his thoughts. Naturally his gut told him to contact the Guardians of this world, but he also had a sneaking suspicion that this world's Guardians might not be exactly the same.

–

Pacing around the large, black stone globe, Pitch Black watched the lights flicker on the dark surface. He wore a subtle grin, three days had passed since he had sent Jack Frost away. Three days and not a so much as a peep from the Guardian's either. He didn't doubt that they were already on to his little scheme but that was just what he was hoping for. Pausing when a cluster of lights on the globe flickered, the Nightmare King leaned in close and waited. A few seconds passed before one of the lights flickered again and then went out completely.

“Ah, poor, dear, sweet child...did Jack not bring his promised snow day?” it was hard for him to contain the grin that split across his face, “And Jack...however are you fairing?” moving away from the globe and over to his newly prized possession. The large stone mirror stood a few feet away, the image that now displayed on its reflective surface was not the same as what had appeared when Jack unwittingly stepped through the mirror. It appeared to be a world ruled by strange beings, monuments were built in their honor. However, none of that mattered much to Pitch, no he picked up on the fear that the world was seeped in.

He had spent several hours learning how the mirror worked, he knew that it would be next to impossible to find the exact world that the Guardian of Fun had stumbled into. There were a few times where he thought he saw Jack but it was not the same one, no the few Jack's he had seen were far too comfortable in their worlds. If it had been this world's Jack, he would have been far more hell bent on getting back. No matter, he didn't have to worry about the winter spirit. His main focus was on where to spirit the other Guardian's away to. What dark, desolate world, filled with fear and devoid of hope could he send them?

Chapter Text

“And that concludes my report...” O'Neill stated while taking a seat. General Hammond gave a confirming nod before looking towards Dr. Jackson. Through out the entire debriefing the doctor looked to be on edge, as if wanting to interrupt but one of those very rare occasions chose not to. It was clear that the man wanted to say something, and the General could hazard a guess as to what that something was. O'Neill had not failed to mention Daniel's change in views on the matter of their last mission, that whatever had come through the mirror was in fact not hostile in nature.

“Dr. Jackson, do you have something to add?” the bald man inquired, already knowing the answer but sensing that the younger male was looking for an invitation. This had been the little push the other needed, of course the others seemed a little more wary but having dealt with Daniel's “causes” before, they all knew it was better just to hear the man out first before promptly disagreeing.

“Yes, actually,” Daniel got to his feet, “I have come across some new evidence that would suggest that the entity...” he paused at his choice of words, he couldn't really call Jack an entity seeing as he knew the boy's name and more or less what he was...sort of. He cleared his throat and moved on, “Now, as you all are aware, the mirror deals with alternate realities,” the archeologist started taking out charts and setting them out on the long table for the others to see, “I believe that from whatever world this being is from, this sort of occurrence doesn't happen.”

“What are you getting at?” O'Neill did not share Daniels restraint when it came to interruptions.

“Well, what I'm getting at is,” Daniel looked a little peeved but he answered none the less, “in our reality, this being probably doesn't exist...or at least not at the same level. That's why our reality is well,” he found himself entering into a science he still didn't fully understand, it was more Carter's forte than his own, “Um...” he glanced towards their female team mate, giving her an almost pleading look as he grasped for words, “Is it perhaps possible for something that didn't exist before, to suddenly exist and throw off our realities...balance or something?”

Sam, who had been leaning closer and closer to the opposing side suddenly found herself sitting up and contemplating. While she wasn't entirely sure, in their past experiences where two of the same person existed in the same reality things started happening. But that was with people and in that case it only eafected those people. This just begged the question...

“What sort of being are we talking about?” she asked.

“Carter is correct, what sort of creature could cause this?” Teal'c then spoke up, having laced his fingers together. He was still acting as a neutral party, while he had his doubts, he also knew that if Daniel was certain about something then he probably had a good reason to be and that was worth taking into consideration.

Between the two questions, Daniel was trying to articulate a way to give them the answer they wanted. However, no matter how he twisted the words around, telling them that it was Jack Frost probably wouldn't earn him any confidence points. Then he remembered something, of the books and papers he had grabbed, one book was on various mythologies. It was worth a shot!

Lifting up his index finger to show he needed a moment, O'Neill just leaned back and stared. He'd seen a determined Daniel before, but this was something a little different. It was like the man was hiding something...

“Ah! Here we go!” Daniel suddenly exclaimed, he set the book down and turned it so the others could see.

“Wait, this is Norse mythology....” Sam commented, “Are you saying the Asgard have something to do with this?”

“Yes and no,” Daniel figured this might happen, “Now, in our reality, the Asgard established these mythologies, as far as we know. They acted as Gods and protectors of humanity, well...what if in this being's reality, this isn't the case.”

“So...what does this have to do with our buddy Thor?” O'Neill muttered.

“Not Thor...Jokul Frosti,” Daniel pointed to the name, “The embodiment of snow and ice, a winter spirit so to speak.” he felt rather pleased he was able to portray Jack in a way that didn't make him sound completely insane...again.

When an overwhelming silence washed over the debriefing room, Daniel stood up straight and looked around at everybody. Perhaps his pleased feeling was premature, there were looks ranging from skeptical to confusion, and of course Teal'c and his stoic eyebrow lift.

“Guys?”

“Are you trying to tell us that you believe some sort of...ghost is the cause of all this?” General Hammond was the first to respond, he had been sitting back and listening as his number one team conversed with one another but right now he was starting to grow a little impatient.

Sensing this impatience, Daniel gave the man a quick answer.

“He's not visible to the naked eye, but that does not make him a ghost...” he slipped, “But yes, while it may not be intentional, I do believe his being here is causing the strange weather as well as what transpired in that facility.”

“He?” the General then said with a raised eyebrow, “How do you know this thing's a he if it's invisible?”

“Uh...” oops, Daniel glanced off to the side, “W-well...”

This time O'Neill got to his feet, and walked around the table, “Daniel, what did you do?”

“Actually, I didn't do anything...he just....sort of....” the jig was up, Daniel wouldn't be able to recover this one since it was his fault, “Followed us...”

“That thing is here?!”

–

Jack Frost was still sitting in Daniel's office. He appeared to be going in and out of sleep, which was not something he did often but under the circumstances suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to do. He could tell they were deep underground, while it wasn't dark or void of cheer it sort of reminded him of Pitch's lair. The only difference was that everything down here was man made and there was only so much his magic could do this far below the surface in an artificial prison. He was there by choice though, he distanced himself from the cool surface air, from the familiar and yet strange sky. A part of the frosty spirit wondered if the Man in the Moon existed here...if he did, would he speak to him? The sun had been out when he first arrived here so he could not say with absolute certainty.

Daniel had been gone for some time now, Jack found himself wishing to discuss more on this world. There had to be something here that could help him get back. Where the others looking for him now? Did they even know he was gone? The worst thought that still festered within his mind was, what if Pitch has already sent the others through the mirror? Losing one Guardian was one thing, but to lose them all would spell disaster for the children of the world.

Opening his eyes slowly and staring out from under his hood, Jack let out a slow sigh. He had perched himself on top of his crooked staff at some point and balanced there. With a subtle shift, he dropped down and landed soundlessly on his feet. Sleep, no matter how much he felt he needed it, simply wouldn't come. The thought of whether or not Sandy's dream sand could reach down here had crossed his mind and made him smile a little.

Strolling around the overly cluttered desk and shelves, Jack took this moment to examine his new believers living space. Daniel Jackson, he had chosen correctly in trying to communicate with this man though he wondered. It was still a strange thing to find an adult that still believed in magic. Or, could it be something else entirely? Perhaps it wasn't really belief but understanding and acceptance. Daniel did not deny that he exists, it is a form of believing but it didn't exactly have to do with magic. From the looks of things, this man has seen a fair number of strange things...so then finding out that he, Jack Frost, exists somewhere probably wasn't the biggest surprise in this man's life.

Not that he was complaining, a believer was a believer and if this guy could see and hear him than that just made his job that much easier. Jack paused when a photo caught his eye, Daniel was in it along with a very beautiful woman. Blinking, he studied it. His studies did not last long before a blaring siren suddenly went off forcing Jack to jump back and look around frantically.

“Wh-what the...what's going on?” there was nobody there to answer him but the flashing lights were enough to tell him that something big must have happened. Seconds later, the man from before burst into the office, Jack O'Neill was his name. Jack Frost immediately brought his staff up defensively and backed away. Daniel was quick to follow, the two were arguing heatedly as an armed Teal'c entered next, followed closely by Samantha Carter and two guards.

“Oh...uh-oh...” Jack lowered his staff a little and looked at Daniel, “You told them...”

Daniel gave a nervous, but clearly irritated chuckle.

“Where is it?” the one called O'Neill demanded.

“I'm not an it...” Jack frowned, “Daniel...?”

The doctor just groaned before moving in front of O'Neill, “Jack, he's not going to hurt anybody...besides, if he was...I'm sure he would have done it already.”

“That's not the point Daniel,” O'Neill suddenly snapped, “You knowingly let a potentially harmful creature into this planets most top secret base, that's kind of a big deal.”

“He's not the enemy either.” Daniel rebuttled.

“You don't know that.”

The two continued to argue, but Teal'c was already scanning the room. It certanly was cooler here than in the hall, that must mean that this winter spirit Daniel mentioned is somewhere in this room.

“Spirit...if you are in here, reveil yourself.” the Jaffa demanded, successfully breaking the two bickering friends from their argument.

Jack though just blinked, “Spirit?” well, he thought about it, that was a fair comparison.

“You'll only be able to see him if you actually believe he exists...if you believe in him.” Daniel explained.

“Believe in who?” Sam asked, while motioning for the two guards to wait outside.

Daniel glanced over at Jack, who in turn gave him a shrug and then a nod. Taking a long, slow, steady breath, Daniel stood up straight and said,
“Jack Frost.”

“You've got to be kidding...”

Frowning and growing slightly irritated, Jack lifted his staff up. It gave off a faint glow which caught Daniels attention. He quickly moved in and reached out, grabbing Jack by the hand, “Wait.”

Both Jack and the other members of SG-1 stared at Daniel in confusion, Daniel though just let go of Jack's hand.

“How about we do it the way we did it on the plane?” he said to the boy, the idea seeming rather obvious now that it was brought up. To the others though, it looked as though Daniel was talking to thin air. None of them were given the time needed to form a sentence before Dr. Jackson had taken out his laptop and set it down on his desk.

“While he cannot physically interact with those who don't believe, he does apparently have the ability to affect inanimate objects,” he motioned to the laptop screen, “Meaning, Jack...why don't you say hello to the rest of SG-1.” stepping a side, the other three took a step closer and watched the screen.

Mere seconds passed before words started to form reading,
'My name is Jack Frost' there was a pause before more was typed, 'I was sent through the mirror as an experiment by a man named Pitch, I did not mean to cause any problems, I just want to go back.'

“How do we know that's not just some program?” O'Neill straightened himself.

The words, 'Can a program do this?' soon appeared on the screen before Jack tapped the butt end of his staff against the computer screen making it freeze.

“Wh-wh, hey!” Daniel pushed his way through the group but by the time he reached his beloved laptop it was already frozen solid, “Great...you had to make an example out of my laptop.”

Jack just grinned and shrugged, he wasn't so much worried about the funny little bit of technology as he was interested in the way at least two of the SG-1 members were looking.

“D-Daniel...is that...your new friend?”