Thaw (Jelsa Fanfic)

Awaken

Her scream pierced him as though a dagger had been driven deep into his very essence. The terror it contained tore into him, and his only instinct was so take it away. By any means necessary.

"Elsa!" She was still curled up at his side, but her fists were balled next to her cheeks and her face had turned an alarming shade of red. She let out another wail, and this time Jack shook her. "Elsa! Wake up, it's just a bad dream!"

And then her blue eyes fluttered open, and she was on the move. Clawing for him, desperately trying to escape whatever horrors she had seen in the realm of sleep. Jack took her hands, steadying them firmly in his own. "Honey, it's not real. It's me. You're here with me."

She paused, awareness breaking the cloud of her gaze. Her chest rose and fell rapidly with every heaving breath she took, and she was shaking hard in his grasp. "Jack..." She panted, finally seeming to realize she was not lost in whatever dream world she'd just come from. "Pitch...it was Pitch..." She looked up at him, the residual terror in her eyes shining bright in the darkness. "And the Reaper. I saw the Reaper..." She shuddered, and Jack immediately drew her against him.

Eventually the rage would come. Jack was aware of its heat, simmering patiently in the depths of his soul. To learn that Elsa had been singled out and exposed the most vile forms of evil the world had to offer was a nightmare in itself to Jack. He had tried so hard to shield her from those horrors, and still they had found her...even though he'd been right there next to her.

But at the fore was his desperation to calm her, to lift the dark cloud of terror that had consumed her. "It was just a nightmare...just an apparition. They can't get to you, snowflake. They're never going to get to you." He held her tightly as she shook.

"He's a monster, Jack. Pitch is bad...but the Reaper...he's a monster. " She whispered. "I've never felt anything so cold, so empty..."

"I hate that you felt it at all." He all but growled. "They're trying to make us weak, Elsa. Pitch wants to feel your fear."

"I wasn't very scared of him. Angry mostly...he told me he would keep my sister safe if I joined him. I denied him...and that's when he showed me that thing...Grim." Her trembles had lessened, and her voice sounded a little stronger. For that, Jack was grateful.

He remained quiet for a drawn out moment, not even attempting to fight the fury that washed over him upon hearing her revelation. He let it saturate him...mind, body, and soul...until it had consumed him entirely. Never had Jack ever felt such raw, violent hatred as he did in that moment...such a desperate need for retribution. If not for Elsa, he would surely have flown recklessly into the night in search of Pitch.

"Jack?" She pushed back, listening his grip on her so that she could peer into his eyes. The fear in hers had faded in favor of her concern for him.

"Pitch is trying to enlist you?" Jack asked blankly. "He's trying to exploit your love for your sister?"

"Yes. But he knows it won't work, Jack." She told him carefully, eyeing him nervously. "I shouldn't have told you..."

"Yes, you should have and I'm glad you did." Jack interrupted, taking her by the shoulders. "I'm furious that he got to you, Elsa. That he scared you, yes... but more so that he played on your emotions. That he's trying to use you as a pawn." He trailed off, taking a deep breath in effort to cool his rage. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I just...I care too much about you to think of Pitch and Grim getting anywhere near you. I feel terrible that they did and I wasn't there to help."

A ghost of a smile warmed her pretty face. "Jack, there was nothing you could have done in a dream. It scared me, but I'm fine. Really." She reached up, grazing her fingers against his cheek. Jack relished the warmth against his cool skin, a soft affirmation tact she was whole and alright. "Soon enough it will be over, and they'll pay for everything they've done."

He was still angry...still furious...but looking into her calm and gentle eyes centered him. Elsa was right...his rage would do little good in that moment. It would be best saved so that he could utilize it when the time for reckoning had come. "I'll make sure if that..if it's the last thing I do." He said softly.

A brief rap on the heavy wooden door caused Elsa to gasp and Jack to jump. They looked toward it, then at each other warily. "Probably just someone checking to make sure you're alright." Jack guessed with a shrug. He grabbed his staff and climbed out of bed to answer the door. "Yeah?" He asked through the wood.

"Open up, ya gumby!" Bunny hissed.

Jack cracked the door, peering out i to the hallway. Bunny was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, looking mildly irritated. "Glad to see ya got clothes on." He commented.

"Glad to see you're still a bright ray of sunshine." Jack shot back.

Bunny rolled his eyes. "It's after 2 and I ain't had sleep in ages. Unlike you, Dead Guy, I actually need the sleep."

Jack smirked at Bunny's crabbiness. "Then maybe you shouldn't be creeping around the halls harassing people."

"Ah, shut it, yeah? Look, you better get to the observation deck. Manny's gonna speak." Bunny cut to the chase.

Jack froze, all the humor falling away. "I'll be right there."

Bunny nodded and turned away as Jack shut the door, looking at Elsa. "You should..." His eyes dipped down the the intricate white gown she wore...the one that drove him out of his mind. "Uh, you should get dressed. We've got a meeting with Manny."

If Elsa noticed the heat that had flared in his eyes, she didn't show it. Instead, she blinked in wide surprise. "Do you think it has something to do with my nightmare?

"I don't know..." Jack sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, knowing that whatever they were being called to hear wouldn't be good. "But we're about to find out."