Who Guards the Guardians

A Torchwood / Rise of the Guardians crossover

Author's notes: Okay, so I recently saw "Rise of the Guardians" with my best friend, Keara, and new muses just popped up. Sorry about this. I have not abandoned, and will not abandon, my other stories. Hugs all around (except to Keara, because she doesn't do hugs. Cyber-cookies to her)!

One final note: There will, more likely than not, be no slash with Jack Frost. Yeah he was 18 when he died (According to the RotG Wiki), but there really seems to be no one I can comfortably pair him with.

Prologue: Easter Sunday of 1968

Jack Harkness stood in the middle of a large park that was covered with two feet of snow. It was a freak snowstorm that had happened just in the park and he'd been sent out to investigate it. He was to bring back the cause, if at all possible.

That's when he heard them.

"What are you on about, frostbite? I go crazy all year to get these bloody eggs decorated perfectly, and you go and cause a bloody blizzard!"

Laughter answered as the freelance Torchwood agent turned to watch the pair. He knew them both. In fact, he'd met them several times in his past, but this would be their first time meeting him.

"Awwww! Come on, you old kangaroo! It's not like I covered the whole world! I just covered this little park!"

Jack cleared his throat. "Excuse me!" He chuckled when he was met with identical shocked expressions. "Hello! Captain Jack Harkness! Sorry to bother you, but just to be sure ... you don't know me, right?"

The large rabbit shook his head. "Not a bloody clue, mate." He narrowed his eyes. "How can you see me? Usually, only the ankle-biters can see me, and that's only when I want them to."

Jack shrugged. "Travelled with the Time Lord known as the Doctor for a while." From the look on the large rabbit's face, he could tell he'd at least heard of the Doctor.

To Jack's delight, the rabbit reached out and took his hand. "Bloody hell, mate! Never thought I'd get the honor of meeting a companion! Like I said, most can't see me. What's he like? North has met him, and Sandy loves giving little mites dreams of travelling to the past to ride on dinosaurs!"

Jack chuckled. "He's ... unique."

The rabbit chuckled as well. "Right. May as well get introductions out of the way. I'm ..."

Jack smiled. "E. Aster Bunnymund. A.K.A. the Easter Bunny, or Bunny to your friends. This is not the first time I've met you." Then he took a breath and made the impact he knew would last well into the 51st century. "And you are Jackson Overland Frost. A.K.A. Jack Frost." He let his delight show on his face. "Oh, yeah, I know you. I always wondered when your first memory of me would coincide with my timeline." He reached out and caught the staff that Jack Frost had let slip before handing it back to the shocked young-looking man. "I gather you had something to do with this?"

"Yeah." Frost looked to Bunny. "NO ONE sees me, not even kids. What makes a ... a companion of this so-called Doctor Time Lord special?" His eyebrows furrowed. "What is a Time Lord, anyway?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Long story, and now is not the time. I need something to tell those morons at Torchwood so they don't come out hunting for you lot. They'll find something to use to be able to see you, and we really don't want that to happen."

Jack Frost bit his lip and hopped up.

Bunny watched him leave and then groaned when snow started to fall. "No! No no no no! Awww come ON!"

Jack had to admit that a large blizzard that started in a small area looked less suspicious than a small blizzard that was contained. He breathed a sigh of relief as Bunny ranted about ruined Easters. He knew that it would be long time before the Easter Bunny forgave Jack Frost for being the cause of the great blizzard of '68. It was better than the alternative.

"The kangaroo is mad at me, you know."

Jack looked up as the very spirit of winter floated down. His cloak fluttering around him. "Sorry, but at least I was able to tell the people in charge that it was a freak blizzard and not the work of a being that they don't really believe in."

The boy with the old eyes looked at him. "Do you have time now? Sandy's been around the longest, but he doesn't actually speak. I kinda get the feeling that it'll take more than his sand pictures to tell me who the Doctor is."

Jack took in a deep breath and shook his head. "Come back in winter, Jack. I'll make sure I'm free on the 21st of December. It's too close to spring for you to still be here."

Eyes as blue as a clear winter sky regarded him, and Jack Frost nodded before letting the wind wisk him away.

Footsteps sounded behind him. "Talking to yourself, Harkness?"

Jack smiled and turned to the latest leader of Torchwood. "Do you see anyone else here? What do you need me to do?" He hoped it wasn't another assignment like the one 3 years previous. He still felt sick at the thought of handing children over to an alien race as if they meant nothing.

"Nothing planned, but I don't like it when you're out of sight for too long. You're not normal, Harkness, and I'd have you locked in one of the cells if it were up to me."

Jack smirked. "It isn't up to you, though." He strode towards the entrance to their underground base.

End of Prologue