1. Calling in Sick

To say that the beginning of the week had been hectic for the Guardians of Childhood was an understatement. It was mid-October, and Santa's workshop in the North Pole was already preparing for Christmas like there was no tomorrow. The ice hockey season was starting to get serious in the northern parts of the world, so Toothiana had her hands full with all the knocked out teeth. And to top it all off, something sinister had stirred in the woods of Southern Canada, and some rumours had ominously implied it might have been a Wendigo of all things. This had been alarming enough to get every Guardian to investigate it and abandon their jobs for a good few hours before the menace had been located.

Luckily it turned out to be just a wild yeti who was larger than average and who had gone rogue and crashed through a few empty buildings after venturing too close to humans. The Guardians had been quick to lead the poor thing to a more peaceful environment. It hadn't really been anything that would have warranted the attention of all five of them, but in their defence, a real Wendigo would have been. Too bad the whole affair had distracted them from their work. It was especially bad for Nicholas St. North, who should have really been constantly supervising his yetis and elves this close to Christmas. So he wasn't very pleased to get home and find that the elves had caused a temporary blackout in a couple of rooms. He was even less pleased to wake up the next morning and realize that he was feeling strange.

Had he been mortal, it wouldn't have been so strange. He would have immediately identified the coughing and sore throat as the beginnings of a very nasty cold. But seeing how he hadn't really been sick in at least a century, it took him a while. And when he did, he was even more confused. How had he gotten sick? His immune system was practically airtight and he could easily walk off a collision with an air plane – and he had, actually, on one memorable Christmas Eve. He could even withstand millions of times more alcohol than a mortal. He wiped his forehead with a tattooed arm and tried to think.

Then it hit him: he had given the Guardians a ride back to their homes, and on the way they had encountered probably the fiercest rainstorm in the last decade or so. That combined with stress and probably the chilly air during the sleigh ride must have been enough to... Except that they were still Guardians. Spirits. Immortals. Maybe they had been hit with hostile magic. Wait, that meats the others might be feeling under the weather as well.

So North had no choice but to leave the yetis and elves to their own devices and call for a Guardian meeting. For the second time that week.

He sat down to a very puffy armchair close to his largest fireplace. Normally the meeting would have been held in the globe room, but this time there was no danger for the children – North had checked the lights the first thing in the morning – and he might as well sit down. For the first time since the battle with Pitch North could feel his age catching up to him. Not in the usual sense. He didn't start feeling weaker or older, but somehow sore and stiff. A nagging feeling that he should feel older started somewhere in the back of his mind. He didn't like it.

He didn't have to wait for long before a rainbow of feathers zipped through an open window that was kept open just because most of the Guardians didn't use doors. Said bundle of feathers was the Tooth Fairy, and she looked far more tired than usual. Her feathers had lost their usual shine and her wings stopped fluttering as soon as she was close enough to the floor.

"North!" she greeted in a slightly hoarse voice, "What's wrong? Are the children safe? What-?"

"No worries, Tooth," North assured wearily, "Children are fine. It is you I worried about."

Toothiana blinked, her long pink eyelashes catching the firelight.
"Me?" she asked, "I'm fine. Just a bit woozy after hurrying here. I was about to head for Hong Kong to collect some teeth, but..."

"You were sick?" North guessed.

Toothiana huffed and crossed her arms.
"I don't know why. I don't get sick. Wait..." She studied North carefully, "You don't look so good either."

Before North could reassure her that it was just a cold, a golden cloud of sand floated into the room, and the Sandman hopped onto the floor, waving his small hand in a greeting. He didn't look very sick, just more tired than normal. And maybe his usually bright golden glow was dimmer. North wasn't entirely sure.

"Sandy," North nodded, "Good to see you. We should probably wait for Bunny and Jack to-"

As if on cue a tall, grey bunny hopped into view from the direction of the globe room. Bunnymund was shivering and he quickly made his way very close to the fireplace.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"North and I are not feeling very well," Toothiana informed and then had to stop for a quick sneeze, "Are you boys okay?"

Sandy shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand in a "so-so" manner. Bunny's fur bristled and he shook his head.

"Wasn't feeling that great either," he admitted reluctantly, "You think it's some sorta magic?"

"It might be," North mused, "That is why I summoned you. To make sure you are all right, and-"

"Hey, guys!"

"Why am I always interrupted? Hello, Jack."

Jack Frost landed in the middle of the room, bringing a pile of snow along with him that settled under the teenager's bare feet like a welcome mat. The boy was as energetic as ever. Sure, he was deathly pale, but that was normal for the Spirit of Winter. Jack looked around with an attentive smile and leaned to his crooked staff.

"Sorry I'm late," he said peppily, "I was checking on Wendy when you sent the signal. She wanted to give me a present before I left."

He lifted up what looked like a frozen, half-eaten fish. The others stared at it.

"Um... Wendy?" North finally dared to ask.

"The yeti from yesterday," Jack said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I named her Wendy. She found a nice cave in Yukon. It's amazing how fast she can get around if she wants to. She seems fine now."

"Well, that's great," Toothiana smiled uncertainly, "Say, Jack, are you feeling all right?"

Jack looked confused.
"Why d'you ask? I didn't actually eat any of this fish if that's what you're asking."

"No, no," Toothiana waved her hand and then sneezed again, "North called us here because we're all sick. We were just wondering..."

"Wait, you guys are sick?" Jack's eyes widened, "I didn't even know you could get sick."

"Well, somehow we did," Bunnymund remarked, "We're just trying to find out why."

"Even Sandy?" Jack asked and looked at the little dream weaver. Sandy shrugged his shoulders again and formed some Zs out of sand over his head and then pointed at himself. So North had been right; Sandy was feeling more tired than normally.

"But you are feeling fine, Jack?" Toothiana asked again.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jack smirked and it spoke volumes about Tooth's poor condition that she didn't even attempt to catch a better look at the boy's teeth, "I never get cold. The rainstorm wasn't nice, though. Do you know how long it took to get all that ice out of my skin?"

North remembered Jack's complaints the day before, when the rain had hit. The boy had shrieked in a way that was almost comical and tried to shield himself in vain. Soon they had all been soaked to the bone, all except Jack whose natural aura of coldness had frozen the water on the boy's clothes and skin. North could now see that there were still some extra icicles in the boy's frosty white hair.

"Wait a minute..." Bunny stood up from his spot and went up to the young winter spirit. He poked the boy's shoulder, "I get it now. We got sick 'cause we had to suffer a ride through rain with this walking icepack right next to us!"

"What?" Jack raised his hands defensively, "You're blaming me for this, Cottontail?"

"It does make sense," North said and coughed. He wasn't feeling like thinking too much about anything. His head was starting to hurt.

"Well, okay, it does," Jack sighed, "Sorry. I can't help it. It's like Bunny and allergens."

"Hey! People aren't allergic to me!"

"Oh, we aren't mad at you, Jack," Toothiana said hurriedly to stop the verbal battle that was about to start. She fluttered over to Jack to put her hand on his shoulder, "We should have been more prepared for extreme weather. I mean, it is autumn in Canada now."

She was cut off when she had to cover her nose and sneeze. Two mini versions of her popped out from under her wings then and looked attentively at their queen. Jack stared at them, icy blue eyes wide in surprise.

"Uh, Tooth?" he said, "You just sneezed fairies."

Toothiana snapped back to attention.
"No, no. It's just that I need a bit more helpers. Sorry. Bad timing for that I guess."
She quickly pointed at the two new helpers.
"Two more in Hong Kong and one in Arambag! Go!"

The fairies nodded and flew off like overly excited hummingbirds. Tooth sighed and lifted herself a bit higher up into the air.
"Well, since there wasn't any magic messing with us, I suppose I just have to get back to work..."

"Ya sure you're up to it?" Bunny asked, "Ya don't look well."

"It's just a cold," Toothiana said, "I'm sure it will be gone in the morning."

She folded her arms across her chest and zipped towards a window – and collided with the glass and slid back down to the floor.

"Tooth!"

North, Bunny, and Jack had been equally quick to shout out the fairy's name, but it was Jack who got to her first. He hooked his hands under her arms and helped her up. She looked disoriented, but quickly recovered when Jack shook her shoulders gently.

"I'm fine," she assured, "Just a little mix-up with the windows. I'll just be going now... again..."

"Hold up there, Sheila!" Bunny said, "It doesn't look like ya're fine."

"Can't your fairies handle things for today?" Jack asked worriedly. Tooth shivered and Jack quickly withdrew his hands from her shoulders, "Your fairies are fine, right?"

"Oh, yes," Tooth said, "Don't worry. Most of them were on the field when the rainstorm hit."

"Good!" North said merrily, "Tooth is welcome to stay here. As is everyone else. Is nice and warm here and we can all rest."

"I can't rest now!" Bunny protested, "I was just developing this new flavour of chocolate and let me tell ya, the ingredients for it were bloody hard to get!"

"And how about Sandy?" Tooth pointed out, "He should be out there even now, and... Sandy?"

Sandy had fallen asleep. This wasn't all that unusual, but now it was enough for North to decide not to let any of the Guardians leave before they got better. As Toothiana had already pointed out, they would probably be fine tomorrow. What was deadly for a mortal was merely a temporary nuisance for a spirit, so a simple cold surely would be nothing.

"I tell the yetis to get you all some soup," North said firmly as if that sealed the deal, "You all stay here. I will be in workshop."

He tried to stand, but his head felt like it was stuffed with wool. Again, he felt the age that was telling him to feel older than he was supposed to. Maybe he really needed the rest as well.

"Jack?" he said and turned to the only healthy person in the room.

"What?" the boy asked.

"Could you give the yetis a hand?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You help them help us."

Jack looked at the others a bit uncertainly, his right hand stuffed into the pocket of his hoodie.
"I was planning to visit Burgess today... But I suppose I owe this to you guys. It is kinda my fault you're sick."

Sandy suddenly woke up with a start and seemed to have no idea what they were talking about. He gave Jack an encouraging smile nevertheless and then conjured up some sand-pictures that might have either expressed gratitude or possibly warned about a charging rhinoceros. North's head was so stuffy he couldn't really interpret the silent man's charades right now. Jack smiled at him.

"Uh, thanks? I'll watch out for that... rhino?"

Sandy face-palmed and then nodded off again. Jack chuckled nervously.
"Huh... who would've thought the Guardians could be brought down by a measly cold."

"Nothin' funny about that," Bunny muttered darkly and shivered again, curling up next to a fireplace.

"I think it's very funny, Cottontail," Jack smirked.

Bunny rolled his eyes.
"Well, ya promised to help us, so ya might wanna get to work, nurse Jackie."

He got a snowball in the face for that.

Author's Note: Since I've been only writing angst and serious business stuff lately, I figured I could do something sillier for a change and see how it goes. It's mostly written with the method of just typing and not thinking whether or not what you type is actually anything even remotely intelligent. I was originally going to make this into a long one-shot but I guess it flows a bit better if I split it up to two or three parts.

I still can't write accents!

Reviews are very much appreciated!