Jack stands in front of his full length mirror in his room. He adjusts his hoodie, and pulls his pants up a bit more on his hips. He pulls a knit cap over his head and makes sure every lock of his snow white hair is tucked under. If anyone at school were to see what his hair really looked like they would know.

Likewise, Jack keeps bodily contact with anyone of the school populous to a bare minimum. His skin is cold to the touch.

If anyone were to find out Jack is a mutant things would be very bad for him and his family.

He has heard rumors from some mutant friends he's got downtown that the government has a way of finding people like them, people like Jack. If the government finds him and deems him dangerous, they'll take him away and lock him up where he'll never get to see his mom or sister ever again. He can't stand the thought of not being able to see his family.

His mom shouts from downstairs that breakfast is ready and if he doesn't hurry up and eat, then he'll miss the bus. Jack calls back that he'll be right down. He gives himself a final once over in the mirror, judging his appearance to be acceptable and fully normal- not a hint of mutant on him- before grabbing his bag up off the floor and leaving his room.

He manages to scarf down two chocolate chip pancakes before hearing the bus pull up outside. He gives his little sister a kiss on the top of the head, much to her dismay and gives his mom a hug.

"Be careful out there, Jack!" His mom calls as he rushes out the door.

"I will! Love you!" He replies.

The Guardians, as they are affectionately known to the student body, stand in Manny's office. There is no sign of Manny, but they surround his desk as if he were sitting right behind it.

"His letter says he's gone to deal with some private business for the next few days. Whatever it is, I say it's big. Real big." Bunny says, brow furrowing in thinly veiled irritation. In his hand he has the letter Manny left for them.

"I mean, how're we supposed to get a hold of him if something happens within the school? What if something does happen within the school?! Oh, gosh, what do we do? We're just the teachers! How do we run a school?" Tooth titters nervously, flitting all about the room.

"I tell you what," North begins, "we do what we always do. We teach children. If things become bad, we deal with those bad things. Is simple, no? We are Guardians! We are knowing what we are doing. And we are best of the best. We will handle things."

Sandy nods emphatically in agreement, pointing at North and rapidly signing something with his hands.

"Sandy has a point. And so does North. We're Guardians. We're here to protect the children of the school. That's part of our job." Bunny folds the letter and places it back into the envelope it came from. He tosses it back onto Manny's desk.

"How bad can a few days without Manny be?"

Jack sits at the back of every class, doesn't say a word unless spoken to and even then, he's as polite as can possibly be.

He is studious, quiet and blends into the background as well as he can. It's the best way not to get noticed by his peers or his teachers for having any noticeable negative qualities. Someone like him needs to keep out of the line of sight.

Jack has managed to convince the teachers and his fellow classmates that he possesses some severe scars on his head from surgeries as an infant. No one bothers him about his cap. No one bothers Jack Frost in a general sense, because there is nothing about Jack that is bothersome.

Unless you're Lloyd Figgs, a broad in the shoulder, curly haired psychopath with a penchant to beat up anyone that strikes you as remotely different.

Jack has had nothing but trouble from Figgs since he first arrived in Burgess. Something about Jack's unobtrusive exterior rubbed Figgs the wrong way and it still does. He's constantly shoving Jack against the lockers, smacking the books out of his hands. It's their junior year and Jack doesn't know if he can take much more from Figgs without incident.

Today is no different.

Jack sits at the back of his fourth period Spanish class, taking attentive notes. A crumpled paper ball hits him in the side of the head. He brushes it off and finishes his notes.

After Spanish, Jack heads for lunch, or at least he tries to. His path is intercepted by one of Figgs's meaty fists ramming into his shoulder, slamming him against the lockers lining the walls just outside the classroom. He grunts and falls to the floor, the blow taking him by surprise.

"Get up, pansy!" Figgs shouts and kicks him, narrowly missing him. People begin to gather around, whispering and pointing. They know as much as Jack does that things are going to get out of hand.

"I said get up!" This time, the kick does land, hard against Jack's ribs. The air whooshes out of his lungs with an, "Oof".

"Why do you wear that stupid beanie all the time? Is it 'cause you gotta gay haircut? Huh, faggot? Nobody buys that fuckin' story about your scars!"

Jack gets yanked up by the back of his hoodie and he struggles, to no avail. Figgs is bigger than he is, able to avoid his feeble swings and misplaced elbows. His hand fists in the material of the cap on Jack's head and Jack grabs the edges of it, fighting to keep it in place. Panic sets in his chest. If Figgs takes his cap, he and everyone gathered there will know.

He's spent the last 17 years of his life hiding from intrusive eyes; he can't have himself exposed now.

He loses the battle with Figgs's strength, though, and the cap slips from his clenched fingers. His downy, white hair falls from beneath.

Time slows down, everything stops and then, it all roars to life, louder than before. The crowd around him begins to whisper, the grip on the back of his hoodie loosens and he falls forward, hitting the ground, his palms slapping the tile. Figgs stands above him, blocking his way out.

"The fuck? He's a freak! He's-." Jack whirls around, laying a hand on Figgs's leg and letting his reservations go. Ice creeps up Figgs's pants leg and he cries out, backing up enough to allow Jack's escape. He scrambles to his feet and runs, heart pounding in his chest. He runs from the school, his pale hair shining in the autumn sun outside, garnering more whispers and odd looks. He lets the wind pick him up and take him home. The whole time, fear floods his system. He's messed everything up. Nothing will be the same.

North is in the middle of teaching a shop class when the lights begin to flicker. It is only seconds before the power goes out completely and a few of his students cry out. It doesn't strike him as odd until the back-up generators fail to power up.

"Everyone, stay in seats. Let me handle this."

Murmurs shift in the darkened classroom and North grabs a flashlight from his desk. When he leaves his classroom, he locks the door behind himself.

Flicking on the flashlight, he searches for the fuse box in the hallway. When he checks it, he finds that none of the fuses have burnt out; everything should be in working order. A chill runs down his spine when he hears a horse's whinny echo throughout the hall. The sound carries much farther than it should. He turns his flashlight to the end of the hallway only to see the black hooves of the monstrous creature disappear from sight.

Quickly, he follows it. The mare's hooves make only the slightest sound on the wood floors. North catches sight of it once more as he rounds the corner toward the entrance to the manor. It rears back, whinnying more loudly than before. It gallops over to the doors of the manor, snorting and tossing its head. North's flashlight suddenly dims, then blacks out completely.

The mare paces around a shadowed man, who raises his hands to stroke along its flank. The shadowed man's laughter is as penetrating as the noises of the mare. The lights flicker once more, returning to full power.

North stands at the edge of the room that makes up the foyer of the mansion, staring at the doors where the man and the mare had once stood. Now, in the light, there is nothing.

Jack's mother and sister are the most important things to him. The thought of not being able to see them freely hurts, but the thought of them becoming the brunt of any anti-mutant violence hurts even more.

That's why he's leaving. He's packing a few things into his backpack and an extra duffle and leaving while his mother is at work and his sister is at school. He has to leave so he can keep them safe.

Instead of riding the wind, he hitchhikes. If he takes the wind, he's bound to be much more noticeable. His hood is pulled up and over his hair, completely. He hadn't had time to grab his only cap from the floor at school.

He hopes to get as far as Canada, maybe. It's cold there. He can survive and no one knows him. Besides, Canada's laws over refugee mutants are in his favor. The wind buffets his clothes and he's sort of glad it's almost November instead of the warmer months, he would never survive hitchhiking in hot weather. When he makes it to the highway, he sticks out his thumb in an imitation of scenes he's seen in movies. He feels completely stupid. That is, until a rickety, old station wagon pulls over. He picks up his duffle bag from the ground, tosses it over his shoulder and makes his way to the passenger side of the station wagon.

"Where you headed, kid?"

Jack gives his most charming smile and says, "Canada. How far can you take me?"