Title: Truths

Author: The Emcee

Pairing: PitchFrost, BunnyFrost

Rating:

Summary: Jack is summoned to a meeting with his fellow Guardians, expecting to hear that Pitch has resurfaced for another fight. What he gets is closer to an intervention.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: You guys asked for it, so here it is. This is how the Guardians react when they confront Jack about his secret affair with Pitch. This is story number three in the Tainted Love series. I hope you like it! R&R. Enjoy!

Truths

"We know, Jack," North told him in a soft and understand manner. Panic began to boil inside of him, but Jack forced himself to remain calm. After all, he had done a pretty good job of hiding his relationship with Pitch so far. There was no way that his fellow Guardians could have found out.

"Know what exactly, North?" Jack asked, a smile on his face as he leaned on his staff.

"About your relationship with Pitch, Jack," Tooth told him, her voice soft and her purple eyes filled with concern and acceptance.

Jack felt his entire body go numb. The panic that he had forced down came flooding back and nearly knocked him on his feet. His eyes widened and he frantically thought about how they could have found out. How could they have found out, exactly? Had he said something, done something that betrayed every precaution he took? Did someone see him? Did the Man in the Moon tell them? Were they following him? Is that how they found out?

Looking up at them, his fellow Guardians and the people who had become his family, Jack studied their expressions. North looked understanding and sad, or was that disappointment? No, he definitely looked sad. Tooth looked extremely worried, especially since her wings were fluttering so fast that he could hardly keep up. But she didn't look mad; actually, she looked almost as understanding at North did. Sandy looked concerned as well and there was a question mark made out of his dream sand floating above his head. Bunny…

When Jack looked at Bunny, he flinched. Bunny looked mad as hell and ready to beat the crap out of something. His hunter green eyes bore into Jack's blue ones and they shot out anger accusations and hurtful remarks. Jack thought that he could see a flicker of pain and betrayal, but if he had, it had only been for a brief second. The anger in those eyes made his heart sink and he felt very heavy. Out of all of the Guardians, Jack liked to think that his relationship with Bunny had grown and improved far beyond any of the others. It crushed him to know that the Pooka was so angry at him.

"Guys, look-" he began but Bunny cut him off.

"What exactly were you thinking, mate?" He broke away from the group and stalked towards Jack. "Did ya think we were stupid or something? Did ya think we wouldn't find out eventually?"

Jack felt himself backing away. "I…I…"

"Pitch Black is our enemy, Jack! He tried to destroy us all! He wanted to frighten the kids of the world, kids we're supposed to protect! Why would you even think about sleeping with him, let alone actually doing it?!"

"Bunny, I…"

"You what, Jack? You thought we wouldn't find out, is that it? Well, we did. We found out, all right. And what a slap to the face that was."

"Bunny…" North spoke in a soft, but warning tone of voice.

"No! He needs to understand just how big of a mistake he made," Bunny growled, anger rolling off of him in wave. "You messed up big time, Jack. You betrayed us again. How can we ever trust you after this?"

Jack stared up into those green eyes. He felt tears sting his own. Bunny didn't need to tell Jack all of these things; Jack knew how much he had messed up. And he knew that he had betrayed them and the children he had sworn to protect. But he just couldn't help himself. Even when he told himself that he'd never see Pitch again, he did anyway because Pitch was his drug. A dangerous, seductive drug that continued to pull him under. Not just that, but Pitch knew what it felt like to be invisible, for children to not see or believe in him. The loneliness, the not knowing, he understood all of that and that was also why Jack felt so connected to him.

How could he tell the others that, though? They didn't know, they didn't understand, what it was like to be invisible, to try for centuries to get people to see you but fail miserably at it. They didn't understand the despair Jack felt. They didn't know how much it had hurt him whenever the Man in the Moon would remain silent when Jack asked him a just a simple question. They didn't know what it was like to not know who they were before they became who they are. No one knew or understood. No one but Pitch.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and Jack flung himself backwards with his staff. He rode the wind away from his fellow Guardians, away from the family he had known and loved, and away from the anger and hate that Bunny had directed at him. Jack didn't need to be told how much he had screwed up; he knew way before that just how much of a mistake he had been.

…

"Bunny, you must go after him," North told him. Bunny shrugged it off and turned away from the large window Jack had just propelled himself out of.

"No way. He deserves this."

"You must not let your jealousy cloud your true feelings for Jack." Bunny turned and glared at North.

"Jack betrayed us, North! We can't just let him slide!"

"Jack has already beaten himself up enough. He does not need us to do it for him. Besides, there are reasons why he did what he did." Bunny scoffed at that.

"Yeah, right." Tooth fluttered about, obviously worried about Jack.

"Bunny, you know Jack just as well as any of us. He's been through things that none of us can really understand. But there is one person who does understand," she told him gently.

"And I'm guessing that that would be Pitch, right?" She nodded and North took over for her.

"Bunny, you must go and talk to him. Tell him how you feel and make up for the pain your words caused him."

"Why should I? Aren't any of you mad about the fact that he did this to us?" Sandy shook his head and created imaged in his sand that Bunny just ignored. He wasn't in the mood to translate the Sandman's visuals at the moment.

"I am more worried about Jack. Something must have happened to make him go to Pitch and not us," North explained. "He would not make a decision like that lightly."

"Yes, I was mad, but I'm more afraid that something bad will happen to him. Pitch doesn't do anything without having a plan to get something out of it," Tooth told him. Bunny sighed heavily.

Even now, as they talked, his anger was disappearing. What North had said was true: the reason why he exploded in anger was because he was jealous. Jealous at the fact that Pitch got the one thing, the one person, he wanted and loved above everyone else, and that person was Jack. But that wasn't a reason to take it out on Jack. If anything, he had made the entire situation worse. Bunny couldn't deny it even if he wanted to; he knew that his words had hurt Jack. That much was painfully obvious to everyone and his heart broke slightly just thinking about it. And he had to make things better, he had to tell Jack how he felt and actually listen and understand why Jack had been having an affair with the King of Nightmares.

"Okay. Does anyone know where Jack would be?" Bunny asked them. Tooth and North smiled at him, but their smiles didn't wash away their obvious concern. Sandy nodded and made an image of Antarctica out of his dream sand. Bunny gave him a small, tight smile and nodded at him.

"Thanks, mate. I'll be back." He tapped open a hole and hopped down into it.

…

Jack sat on a giant cliff of ice that overlooked the barren wasteland that was Antarctica. He often came here when he was feeling down and needed to think and sort things out. His tears had stopped flowing, but he still sniffed on occasion and his eyes were puffy and red. Holding his knees close to his chest, Jack rested his left cheek on them and gazed off to the right. Wind whipped by him, ruffling his white hair, but he didn't budge.

And then he heard a familiar sound, the sound of one of Bunny's rabbit holes opening up, and his heart began to beat faster. But he refused to turn around. If Bunny was here, then that meant that he was either going to get yelled at some more or that he was going to be forced to return to North's fortress and then yelled at some more. Fresh tears began to flood his vision. Jack wasn't sure if he could handle being yelled at by Bunny again.

No yelling came. Nothing came. The only sound aside from the wind was Bunny's footsteps as he walked over to Jack. Jack's body tensed and he hugged his knees tighter. Bunny sat down beside him. His body heat was pouring out of him and it washed over Jack like a warm, cozy security blanket.

"Hey…Jack," Bunny spoke softly. Jack barely nodded and he kept his gaze towards the right, effectively keeping Bunny out of his sight.

"Look, mate…I… I know that I hurt ya. I was angry, hurt, and…and jealous. I know I can't take back the words, but I am sorry I said 'em." He paused and Jack felt relieved. He wasn't going to get yelled at. Oh, thank God.

"I just…I don't understand, Jack," the pleading, desperate tone in Bunny's voice made Jack turn to look at him. The Pooka looked so distraught and heartbroken that it tugged painfully at Jack's heart. And then green eyes met blue and Jack was struck by how much love and pain and honesty were in Bunny's eyes.

"Please, Jack. Please help me understand. Please…" Jack barely felt himself nod. He turned and looked straight ahead, taking a deep breath before he started.

"At first, it was just about forgetting. I spent centuries not knowing who I was, what I was meant to do, and having no one there to talk to or see me or…believe in me. Pitch understood how that felt. He understood what it was like to be lonely and have no one believe in you." Jack sighed. "Even when I became a Guardian, part of me just couldn't stop remembering how it felt before I was believed in. There would be moments when it would hit me like a bolt of lightning and in those moments I…I needed an escape route. Pitch was the only one I saw who understood."

"And then it became about something more than that," Jack said softly. Bunny listened intently, his green eyes wide and his perked up as he listened. "I became addicted to what Pitch gave me and how it felt. I…I had never been with anyone before that, and it made me feel good. It made me feel like I actually deserved to be a Guardian. I became addicted to it, to him." Jack laughed humorlessly.

"I tried to stop seeing him many times. I'd tell myself that I was betraying you and the others and the children I protected and that I needed to stop for you, for them, for everyone. And I would for a while. But then I'd fall off the bandwagon and would go right back to him." Jack released a half laugh, half sob sound.

"It's sick and twisted, I know. But I was…I am addicted to Pitch, to the way he makes me feel, and to the fact that he helps me forget."

They sat in silence as Jack's words sunk in. Jack turned to look at his companion and saw that he had a thoughtful expression on his face. Then, he turned to Jack.

"Y'know, I do know what it's like to be invisible. To not be believed in." Jack looked like he was about to argue when Bunny continued. "Remember when that child walked straight through me during Easter?"

Jack paused and remembered. How could he forget? Bunny looked so lost and hopeless and devastated. He knew that look well. It was the same one that he wore himself the first time someone had walked right through him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," Jack said softly. Bunny nodded.

"That was the worst feeling in the entire world." Bunny paused for a second. "I may not know what a few centuries of that felt like, but I do get it, Jack. And now, I understand why you did what you did."

Jack felt relieved and so much lighter. Bunny didn't hate him. He wasn't angry at him. That was an enormous relief and a great weight that had been lifted off of his shoulders. If Bunny continued being angry at him and hating him, Jack didn't know what he'd do. He'd probably die inside. Beside him, Bunny scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm around Jack's thin shoulders, tugging him closer. The winter spirit pressed himself close and Bunny shivered, but he smiled down at Jack regardless. They sat in silence for a while. And then something came to Jack's attention.

"Hey, Bunny? You said you were hurt, mad and jealous." Bunny nodded. "Why jealous?" If Bunny were a human, Jack figured that he'd be blushing right about now. He definitely looked embarrassed in his own Pooka way.

"Well… I, uh…I just…" Bunny sighed and looked down at Jack. "Jack, if you want to be addicted to something, to someone, then why not be addicted to me?" Jack started at him in surprised shock. Bunny quickly began to explain.

"I…I may not be the ideal mate and I may not know all of the loneliness and pain that you felt for so long, but I can help. I want t' help. Because…Because I care about ya. A lot, Jack. An' I think we'd be…y'know, good together…"

Happiness spread throughout his cold body. Jack's heart was pounding furiously in his ears and in his chest. Had…Had Bunny just told him…? A smile, bright and full of joy, spread across Jack's face. His heart and soul felt lighter than they had for a long time. All thoughts of Pitch and their twisted relationship vanished from his mind instantly as he stared at the Pooka. Bunny wouldn't meet his gaze, but he was obviously embarrassed. It was cute and it told Jack that he genuinely cared.

"I mean, it's okay to be addicted and stuff. As long as it's to me," Bunny mumbled softly. Jack couldn't help himself. He flung himself into the Pooka's arms and sent them toppling off of the ice cliff.

"Jack! What're ya doin', mate?!" Laughing and smiling, with staff in hand, Jack landed them on gracefully on the ground. Bunny was heaving and gasping and Jack laughed before he embraced the older Guardian. When he had calmed down, Bunny returned the embrace.

"Don't ever do tha' again, Frostbite!" Jack giggled and nodded.

"Sure, sure." They pulled away and stared into each other's eyes. The mood turned serious and Bunny brought a paw up to Jack's face and stroked his pale, cold cheek lovingly.

"Do you forgive me, Jack, for being such a jerk?" Jack leaned into his touch and placed his smaller hand over Bunny's paw.

"Of course I do, Bunny. Do…Do you forgive me?" Jack asked hesitantly. Bunny smiled down at him and warmth flooded Jack's entire being.

"I'd forgive you anything, Jack, even a mistake like Pitch Black."