Global Warming
Chapter 3: In Which Jack Learns a Curious Thing About Pooka
Summary:
Bunny's on the verge of death. Jack's on the verge of a mental breakdown, but a curious Pookan power may help to save them both.
What about you?Do you need me?
Jack actually stopped breathing for half a second. He had just heard it… those words. Only just, but he'd heard them. His stomach flopped. Had he hallucinated that? Did Bunny have the ability to plant thoughts in his head? To Jack that sounded crazy. In that moment he didn't know if his own mind was asking him the question, or if it truly was the dying Pooka.
He wasn't used to this, to having someone's life in his hands. He wasn't used to it at all, it made him want to vomit. He pulled his lips back off of Bunny's and rubbed his thumb absently over his forehead. "Please don't die?" he whispered again, and the first of what would be many tears slipped down the curve of his cheek bone. Though this was starting to feel futile, he didn't hesitate long. He had to try again, just a little longer… He resumed his attempts at CPR.
It didn't feel to him like it would be enough. There was something else he needed to do, but what? Maybe if he spoke to the voice in his head, it would help? He hardly thought so, but he wanted to answer it anyway. "I do need you," he squeaked. Not that he would have probably said it to a fully conscious Bunnymund. It was a source of conflict for him. For years no one saw him, and the only people who ever interacted with him were the Pooka and the Sandman and, on occasion, Mother Nature. The Sandman was always busy, always silent, and Mother Nature he saw only a few times a year, but the Pooka?
Now and then he raced Jack, bantered with him… He saw him. The blizzard of '68 happened after that, however, and it destroyed whatever friendship they had begun to build. It made Jack lose what little hope that had been planted in his heart. It made him move on.
But moving on when someone you cared about hated you was a lot different than moving on when someone you cared about was dead. Jack didn't really believe Bunny could hear him, but speaking to the 'Bunny' in his mind alleviated some of his anxiety, so he tried again, "They need you, the kids need you… The Guardians need you… I need you, Bunny," he muttered it against his lips, trying desperately one last time to push air into his lungs. "I need you, too."
Bunny did hear him. Loud and clear, "I need you, too." That was what the voice had said. It had mentioned others who needed him as well, but that was the important part. The part that both crushed and caused Aster's heart to soar at the same time. The voice needed him. Jack needed him. Yes… that was who that voice belonged to. Somehow Jack knew what he'd asked and he had answered, but Bunny wasn't sure he liked the answer. It was the one he had wanted, had secretly craved for many, many years. Now that he knew, he wished he hadn't asked. Accepting it meant he had to give up something precious to him. And this time he had to choose to do it.
He gazed longingly at his phantom family, waiting expectantly for him to come to them, and so he did, but it was not as they had expected. "Ah'm sorry…" he whispered, hugging his Mate and daughter in a tender embrace as tears traced thin rivulets unnoticed through the fur of his cheeks. "Ah'm sorry, but Ah'm not ready ta go yet. There's someone who needs me… an'… an' Ah need him too. Ah can't stay with you." Little Tania, bless her heart, gasped and hid her face in the fur of her mother's shoulder.
Bunny choked back a sob. Oh, how this hurt, but it had to be this way. He had to go back to Jack. However, there was one thing he needed to do before he could go. Something he had not gotten to do when Pitch had taken them from him all those centuries ago. He leaned in slowly and kissed his Mate one final time, breath catching in his throat as he did so. "Good-bye, Lyra, beloved. Ah miss ya more'n ya'll ever know." He then did the same with his baby, took a step back, and told them, "Ah'll come home someday. Wait for me 'til then."
He steeled himself and turned away, his daughter's cries ripping through him. "Ah'm so sorry, Tania. Daddy has ta go," he whispered forlornly.
Jack didn't know what was happening within his furry friend's mind. He was focused on what he thought to be his failure and he felt a deep sense of loss and guilt. He was supposed to be a Guardian. They were supposed to protect not only the children, but each other as well. He had failed to protect Bunny. He sat back on his knees and stared at the still rabbit, trailing his fingers over his arm and nudging it, as if he were just sleeping and could be woken just like that. "You don't have to go," he whispered defeatedly.
Looking back the way he came, Aster searched for the way to return, but the distant light of life was growing dim and hard to see in the encroaching blackness. "What in holy dooly?" Fingers brushed through his fur, a hand nudged his arm and Jack's voice whispered, "You don't have to go," with a sense of finality that Bunnymund did not like one bit. Alarm began to set in as he came to the realization that Jack was giving up. He had stopped trying to bring him back. "NO, JACK!" he cried through the link of the mind meld, which he was now fully aware of. "DON'T GIVE UP! NOT YET!"
Jack didn't hear him at first. Just stared, sorrowfully, and let his fingers trail down to Bunny's paw. He was dead? Jack couldn't stomach that. He squeezed his paw, hoping it would whack his hand away and that Bunny would wake up and call him some kind of crazy name in his oddball dialect. He wanted him to do something! Anything! It didn't have to be big. Just some small reason to hope. Bunny was the Guardian of Hope. He could manage to give Jack a little, right? He wasn't really dead... right?
"AH NEED YER HELP!" Bunny implored, attempting to mentally push his thoughts to Jack. It shouldn't have been this hard to do and he worried that perchance his would-be savior couldn't hear him anymore. The link was weak. He was weak and he was fading fast, unable to return now un-aided. He hurtled himself toward the vanishing light, praying - hoping that Jack had understood him. That he would give it just one more go. That was all he needed.
Jack had heard, but he bit his lip, unsure if he'd imagined it. He was racked with guilt, and he was scared, and he thought he had probably just daydreamed the voice. Jack's thoughts had Bunnymund scared now. The light was a mere pinprick, so faint he couldn't be sure it was really there. If Jack couldn't accept that the words he was hearing had truly come from Aster, all was lost for him. For the entire Pooka species, in fact. "JACK!" he bellowed once more, willing the frost sprite to hear him. "AH NEED YOU!"
Jack's eyes widened at how desperate that call of his name sounded. So needy, so… alive. He caught his breath. "You… don't have to go…" he repeated his earlier statement, a little shred of hope catching in his voice to replace the despair that had come with it the first time. That little spike, that tiny hint of hope caused Bunny's guiding light to grow a little brighter. He didn't have to go! He didn't! Hope was a powerful thing. Jack just had to keep hoping. As long as he could…
An echo of Jack's hope bloomed bright within Bunny and he pushed himself to move faster through the void. "That's right Jackie! Just hold onta that hope, mate!" he thought-yelled back as he closed the gap between death and life. He could feel himself becoming stronger as hope lit the way and he got closer to that beacon in the dark.
Leaning forward, Jack tried again with the chest compressions. "You could stay. I won't make fun of you for panting…" he tried again, his hopeful, playful self slipping back in through the tears. One..two..three..four. Four compressions and he leaned forward to try once more to force him to breathe, moving his lips down over Bunny's mouth. He'd be spitting fur for a week, but he didn't care. It was worth it. He just wanted that spark of life to come back.
With each chest compression, the light before Bunny flashed intensely. Jack's breath filling his lungs had a similar effect and, after each flash, the light remained a little brighter than before. As he neared it, the light began to change, seeming more like a window. A window through which Bunny could see what was happening… Could see himself. See Jack, working feverishly to save his life. The young man was a sight, all red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Was he really that important to Jack? Had he been missing something that was right there in front of him? And for how long? How long had Jack felt this way?
Jack moved his gaze down to Bunny's chest while he pressed against it. His fingers curled into the fur there while he worked, and he spurred him on, "You can do it… Come back to me, okay? I'm right here." Just as he returned to his chest compressions, Bunny's fingers crossed the threshold back into the living world. Instantly, he felt himself being sucked back into his body by the thin tether which had been his only connection to it. The first thing he became aware of was an intense need for air! His eyes snapped open, only to be scrunched closed again as the urge to retch and cough overpowered him.
His body surged from the ground, ejecting what seemed like gallons of water from his beleaguered lungs. It was the most disgusting thing Jack had ever seen, and he stumbled back onto his bottom when it occurred. Don't get him wrong - Jack was thankful for the idiot being okay, but that was gross. Bunny gasped for air and rolled onto his side so as to avoid aspirating the liquid all over again and he hacked and gasped and hacked and gasped. It seemed an eternity before the heaving stopped. When it finally did, he looked up at Jack, a feeble smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Not bad.., Frostbite," he panted, the words more of a croak as his throat was raw from coughing. "Not... bad."
Jack was pretty sure that he was going to comment on how gross that event had been, but he couldn't. He couldn't think of doing anything after Bunny spoke. The sound of his voice, alive and real, had driven reality home. Bunnymund was okay. He was really, really okay. Jack was half tempted to touch him, to hug him, but he was afraid he might just break him or something, so he settled for staring at him and pretending his eyes weren't rimmed with red and tears. He pushed the palms of his hands into them and wiped away the remaining wetness the best he could, before taking a deep breath.
His friend was clearly very upset, Bunny could see that and, though he wanted to reassure him, he was confused by his own feelings. So, instead, he lay there, concern written all over his face, and watched as Jack wiped his eyes. It occurred to the Pooka then just how much he hated to see Frostbite cry, more-so than a friend would normally hate it. It was like a wound punched through his own chest. A wound he wanted to heal as quickly as possible. When did Ah start makin' eyes at Jackie? he wondered to himself, forgetting about the Pookan mind meld for the moment.
The thoughts that resonated in Jack's head did not belong to him, and now he was beginning to think maybe he wasn't dreaming it. It was like he was hearing Bunny. What did it mean to 'make eyes' at someone, anyway? He shifted into more of a squatting position, sitting on his heels. "Are you okay now?" It was meant as a demand more than a question. Bunny needed to be okay, because Jack wasn't sure he could deal with any more 'not okay'.
It shouldn't have, all things considered, but the question surprised Bunny. Not so much in what Jack said, but in how he said it. It was like he was commanding him to be ok. Eyes closed, Aster focused inward, checking to make certain he was alright. He flexed his paws, stretched out his legs and flicked his ears. He was still panting, still had a headache and he was exhausted, but everything else seemed to be in working order, so he nodded in affirmation.
"You should go back home," Jack recommended, "We can talk to the kids later…" Or he could just do it on his own. He finally reached out and tried to help the Pooka into a sitting position. "I just… what happened?" He knew part of the answer to that one. Bunny had just… fainted - Into the water. Jack was terrified of it happening again. He couldn't very well carry him home. He couldn't even open up the tunnels. His mind swirled with questions. He was so confused, so unsure. "What about Easter? Will it be too hot for you to deliver the eggs? Do you need help on Easter?" came sputtering out of his mouth rapid-fire.
Sitting up now, Aster listened as Jack babbled question after question at him, but was having trouble formulating answers. Weakly holding up a paw, he said, "Whoawhoawhoa... Slow... down there.., mate," his voice soft… tired. "Ah... gave mahself... heatstroke... an' picked a... bad time... ta pass out... But Ah'm... gonna be ok... Ah... can't go home... yet... We've still... gotta... figure out... why it's so... bloody hot out... before Ah... have ta deliver... mah googies... Which... Ah can handle... mahself," he added pointedly, in a show of perseverance.
Jack was worried about the Easter Bunny. And with good reason! He'd just had a stroke. Clearly a minor one, that Jack of all untrained idiots could help him, but that didn't make it any less serious. "A really bad time to pass out…" he confirmed.
"Don'... worry about... carryin'... me either," Bunny told Jack, having picked up on his earlier thoughts through the link of the mind meld and only now commenting on them. He felt lucky that being a Pooka, he healed a bit quicker than humans. Though he certainly needed a lot more rest, he felt he should at least be able to manage the short walk to Jamie's house on his own.
That was when Jack finally voiced his confusion. "I didn't say that out loud." He was sure of it. He hadn't actually said anything about carrying the huge rabbit. It had been a passing thought, and now it was back, circulating through his mind. Comparing their bodies, the shape, the height, the muscle-to-weight ratio. What he decided was that Bunnymund was taller, bigger, and well built, while Jack was a limp noodle of a teen with no means to carry anyone of such substantial size.
In order to prove he was fit to walk, Bunny tucked his feet under himself, intent on getting up and, in doing so, looked down at his drenched persona. He discovered he somewhat resembled a drowned rat, then regretted thinking that, given what had almost happened. He pushed the thought from his mind, lest it upset Jack, but he was too late. "I can hear you," Jack attempted to inform him, but Bunnymund wasn't paying attention and instead insisted, "Ah'm a... lot cooler... now that Ah'm... soaked... ta the skin... Ah can walk." He rose shakily to his feet, but it proved too soon, nausea and dizziness overtaking him immediately. He staggered toward Jack, who's accusation of crazy mind powers was cut off by his own voice, "Hey! Not so fast!"
Jack stood quickly as Bunny started trying to walk and, as he could have predicted, stumbled. Jack planted himself in place and made an attempt to keep the fool-headed Pooka on his feet, which was a valiant effort that resulted in him hugging Bunnymund around his chest and groaning in annoyance. "Oh yes, you're so good at walking," he chuckled through his annoyance and waited where he stood, for Bunny to gather his bearings. "If you blow carrot chunks on me you'll have a lot more problems than a few frozen sentinels," he warned. "You don't even know what I'm capable of freezing."
Bunnymund gave Jack a funny sort of look, as he stood there swaying unsteadily even with his support, panting ever harder from the effort of standing up and with his heart pounding so loud one could hear it from a several feet away without trying. He hadn't registered most of what Jack had said while he was foolishly getting up, but he did catch the part about hearing him. Then he remembered the mind meld. "Ah… can hear you… too," he informed him. "Just.. a sec... Ah'll stop… it."
He huffed a few times, trying to slow his breathing so that he could focus his mind to close the link, lest something he didn't want Jack to know crossed it. He felt a pang of regret as he did so. Already he missed being able to feel Jack in his mind. The Pookan mind meld was a very intimate link which allowed him to feel as one with whomever he was linked. He considered briefly leaving a one-way link from Jack to himself open, which was actually quite natural for Pooka, but thought better of it. He had learned long ago that most humans didn't take well to someone reading their minds and feeling their emotions.
Jack was actually going to protest his closing the link, but he didn't quite know why. He kind of liked being able to hear those thoughts. Plus he still wanted to know what 'making eyes' at someone meant. What kind of eyes? Angry eyes? Confused eyes? Goo goo eyes? Of course, he could tell it was gone soon enough because the thoughts in his head became quiet, and calm.
Shame, Bunny thought, a similar calm now entering his own mind, It's nice ta know how ma Mate is feelin'. He jerked almost imperceptibly as his own thoughts startled him. What am Ah thinkin'? Mate? He's not ma Mate. Well, he's ma mate, but he's not ma Mate, he frowned, at his own thoughts. Why did it bother him that it wasn't true?
With a little shake of his head to clear it, he refocused on the toothpick holding him up and said, "an' for yer… information.., Ah didn't… say Ah had a stroke. Ah said… Ah have heatstroke... Means… mah body's… too bloody hot an'… it's effectin' mah brain... Not sayin'… it aint dangerous. Jus'… not the same thin'." He put a paw to his head as the splitting headache began to worsen, likely a combination of heatstroke and the mental effort of shutting the lid on the virtual Pandora's box.
"Heat stroke, stroke, same difference. They wouldn't call it a stroke if it couldn't affect your brain or whatever you know… hey… You look kinda sick, are you—!"
Then the first seizure struck.
