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Warnings: Mentions of blood

Rating: T

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Jack + all the Guardians

Summary: Continuation of Blood And Ice.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Everything was so... fuzzy. And warm. Too warm. His mouth felt like sand and his eyelids were like lead on his face. It hurt just thinking about opening them, so instead, he let his senses wander.

He soon realized that the surface he was laying on definitely wasn't ice. It was soft. Ice wasn't soft. He was on a bed with squishy pillows and he couldn't have been more grateful.

The front of his head was aching, like a thousand hammers were being whacked against it, and his ribs hurt every time he dared to even breath, though they hurt less than they usually did for some reason. Something soft was wrapped tightly around one of his wrists, he could feel.

He attempted to wiggle his fingers, but his body was unresponsive, and it took him a lot more than a minute to figure out why.

The ice figure had beat him to a pulp again, he thought bitterly.

Immediately, frustration started to build in his head to accompany the aching of his skull. Why wasn't he getting any better? He needed to get better, to become stronger, in case anything like Pitch happened again. He had a job as a Guardian. It was his duty to protect the children - it couldn't be like last time, when the children he was supposed to protect had come to his rescue. It didn't work like that, and he was determined to never let it happen again.

Despite the protests from his aching head, he cracked his eyes open. Relief washed over him as he saw the familiar pale blues and whites of his room at the North Pole. He was home, safe and sound, on a nice comfy bed-

Whoa, whoa, what?!

He shouldn't be here. He should be on a frozen lake in the middle of Alaska, waking up from passing out because of his fight. How could he be here?

They found you, he found himself thinking, dreading the very idea, they found you out there and now they're gonna question you as soon as they know you're awake...

His hand reached up to touch his injured forehead, and sure enough, it was bandaged underneath his white bangs. All of a sudden, he became aware of the rest of his treated injuries - his wrist had been bandaged too, and whenever he breathed he could feel the slight pressure of a rib brace pressing down on his skin.

Worry increasing every second, the spirit sat up and looked around some more. Propped against his bedside table was his staff, and his hoodie hung from the back of the bedroom door. It must've been night time, because the sky outside was inky black, the stars twinkling calmly back at him as he stared out of the window.

He was so done for.

As soon as the others knew he was awake, they would bombard him with questions - the boy knew they would - and then they'd judge him, judge him on what he did, judge his reasons for doing so and then he'd be alienated from all of them. Knowing his luck, that was what surely was going to happen. He'd be shunned and forgotten all over again.

A sigh escaped his lips as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

May as well get it over and done with.

Flinging back the duvet, he swung his skinny legs over the edge of the mattress, and reached for his staff. The solid feel of it in his hands gave him comfort - the only thing that hadn't abandoned him in his three hundred years alone. At least he'd still have it with him.

He pulled his body up with it, wincing as he felt his broken ribs move uncomfortably - the feeling was horrible. Like something sharp and painful crawling beneath his skin. A shudder travelled down his spine.

He caught his reflection in the window as he stood, and couldn't help but gape a little. He looked like a ghost. A really skinny, beaten up ghost with grey circles under his eyes. And for the first time, he realized he was shirtless, his rib brace nice and clear for all to see. Hooray.

Shuffling over to the door, he managed to pull on his hoodie without staggering over and falling flat out on the floor. It smelt like fresh linen, he noticed. North must've washed it while he was asleep.

Now there was a thought; how long had he been asleep?

He dreaded to think.

Instead, he focused on opening the door. Warm light spilled in from the hallway as the it clicked open, and a little unsure, the boy struggled out of the room, the muffled voices becoming clearer. He leaned in to his staff, using it to drag the rest of him down the hallway, and eventually, he could decipher the voices: Tooth, North and Bunny. He'd assume Sandy was there too, because every now and then there'd be a halt in the discussion, before they would continue talking.

The spirit had finally managed to drag himself to the door leading to the Main Hall now, the voices floating out in to open air, and now he could clearly hear what they were saying.

"...weeks now. I just... What if he doesn't wake up?"

A lump formed in the boy's throat as he heard the sadness in Tooth's voice. He hated the thought that he'd caused any of them hurt because of what he did. It weighed down on his concious far more than it should have..

And worse still: how many weeks?

"Frostbite's stronger than 'e looks," Bunny's voice assured, but he couldn't hide the undertone of doubt in his vocals, "We all learnt that much, di'n't we?He'll be fine, Tooth." The pooka said, trying to calm the fairy, before he carried on, "Now, what I wanna know is this: what the hell was he doing on that lake?"

Jack winced at the question - he knew he'd have to answer it sooner or later.

A thick blanket of silence seemed to fall over the group after Bunnymund had spoken, all lost in thought. Jack took a breath to steady himself, before mentally counting down in his head as he placed a hand on the door.

3...

2...

1...

He pushed the heavy door with all his weight, and the resulting creak caused everyone to look up. Tentatively, he poked his head around the door.

"Hey... How are ya?" He rasped, his throat feeling like he'd been gargling nails, staring blearily in to the room.

Before he knew it, he had a face full of feathers, Tooth's voice going so fast that it was just a bunch of incoherent buzzing in his ears. Her arms were wrapped around him in an instant and he nearly fell over with the force of her hug.

"Tooth!" North's booming voice sounded across the room, "Let the boy breathe!"

Sheepishly, the fairy fluttered away, leaving Jack to steady himself on his feet once again.

"Nice ta see ya back in the land of the livin', Frostbite." Bunny was suddenly next to him, grabbing one of the boy's arms and putting it over his broad shoulders to steady him - he did look as though he'd fall over any second, after all.

"Ahh, Jack! See, what I tell you Tooth?" North questioned as he joined the group, placing a hand on the boy's free shoulder, "He is much stronger than how he look!"

Jack beamed at the tall man, feeling his cheeks flush a little. He felt his hair being ruffled and he looked to his side and saw Sandy floating there too, a warm smile on his face, golden sand dancing above his head in little firework patterns, like a miniature celebration above his hair.

The spirit couldn't help smile at them all, his worries melting away with every second they surrounded him. How could he have thought all that stuff earlier? Sure, Bunny had a grudge against him and Tooth over reacted to the slightest thing, but they cared about him. Truly cared.

They'd never shun him away because... because they...

They were his family.

And somewhere in his chest, he felt a hollow spot being filled that he hadn't known had been empty before.

He had a family.

"Jack? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. M'fine." Jack murmured, trying to sniff discreetly and failing miserably at it, "Just-just dust - in my eye."

"I think ya better sit down, Snowflake - ya look like yer gonna fall over."

The boy nodded in agreement, glad for the change of subject, and all of a sudden he was in a huge armchair without much memory of how he'd gotten there. At some point, a glass of water had been thrust in to his spare hand and he accepted it gratefully, relishing the coolness of it as he drank. It really was way too warm in here - he might just sneak out later and lay in the snow.

"So, Frostbite," Bunny began, not missing a beat. Jack looked at him, curious, mouth full of water.

"D'ya mind tellin' us exactly what you were doin' on that lake?"

All that could be heard next was Jack nearly choking on his drink.

Gonna cut it there guys! I'll either post the next part in the next chapter or take a break and give you guys something different.

Oh, and in case you were wondering why Jack has been out for blankety-blank -weeks, it'll be explained next time I continue this arc. :3

Replies! :D

Guest45: Thanks for the first review :D I'm glad you thought it was sweet :'3

WRATH77: FEELS. I love them. Thanks for reviewing!

Guest: I laughed at your review xD What a reaction! Glad I made you feel something with my writing :3

MistressTrollington: I like you - you reviewed twice :D

RizReviewer: Oh, I completely agree about the whole 'Jack + martial arts = hothothot.' And thanks for the complement about the Rock 'n' Roll chapter :3

Raver's Spirit: I love it when family RotG fics are written too, especially if they're Hurt/Comfort. I think I just love it when Jack is vulnerable... I dunno what that says about me... :l

Guest: It seems you guessed correctly! :D And thanks for the compliment - in all honest, I thought someone else would've thought of it earlier, but I guess now :D

LightMyBulb: Very hot ;D

Sirens in the water: I think half the fandom are determined to injure him one way or another. He's gonna end up dead by the end of it xD

1captain obvious: Don't worry, I have a chapter planned where the whole Rock 'n' Roll thing comes back to bite him in the butt :D

Thanks for reading everyone!