/x/x/x/

Raven wakes with the rising sun. She blinks against the light attacking her eyes and rolls over with a low groan, knowing she can't go back to sleep now that she's awake. She yawns and stretches before her eyes completely focus on her surroundings. Her breath catches in her throat at the sight of a sleeping Jack Frost leaning against the wall. His chin rests on one of his bent knees while the side of his head rests against his staff. She smiles upon hearing the spirit's soft snoring.

The Yeti watches the woman from his position next to the door. The elves are long gone much to the Yeti's relief, hunger forcing them to troop out of the room in search of sustenance. The little creatures were getting antsy until their stomachs distracted them.

The chill from the floor meets Raven's bare feet as she slides from the bed and moves towards Jack. She kneels in front of him, her arms resting on her knees, and studies his sleeping countenance. If she met him on the street, she would think he's younger than her at first glance. She can't find any evidence of negative emotions. His skin is flawless, smooth as porcelain and as beautiful as his namesake.

Blushing, Raven stands abruptly and turns to address the Yeti by the door. He grunts before she can speak and motions for her to follow him. She spares the sleeping imp another look before following the Yeti from the room and down the hall.

The farther the Yeti leads Raven down the hall, the more she notices faint voices growing louder and louder. She fidgets, realizing there's an on-going argument.

"Ermm, can't we just go back and wait for them to come get me? They must be pretty busy, being important holiday figures and all," Raven says.

The Yeti shakes his head but otherwise ignores her. North told him to bring the girl to them when she woke up, and that's what he's going to do. However, the human's discomfort doesn't escape his notice. The large creature stops in front of a large door Raven vaguely remembers from the night before. The loud voices are coming from the room behind it. She flinches at an exceptionally loud rumble.

Raven blinks when the Yeti pushes her behind his large body before he opens the door. The argument cascades over her ears. She clenches her fists, but follows the Yeti into the verbal storm. The Guardians are arguing about what to do with her and how to handle the reappearance of Pitch, though from what she can gather, North and Bunnymund can't agree on anything.

A soft roar from the Yeti startles Raven into taking a step back, but the Guardians are effectively silenced.

"Ah! What are you doing in here? I thought you had the watching of Raven to do?" North sounds annoyed not only with Bunnymund but his helper, too.

The Yeti grunts and moves to the side, showing a pale Raven hiding behind him. The looks on the Guardians's faces would usually be funny, but the raven-haired woman isn't laughing. She averts her eyes from the holiday spirits and crosses her arms.

"If I'm such a problem, you can take me back to Pennsylvania. I can handle myself without supernatural help," she mutters.

"Oh, sweetie, you're not a problem! We've just never had something like this happen before!" Toothiana flutters around Raven, anxious to make the woman smile.

Raven chuckles, the smile she gives Toothiana not reaching her eyes.

"So I'm unnatural. You act as if that's something new to me. Look, I'm not terribly frightened of Pitch. He surprised me is all. I'll be ready for him next time. There's no need to fight because of me."

Toothiana's smile wilts at Raven's words. She sends a helpless look over her shoulder at the other three Guardians. North and Bunnymund share an awkward look. Sandy floats towards Raven and takes one of her hands in his small palms. She glances at him. He frowns at the watery look in her eyes, question marks appearing above his head. She shakes her own, giving him a shrug in reply.

The Sandman sighs and pats her hand. She grits her teeth and pulls back from the dream bringer.

"I don't need your pity," she snaps, turning her back to them. "If you really care that much, where were you when I moved? Where were you when my uncle lost his temper? Where were you when the nurses and doctors called me crazy? Where were you when my childhood was destroyed?"

Raven grins at the resulting silence. Guilt tripping is the only thing she still has in her arsenal, though the people it works on are few. Her uncle knew she was manipulative and sent her to the asylum to get her out of the house and away from her aunt, the only person who still sympathized on Raven's side.

"We weren't there."

The woman turns her head, her blue eyes finding Jack's. He stands in the doorway, holds his staff loosely at his side, and his eyes never stray from Raven's. She scoffs and breaks eye contact first.

"Of course you weren't. The doctors and drugs made sure of that. Even if you wanted to visit me, I wouldn't have recognized you after awhile."

"You keep speaking of this asylum place. Why do you speak so disdainfully?" North asks.

Raven shrugs.

"I don't see why you care, but I'm legally insane, as decided by the doctors my uncle hired when I wouldn't let my childish fantasies disappear as fast he wanted. My belief in you fairy tale spirits smashed what hope for the future I had. Businesses don't want to hire a raving lunatic, and so I was forced to live under my uncle's abuse for years. The only reason I made it to Burgess is because my aunt took pity on me. She said a change of scenery would do me good, how visiting my hometown would put things in perspective."

She smirks coldly at the Guardians.

"The only perspective I have is I truly am insane, to believe in spirits who don't care one damn bit for me after all the years of pain I've endured!"

Raven grunts and turns on her heel, pushing past a mortified Jack Frost. Angry tears sting at her eyes as she storms through the halls back towards her room. A feeling of betrayal rises in her throat. She runs the rest of the way to her room, throwing the door open and running to the adjoining bathroom. With nothing in her stomach, the only thing she can do is dry-heave over the sink. The woman leans her head against the mirror and quietly sobs.

/x/x/x/

Jack watches Raven's retreating back, part of him wanting to follow her and the other part telling him it won't do any good. When she disappears around the corner, he turns wide eyes to the other Guardians. Sandy frowns at the look in the youngest's eyes. Even though Raven has been through a lot, her experiences don't give her the right to purposefully cause pain to the people trying to help her. He'll need to talk with her when she calms down. For now, however, the ice elf needs him more than the human.

Sandy directs his pictures towards Jack, telling him not to worry about Raven's outburst. Jack leans against the wall Raven had pushed him against and cradles his head in his hands.

"Am I doing something wrong?" He whispers, his voice wavering.

"Of course not, Jack! You are doing everything right!" North booms.

The previous argument is forgotten as the four older Guardians turn their attention to Jack.

"It's not your fault. It's her horrid uncle's fault! She's been broken for simply being human, Jack," Toothiana replies, her feathers bristling with anger.

"It'll be alrigh', Frostbite. Jus' give her time."

Sandy watches silently. They're able to comfort one of their own so simply. Raven doesn't remember what it's like to be comforted and loved, and that's where their problem arises. In order to help Raven, they'll have to overhaul years of conditioning and abuse.

But will their attempts do any good?

/x/x/x/