A/N: Does anyone even read these notes?
But I can give a shout out to all you amazing folks out there, who continue to read and support my story.
Really hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Chapter 21
"We warned ya, mate."
"Yes, I know, I know. No need to rub it in!"
The four Guardians look at the Guardian of Fun, now more of a Guardian of Depression and General Pissed-Off-Ness. At the moment, he was sitting on the window sill of a large window available at North's Workshop, a dark and gloomy air about him. Of course, who could blame him?
Sandy, not knowing what to do, flew over to Jack's side, but balked and retreated when faced with a seriously dark glare from the winter spirit's side. North kept quiet throughout this entire charade and simply observed. Bunny adopted the position of telling Jack off for letting his emotions get involved, and get involved badly. Tooth would try to calm him down, but if anything, it seemed she was just making it worse, considering Jack's reaction.
He turns back to looking at the vast landscape of the North Pole, just staring at the white snow and contemplating about absolutely nothing. His friends began to get fidgety about the awkward silence that had befallen once more.
Tooth stepped forward one more time. "Jack, I know you're in emotional turmoil right now…" she begins, continuing after he made no attempt to stop her. "But we have to work together to find out Pitch's next move before he strikes again."
"We will." He cuts her off this time. His fists clench where they were in his jacket pockets. "I'll find him…and I'll make him pay for what he did."
Bunny sighs. "Look, Jack, you can't be hung up about a mortal-"
"I'm not hung up over her." He snaps. After a couple of moments though, he sighs and goes back to looking out of the window. "But I can't deny that she didn't mean anything to me."
Tooth places a hand on his arm. "Jack…"
"She was a friend of mine." He says. "Pitch hurt a friend of mine, so he'll pay for that."
"Well, let us focus on Pitch and his next plan." North says, trying to break the silence. "Jack, what be his next move?"
"I'm not sure about his next move." Jack admits. "But at least we know what he's up to."
She's starting to believe herself less and less each passing minute.
Seriously, crying over a guy? She knows she can do better.
But, if it's that guy, and just what he'd done, she feels her chest tightening and buries her face in her pillow again. She feels depressed and disgusting. Her face feels really hot and her cheeks are wet. Her eyes feel red from crying and suddenly feel over-sensitive to the light. Her nose feels blocked, and she resorts to breathing out of her mouth. She feels drained of any energy in her body and her head is filled with depressing and dark thoughts.
If a simple guy can do this to her, then she doesn't know what she can do.
Well, he's not some simple guy. More like an immortal spirit of winter and the Guardian of Fun.
She clenches her fist thinking about it, and her eyes water up once more. She doesn't want to feel this way again, because it makes her feel weak and helpless. She goes over in her head why she was in this state again. Oh yeah, him.
They had agreed that there were no secrets between them, and she had trusted him. She had told him about her secret identity. She had confided in him, and he was the shoulder she had leaned on when Alex first lost his memories. After that, she had relied on him more and more as the Team became affected with the strange symptoms. She had held onto him and had used him as an emotional crutch. And somehow, along the way, she had fallen for him.
But as she thinks about it, the more she convinces herself that it was just a fluke. There was really nothing in it, Skylar. She tells herself. You were confused and emotional and sad, and he gave you comfort. That confused you into thinking that you had feelings for him. You just clung to him when others weren't available. He was good, nice and familiar. There were no romantic feelings involved, and you just confused yourself.
He was familiar, alright. He was nice, and sweet and caring and everything that 90% of the guys in her school weren't. Everything he did, he did it with his friends in mind. She recalled all the times they had spent together, including the one time that Alex wasn't available so the two of them hung out. Did she feel these exact same feelings then? Perhaps a little. But that didn't count, as he was just the easiest target to have a crush on, as he was within her age group, had a great personality, and wasn't all that bad on the eyes as well. She was a teenage girl with flailing hormones and he was just the easiest target to focus them on.
She sighs. Seems that he wasn't the only one in the wrong. She had done an equally bad thing; she had used him. Why? Because she needed someone to be her emotional crutch and her standard love interest in the train wreck that was her life. She needed someone to lift her spirits when she was down, and let her cry on their shoulder when she couldn't hold it in anymore.
She laughs bitterly. She had used him for her own selfish reasons. Guess that balanced out the thing that he did.
But she still couldn't get over the fact that he lied to her. Well, knowing him, there had to be a specific reason, but in her current, sad state, she felt it easier to believe that he didn't care for her as much as she hoped he would. At the end of the day, she was just some mortal girl, and he was an immortal spirit. Recalling his fun for games, she convinces herself that she was just that to him; a game. All this time, he had simply been toying with her.
She felt the sadness in her heart make way for another emotion; rage. She was angry. She was angry at Pitch for doing this to her, she was angry at Jack for lying to her, she was angry at the gods for letting such things happen to her, and she was angry at the world for doing nothing.
She made her decision then; she wouldn't rely on anyone ever again. She was freaking Wonder Girl, for God's sake. What would she be if she couldn't handle some little emotional turmoil? Well, she wasn't going to let this affect her again. She was raised as an Amazonian, and their first belief was to never rely on anyone but you.
She picks up her phone and scrolls down her contacts, her finger stopping on the contact "Jack Overland". She stares at the name for a little while before selecting it, and she stares at his number for a while. Gathering up her courage, she presses the "Delete" option.
The pop up then appears, asking her if she was sure she wanted to delete that particular contact from her contact list. She looks at the two options, and at first her finger automatically rushes to the "No" option, but before she can press it down she stops herself. She moves her finger to hover over the "Yes" option, repeating her inner conversation over and over in her head, finally gathering up the courage to press her finger down on the screen. But two seconds before her finger can touch the screen, her phone rings, startling her.
She nearly drops the phone, but grabs it before it can smash. Without checking the number, she presses the "Answer" option and picks it up. "Hello?"
"Sky? Is it you?"
She freezes on hearing that voice. It was the last voice she wanted to hear, and it immediately fills her with anger and sadness and depression. "Jack?"
She hears him sigh breathily on the other end of the line. "Thank God I was able to reach you." She notes that he sounds relieved. "I need you to hear me out."
Her fist tightens. "And why would I do that?"
"Because I need you to." She raises an eyebrow in question, but doesn't say anything. "Look, I know I'm the last person you want to be talking to right now, but I figure this concerns you, because it's about your case. And besides, don't you have something you wish to protect?"
She ponders over his last question for a few minutes, before going back. "Go on." She says, just managing to keep the hostility out of her voice.
"We know what Pitch is after." He tells her. "Using that, we've tracked down his location, and we're going to put an end to this. But we can't do it alone, since Klarion's also going to be there. We were hoping that if you could tip off some of the Team they could come to this location and –"
"Wait." She cuts him off. "When you say 'we', what does that mean?"
"The Guardians." He says, simply. "They're the only ones who can put down Pitch, but they're powerless against Klarion. Maybe you could-"
"What's your location?" she asks. "In fact, what's Pitch's location?"
"Yellowstone." He says. "Actually, on the outskirts of it. There's an abandoned building over there; should be easy to find. We haven't reached yet, but we're on our way."
"Good." She says. "Don't do anything there. Once you reach, just stay put. I'm sending for backup."
"Right." He says. "Hey," his voice takes a softer tone, "thanks a lot. You're the best."
Unable to take his casual praise, she hangs up on him. She feels angry at herself for feeling tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Quickly wiping them away, she searches the internet for abandoned buildings on the outskirts of Yellowstone. To her luck, she finds it, and its coordinates. Feeling triumphant, she pulls herself off the bed and heads to her closet.
She opens it and stares at the Wonder Girl uniform.
Don't you have something you wish to protect?
She thought about Diana and Cassie, her first role-models. She thought about Dick, the kind and caring big brother who was extremely patient with her on all issues and was there when she needed him. She thought about Tim, sweet, sweet, dorky Tim, who never failed to make her laugh. She thought about Bruce, who had adopted her in her time of need, and had given her valuable advice. She thought about Alfred, who was always so polite and generous, and always kept her favorite dishes in mind. She thought about her family, who always welcomed her with open arms, who cared for her like no one else, who loved her like no other.
Did she have something she wished to protect? The answer was yes.
Her family did all they could to protect her and safeguard her. She wanted to do something in return. She wanted to make them feel as happy as she did when she saw them. She wanted them to feel as safe and secure as she did when she was with them. She wanted to preserve those smiles that they always gave her when she had done something worth smiling about. She wanted to safeguard their lives, as they'd always safeguarded hers.
She wanted to protect her family. And she would go to great lengths to do it.
Her gaze turned back to the golden Ws on her uniform. They stood for all she believed in and fought for. The legacy of Wonder Girl. And she would proudly wear this symbol on her chest, and make all onlookers stare in awe. She would make her predecessors proud. And most importantly, she would protect the ones she held closest to her heart.
Making her decision, she pulls the uniform off its hanger.
A/N: I'm now not even thinking about chapter lengths, because I'm getting close to what I wanted to show all of you.
The huge climax is slowly nearing, I'd say within the next two or three chapters. Hope you're enjoying this story and I love it when you guys review.
Please review.