Title: Weakness

Rating: M

Characters (besides Jack): all of the guardians

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Summary: She wishes for nothing more than to snatch the question out of the air and shove it back in her brain where it belongs with the rest of her thoughts that shouldn't be voiced.

Followers (as of this chapter): 591

Favorites (as of this chapter): 452

Set shortly after the Scarring arc

Tooth isn't sure what compelled her to ask the question. It ruined everything. They were having a good time, they were goofing off, they were playing, they were relaxed because Jack was getting better and finally opening up more because he wanted to, not because they were asking him and pressuring him. She doesn't know why the question had to come out then and she's rather ashamed of ruining their good time.

"Are those from your father?"

Jack looks away from Bunnymund and peers up at her with a brow raised in confusion. He has rolled his sleeves up for his battle against the guardian of hope for their arm wrestling tournament and Tooth has seen something that summoned the dreadful question to her lips.

Jack follows her gaze to his forearm where straight lines, some parallel to each other, some slanted, marked the white skin as unsightly blemishes. Tooth is painfully aware of how silent the room has become and she wishes for nothing more than to snatch the question out of the air and shove it back in her brain where it belongs with the rest of her thoughts that shouldn't be voiced.

But the question is already out there, floating around and swirling among every head so it can introduce awkwardness to them all.

Jack bites his lip and Tooth commits that action to memory: he only does that when he's trying to avoid something. He slowly rolls down the sleeves of his hoodie once more and avoids everyone's gaze.

"I'm so sorry sweet tooth!" She nearly shouts. "I don't know where that came from! That was so rude of me, I can't believe I asked that without thinking! It's not right for me to but into your past or for me to ask questions like that, I'm so so so sorry Jack!" Her embarrassment and panic run together until she's apologizing so fast, none of them can understand her.

"It's okay Tooth," Jack consoles with a lopsided grin that she can't see in his eyes and it makes her stop her rambling. "I don't mind answering it." His voice is so soft that she worries it might disappear forever if she doesn't concentrate on it.

Jack studies the other three as he speaks. Bunny's wearing a rare look of confusion and his eyes flicker between Jack and Tooth; North is solemnly quiet, but Jack doesn't think there's much of a need to say anything; Sandy smiles encouragement at him and the curve of the lips is so different from the other's reactions. They are all sad, they are all bracing themselves for the worst, but Sandy, the conundrum man, floats there, happy that Jack is opening up, genuinely curious as to what Jack is opening up to this time, and smiles which Jack finds much-needed strength in. He knows telling this story will not be much fun.

"They're from me actually."

He doesn't have to look up to tell which noise is whose: Tooth's gasp is first, soft and feminine. North's confused sound of 'huh' follows with Bunnymund's sigh of grief last. Sandy doesn't seem to have a reaction, just a perplexed look, as if he wants to hear the story.

"It was hard - really hard - being alone for so long and just having nothing, nobody, to live for. I couldn't find out why I existed, why I was here. All I could do was create storms that ended up hurting people and freeze people, but that was it and it wasn't a very good life."

He can hear a flapping noise growing louder and he knows Tooth is fluttering down to him. She places her arms around him and Jack leans into the embrace, ignoring how her feathers scratch the back of his neck. She's real and she's here now. As long as she's by him, they're all by him, he knows he's safe and he can remind himself that this is just reminiscing, this isn't real and he's not scared and crying, he's surrounded by them and Jack continues with Tooth's hug protecting him from his own words.

"And I guess one day everything became too much and I just had a moment of weakness and I just sort of...broke. And I was mad at the world for not being able to acknowledge me and at the moon for never answering anything and I just felt so, so empty. I didn't like how I felt, but I'd been feeling that way for so long and it seemed like all the days of being ignored were forced into that moment and I'm. Not. Proud." He emphasizes the last words. If he's going to tell them this, he needs them to know that he's ashamed of what happened, of what he did.

North's heavy footsteps are much more prominent that Tooth's wings, so Jack is aware when North plops down beside him. He does not touch Jack, no hugs, no pats, just a close proximity that Jack is thankful for. North is leaving the decision for contact up to him and the consideration makes Jack grab for a thick hand. North's palm swallows up his own pale hand so drastically that, not for the first time, Jack feels as small as he really is. He settles for holding a chubby finger that his fingers can barely wrap around, squeezing it to relieve some of the pressure in his stomach.

"I knew what I wanted to do, so I just kept flying 'til I found one of those old barber shops that was closed for the night and I went inside and I - I wasn't thinking clearly at all, I was so emotional - and I got a hold of one of those straight razors and...I did things I'm not proud of."

The last to huddle over is Bunnymund, who just climbs up on the table used for the tournament which - taken so seriously minutes before - seems like a pointless idea now. He sits in front of Jack up on his haunches and puts a paw over Jack's hand, completely covering the small body part as North did. Jack smiles down, eyes never leaving his lap, and pulls his hand out from beneath the paw to stroke the soft fur that he has become so accustomed to when he's shaken. The gentle pelt steadies his nerves and Jack inhales deeply before continuing.

"I thought I would die and I hoped I would die, but I didn't and that just made me so much more upset. The fact that I couldn't even decide whether or not to live was...I felt like I had no say in anything, like how I felt wasn't important and it was horrible. And I didn't have anyone to talk to or to cry to, no one was there to tell me everything would be okay, so I just kept doing it until I felt okay, but I didn't ever feel okay, so I just kept doing it." Jack bites his lower lip again to force the tears back and lets out a noise similar to a laugh. "I don't even know how long I kept that stupid razor with me."

That's the end of the story and Jack isn't sure what to expect, but he would gladly except any other reaction than this silence. It's eerie and there aren't even elves in the room to break the pattern of nothing.

"Give an approximation."

Jack looks up from his lap for the first time in what could be described as hours in his head and looks at Tooth in confusion.

"An approximation of how long you had it. The razor. Of how long you did that," her voice is so fragile that Jack needs to remind himself that he is the child, not she.

"The razor? Whew, it must've been around...110 years? Those things last pretty long if you take care of them. And I never cared when it started to rust, it didn't make much of a difference to me," Jack mumbles the last part in embarrassment of his weak stage.

"How long did ya keep et up fer?"

Jack hesitates, if they haven't freaked out yet, this is the part where they do. But he's told them this much, he's come this far, he decided they should know.

"Until the day I was initiated to become a guardian."

Tooth's arms never left his shoulders, but her grip tightens so quickly that the hug feels all new again. North's hand squeezes his small one tightly and Jack ignores the slight pain and instead rejoices in the comforting touch. He can feel Bunnymund tense up beneath the thick fur and Sandy drifts even closer to Jack. The winter spirit smiles in spite of the situation; it seems that his fellow guardians thought they could squeeze the bad memories out of him if they tried hard enough and the idea was funny to him.

"Don't worry too much, please don't worry about," he begs because he doesn't need them to fuss over him and be distracted from their respected jobs and duties and if they did, he may close up on them again and he doesn't want that. He likes telling them things and he likes that they all listen, but he can't do it if it means they'll all sacrifice their work in their distraught over him. "The thing with Pitch kept me so busy for days and then Jamie could see me and I was believed in and you guys were there and I didn't feel so alone anymore and all of a sudden, I just didn't feel like I had to do that anymore. I haven't done it since, I promise."

Slowly, they all go back to normal. Bunny relaxes again and Jack goes back to petting his paw, Sandy floats back a bit to give him some space, North lets go of his hand (which is now dully throbbing) and Tooth returns to a gentle hug and even reaches up to stroke his hair.

Jack relaxes and listens to the silence, no longer awkward or deathly still. It's calm and soft and he catches himself dozing off in their embraces. That's good. It means he's relaxing around them, he's letting his guard down around them (willingly this time), he's trusting them to...to... He's not even sure what, but he's trusting them nonetheless. But there is a more important matter than sleep at hand right now.

"Well Cottontail," he shrugs off Tooth and pulls his hands away from North and Bunny, "I believe we were all about to watch me destroy you, correct?"

The pooka looks at him in a confused manner, unsure of where the sudden change in demeanor came from, but catches on and hops off the table, both arms up with a challenging smirk behind them.

"Ya may be ambiwhoseewhatsee, but I'm su' I can beacha with both."

Jack accepts the quest and, grinning with his expected victory, raises both arms to the table and grasps Bunnymund's paws simultaneously.

After rolling up his sleeves of course.

RotG Fact: The movie is made up of 130,000+ computer generated frames.