Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians
Summary: Jack returns to the Pole, panicking and with blood on his sweater. The Guardians provide comfort, cursing and orders not to listen to Pitch.
Jack's flight was wobbly and erratic as he crashed through his window, panic making him dizzy as he hyperventilated. The window pane banged against the wall and Jack tumbled through, knees quickly striking the floor before he could remember to right himself. He kneeled for a moment, mind reeling so much that he forgot what he was going to do. He looked down at himself, taking in the blood staining his sweater. Oh, right, he wanted to wash up. His mind wandered towards the blood that had been staining the ground, leaking out from the wound –
Stop, he commanded himself, wash up first, then freak out. He was pushing himself to his feet when his knees wobbled and he collapsed to the ground. In that instant, he heard the door slam open and saw flashes of colour. His heart jolted with fright, eyes automatically and frantically searching for his staff. He went to grab it when a flash of grey appeared right in front of him. With a start, Jack realized it was Bunny, his mouth shaping words that the winter spirit couldn't hear. The teen stared for a moment, trying to make sense of the motions of the Pooka's lips when his hearing suddenly turned back on. He only then realized that there had been a roaring sensation in his ears, drowning out other sounds. He breath quickly with relief.
"-happened to you, mate?" Bunny was screaming.
Jack gazed dully up at him, searching for the words in his brain to come up with a response but it was like a fog had been draped across his mind. He was hunting around but the words kept disappearing into the haze.
"Man in moon, you're bleeding," a high pitched voice exclaimed. The winter spirit turned his head again, locating the speaker. It was a brightly coloured fairy, fluttering closer to him, wings nearly buzzing with panic.
Tooth, he noted absently. While he was looking up, he saw the anxious faces of the Guardians peering back at him. They were all bent down to be on level with him where he sat on his knees on the floor.
Absently, Jack noticed a paw coming towards him, watching as it ran lightly over the blood on his sweater. Then, he turned his head to see Bunny standing up, reaching down to wrap a paw around Jack's arm, hauling him to his feet.
The teen put up no resistance as he was guided across the room, only barely noting when his feet hit bathroom tiles. They stopped in front of the sink and Jack looked up, noting his appearance in the mirror. His eyes were wide and wild, gazing almost unseeingly. There was a long scratch across his cheek that was slowly oozing blood. Then, there was a large patch of blood splashed across the front of his sweater, darkening the blue fabric.
Jack's attention was only disrupted from his assessment of himself when Bunny was back in front of him, telling him to take off the sweater. Wordlessly, he did so and heard a loud gasp from the knot of Guardians standing behind the Pooka. In his daze, he couldn't figure out which one of them had produced the sound of surprise. He looked down, noting the burn that marked his torso, but otherwise there was no cause for alarm.
"It vasn't your blood," North muttered, voice loud in the small space.
It was that statement more than anything that brought Jack over the edge. He could see the other spirit on top of him, leaking blood from a gash in his side. He didn't notice he was hyperventilating until he felt Bunny's paw on his back, rubbing soothing circles. The Pooka was muttering words that Jack couldn't quite catch, but they were calming, soft and gentle.
Then, he felt Tooth's feathers around him as she swept him up into a hug. "Sh, sh, it's going to be alright," she whispered. "You're okay, you're safe."
He heard Bunny's voice as if from a distance. "North, can ya get some soap and burn salve please mate." The Russian's lumbering footsteps grew fainter as he headed into the Pole.
The Tooth Fairy let go of Jack as Sandy stepped up right in front of him. Are you okay? he signed.
The winter spirit nodded mutely, but found himself flashing back again. He could see himself tossing down that silver sword, spinning to find his staff.
Bunny's voice interrupted his flashback. "Ya going to tell us what happened mate?"
The teen nodded, licking his lips as he thought about where to begin. However, he was interrupted by North coming back in, handing Bunny the salve he'd requested. "C'mon Toothie, help me wash the sweater," North instructed.
"Sandy, you're with me," Bunny ordered, turning back to Jack. He handed Sandy the burn salve and then grabbed a towel off the counter, running water over it. "So why didn't ya ice your injuries?" he asked conversationally, paw with the towel in it coming towards Jack's face. This was finally enough to snap the teen out of his daze. He flinched back, scrunching his eyes briefly. However, he quickly opened them, looking out at the Pooka staring sternly back.
"I'm just trying to clean the cut mate, hold still, I ain't trying to hurt'cha."
Jack forced himself to relax, lightly closing his eyes as Bunny toweled off the blood on his face. He jerked slightly as he felt the cold towel touch his face, but otherwise, he remained still. It was strange as he stared at the darkness behind his eyelids to feel gentle hands instead of ones trying to cause pain.
"So, why didn't ya ice your injuries?" Bunny asked again, gently.
Jack opened his eyes, trying not to look at the paw at his face. "I … I didn't think about it," he said wonderingly, as if it had just occurred to him. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it. He had just been panicking too much.
"Who attacked you?" the Pooka questioned.
Jack unconsciously tried to duck his head, but was stopped by a paw underneath his chin. His eyes flickered towards the Guardian of Hope, staring out at him as if just registering that he was helping him. "Summer spirits," the teen admitted quietly. Then, he scrunched his brows together. He hadn't told them that he had been attacked.
"Mate, it's pretty obvious," Bunny said, answering the unspoken question. "You stumble in with your face cut and a burn, with blood on your sweater. Either that or you had an encounter with a bleeding tree." The attempt at humour did nothing to ease the serious expression on the winter spirit's face.
Sandy tapped his shoulder, trying to get his attention. Jack looked down, following the dream makers gesture to his burn that had been healed and covered. "Thank you," the frost teen said, nodding at the golden spirit. Sandy smiled back, waving it away as if it were nothing.
Just then, Jack looked up, noting Tooth and North where they stood over the sink, scrubbing his sweater. He tried to wrench his gaze away before he could see the blood staining the front, but to no avail. He could see the fiery spirit before his eyes, coming towards him with sword gleaming in the sun. He had swung for Jack's head, anger burning its way through his eyes.
"Jack, what happened exactly?" Tooth asked, noticing his gaze locked on his sweater. "Whose blood is this?"
He turned his head away, hiding his eyes beneath his bangs, afraid to look up and have his eyes speak for him. He didn't want them to see the guilt and terror in his eyes. "The summer spirit's," he admitted quietly.
"Good for you," North boomed, giving the winter spirit a lopsided grin.
However, Jack retreated a step from the statement. It wasn't a flinch back from the loud voice. No, it was a retreat away from the words as if the weight of them had pushed him back. He shook his head sadly.
Suddenly, there were golden symbols in front of him and he looked up, hesitantly. It's okay. Did you attack first?
The winter spirit shook his head, white locks moving back and forth.
Then it is the fault of whoever attacked you.
Jack shook his head again. "B-but I h-hurt him," the teen stuttered.
"Vas there any other vay you could get away?" North asked lowly.
"No," Jack breathed.
"Then it vas their fault, they put you in that position."
Jack looked over all of them and they took a collective intake of breath, hoping he would believe them. However, he just shook his head once more. Bunny, looking on, sighed. It went much deeper than they had previously thought.
"How bout you just tell us exactly what happened," the Pooka instructed. "C'mon, let's get somewhere more comfortable." Not wanting to migrate too far, Bunny led them to Jack's bed, sitting down himself. He gestured for the teen to take a seat beside him, to which he reluctantly sat. North swung the desk chair around, pulling it to be right beside the bed. Tooth sat on the bed too, stilling her rustling feathers as she took a seat beside Jack. Sandy created a cloud of dreamsand, hovering steadily beside the bed to complete the ragged circle they had formed themselves into. Once they were all settled, Bunny gestured the teen forward.
Jack took a breath, gazing up at all of them briefly from beneath his lashes. He had a strange feeling clawing at his heart that he took a moment to assess. It wasn't the unease he had long associated with nearness of others before he was taken by Pitch. It wasn't the fear from afterwards. It was a strange sort of warmth, something that glowed and settled comfortably in him like the blankets his mother used to drape over his shoulders on cold winter days.
"I stopped near the edge of my season when I felt a heat wave carried on a foreign wind," Jack began, speaking haltingly and uncertainly. He caught Sandy's nod and kept speaking. "Before I remembered what it meant, the summer spirits were already in front of me."
"More than one?" North interrupted.
The winter spirit nodded, eyeing the jolly man with his eyes partially squinted as if wondering why the question mattered.
"Continue," the Russian muttered weakly.
"They spoke mostly at first and I thought it would go as normal but then they pulled out swords." The Guardians' heart clenched at there being a normal for the spirit in front of them. "A-and I just reacted," Jack said, as if it were the worst thing he could think of.
Bunny and Tooth glanced at each other as dawning realization pulsed through their eyes. They remembered the heartbreaking moment as they each had tied up the winter spirit when confronted by the Furies. What made it worse was the absolute lack of a fight he had put up. It was as if he had been trained not to fight back.
"Oh sweetie," Tooth cooed, "Did Pitch ever tell you not to fight back?" She tried to ask the question as gently as possible, but the winter spirit still flinched back.
Hesitantly, he nodded, pulling his eyes towards the bed.
"Oh no," North exclaimed heatedly.
"That bloody ratbag," Bunny spoke through gritted teeth.
There were all sorts of expletives coming out through Sandy's dream sand in number signs and dollar signs and all sorts of unprintable gestures.
Jack stared at all of them, wide eyed and shocked, their cursing enough to draw his stare away from the sheets of his bed.
"Jack," Bunny began, grabbing the teen's chin in his hands. The winter spirit looked startled, and slightly cornered, but didn't try to pull away. Come to think of it, Jack rarely did pull away. He may flinch back unconsciously, but he never purposely warded off their gestures. That just added more fuel to the fire at how trained this boy was. "I know that you were with Pitch for a long time and he drilled some things into your head, but we need you to know that you have every right to fight back against people who are trying to hurt ya. Hell, ya have a right to fight back against anyone and everyone who is trying to do something to ya that'cha don't want, including us."
The winter spirit was doing his best to avoid the Pooka's gaze and those of all the other Guardians. He didn't have any right to fight back, he was useless and didn't deserve anything. He should be punished for everything he does wrong. He shook his head slowly, sadly.
"No," North interjected, "No shaking your head." Jack stopped immediately, glancing fearfully at the Russian. However, he went on gently, "Jack, I don't vant you to shake your head because everything Bunny said is true. You have right to fight back."
"I don't," Jack argued, hanging his head.
"Why?" Tooth asked simply, gazing at him with clear violet orbs. Her face was pinched tight with sympathy and concern.
"B-because I d-don't deserve it," he answered quietly.
"That's Pitch talking," Bunny yelled, "That's not even you." He took a deep breath, unclenching his fists from where they had been tight at his sides. Jack flinched back at his anger, scrunching in on himself. More gently, the Pooka continued, "Was that something you were told?"
Jack nodded, unsure where this was going.
"Why would it be true?"
"B-because my season causes death, b-because no one likes winter, b-because all the spirits hate me, b-because I can't even protect the children, b-because I c-can't even p-protect myself."
This was the first the Guardians had heard about all of the winter spirit's doubts, about all of the things that Pitch had drilled into his head. It left them with a variety of shellshocked expressions, all alike in the fact that they were disbelieving.
Wasn't it you who single-handedly brought down Gloom? Sandy signed.
Before the winter spirit had a chance to interject, North continued. "Wasn't it you who was instrumental in bringing down Pitch? And in getting the children to believe in us?"
"Isn't it you who brings beauty to winter?" Tooth asked.
"Isn't it you who saved all those child slaves by yourself?" Bunny contributed.
Didn't you tell me that you had to go once because you needed to save some people who were lost in a blizzard?
"Aren't you the one who just defeated those summer spirits?" North asked.
"Aren't you the one who has made us a family?" Tooth questioned.
It was Jack's turn to look shell shocked as he glanced between the different members of the Guardians, taking in their words.
"Don't listen to that no good flea-bitten ratbag, ya're worth 100 of him," Bunny supplied. Then, at the winter spirit's wide eyes, the Pooka narrowed his. "When was the last time ya said something bad about Pitch?"
"About 45 years," Jack responded hesitantly, confusion showing in his expressive eyes.
"Try it," North urged.
Jack opened his mouth, then closed it, pressing his lips firmly together. He wanted to spew forth a slew of profanities but it was really hard. He could almost feel him like a sixth person in the room, hovering and ready to punish him for talking badly about his master.
He's not here, Sandy signed emphatically, He won't know. Plus, it will feel good. The golden man grinned impishly, encouraging him with his eyes.
"I'll demonstrate," Bunny said, "He's a good for nothing demon who deserves to be rotting in the deepest shadows."
"He's a low-life vermin with all the brain power of a drunk monkey." Tooth bit into the words with such savagery that the others glanced at her with surprise. She smiled triumphantly, not at all embarrassed by her outburst.
"Pitch is disgusting mongrel who can't be an equal so he must feel power over others," North added.
Jack wasn't sure exactly what Sandy said which in itself was probably a good enough indicator that whatever flashed through his sand was uncommon and foul for the dream maker.
They looked over at him expectantly and he felt anxiety thrum through his veins. Could he really say something bad about the man who was his master for so long? He took a deep breath, casting around for an insult. "Pitch sucks."
Bunny raised his eyebrow, "Is that all you've got?"
"He's a yellow bellied, mentally deficient pain in my … well, everything." Jack smirked slightly, looking towards the Guardians who seemed to be wondering if he were being serious about the last part. He smiled a little wider. He was; but it still felt good to say.
"That's more like it," Bunny whooped, giving a grin. "Any others?"
"He's an asshat." The words tumbled off his lips, surprising himself. His eyes widened slightly in shock, looking anxiously towards the Guardians.
"Little modern, but it works," North commented, nodding his head.
Then, Tooth snorted and they all looked towards her where she sat, struggling to control her giggles. North was next to break. Then, surprisingly it was Jack who was stifling giggles. That broke the rest of them and they were sitting on the bed, laughing their heads off. It took a while for them to reign themselves in, quieting and then one person would laugh, setting them all off again.
"That felt good," Tooth commented when they had all successfully quieted their laughter. The others nodded, smiles still teasing all of their lips.
Bunny was staring at Jack, eyebrows slightly drawn together and eyes serious. The winter spirit had noticed and was eying the Pooka occasionally, awkwardly fiddling with the staff in his hands. Finally, he spoke, "Jack, will you do something for me?"
The teen nodded slowly, confused.
"Will you let me teach you how to fight?"
Jack pursed his lips, staring at the Pooka. "Why?"
"Two reasons: one to teach you it's okay to fight back." The winter spirit's face flashed quickly with uncertainty. "The second is because we as Guardians have to fight occasionally and you seem to have some enemies personally. I doubt you've ever been taught how to fight, so it seems worthwhile for you to know."
Jack could feel the stutter in his heart at those words. He knew how to fight. Sure, he hadn't been trained. Instead he had been given the education of the streets, picked it up through numerous scuffles won and lost. It would be valuable to actually be taught, but he thought about actually sparring with the Pooka as he had once done with –
He cut his thoughts off there. He didn't want to think about it. The thought of fighting Bunny made him almost physically sick to his stomach, but he didn't want to refuse the offer. He slowly nodded his head.
Bunny smiled, nodding back and looking somewhat relieved. "Is tomorrow okay with you to start?"
"Yes," Jack replied.
"Okay, now that that is all settled, vhy don't ve all go have dinner. I for one am hungry," North announced, straightening up from the chair.
The others followed and on the way, Jack thought about the fight, which actually hadn't been much of a fight. The summer spirits cut him off from escape, backed him into the nearby side of a cliff. After throwing out some insults and general hostility, that was when things began to get serious. He had been braced for some general pain, a beating as usual. However, his heart had nearly beat out of his chest when the sound of swords sliding out of scabbards could be heard. The leader had charged, two swords in his hands as he slashed downwards at the winter spirit. Unconsciously, Jack had raised his staff, fending off attack. The swords had glanced off the aged wood, one of the summer spirit's arms being jarred enough that Jack could slip inside his guard and wrap the man on the wrist, causing him to drop the sword. In retaliation, his staff had been twisted out of his hands. Quickly, the teen bent to retrieve the fallen sword, wielding it awkwardly in both hands. The next moment had been a blur of movement as Jack slashed out at the other spirit and somehow, the man had gone flailing, knocking them both to the ground. Blood had seeped out from the summer spirit's shirt, staining the teen's sweater. Jack quickly cast around for his staff, noting it was the thing that the summer spirit had tripped over. He grabbed it up and dashed away, flying past the stunned back up summer spirit and the bleeding one who was clutching a tree as he stood, cursing.
AN: Before anyone can ask, yes I do intend to do a shot of Bunny and Jack training together. That should be up in the next few days. So, here's the deal. I have about 6 or 7 more planned chapters before things start to go down with what I have planned for Pitch's reappearance but there is a lot I have vaguely planned and I want to explore. So I have a dilemna, do you want me to just do the planned chapters and then start with it? Do you want me to do that and then intersperse my other ideas between chapters? Do you want me to wait a bit, finish what I want to finish and then do the Pitch stuff? Let me know.