Chapter Four

AN: I am amazing at posting on time, don't worry about it

Matthew grew more worried as the wind carried him. He didn't know were it was taking him. He thought the wind might have been mad at him for something, but it had a bunch of chances to throw him into a building. The Reaper's mind went to Jack, he hoped he was okay. The further south the wind took him the more nervous he became.

The wind carried him all the way down to Africa. Matthew scanned the desert as he was carried over, but didn't spot the winter spirit. The wind brought him into a rainforest. It carefully set him down in a clearing. The Canadian followed the wind through the trees. The air was hot and humid, it was a bit hard to breathe. The wind lead him to a huge crack in the earth. He looked over the edge. The crevasse went down for a few stories before there was rushing water. The rocks leading down were mostly covered in thick green moss, but the sections that weren't looked sharp. He spotted a small outcrop just above the river that had a cave entrance.

The Reaper wrinkled his nose seeing an old wooden bed frame perched on the edge of the rocks. He knew it must be Pitch's newest lair. The King of Nightmares never stuck in one place too long. This lair had been the most remote one he knew of. Normally he stuck close to cities or at least some form of civilization.

The wind was pushing him to go down. His wings turned metallic as he glided downwards. He landed on the outcrop. It crumbled and fell away. Matthew quickly rushed into the tunnel as it broke. He sighed in relief as the bed frame fell over the edge into the river below.

The Canadian didn't look back as he started down the tunnel. It wasn't quite big enough for him to stand. The walls of the tunnel were sharp rock and slightly damp. The ground was smooth and slippery. He carefully made his way through the tunnel. It was about a hundred metres long before it opened up into a cave.

Matthew looked around. The cave was fairly big. It was still jagged and rocky with a smooth floor, just like the tunnel. There were a few cracks in the ceiling that let in minimal light. He looked to the left and noticed there was another section of cave. It was blocked by thick metal bars. He stepped towards it and his eyes widened.

There was a bundle of blue and brown fabric curled up in the corner. He could see dirty white hair sticking out from under the hood.

"Jack?" The Canadian called crouching next to the bars. The sudden sound in the quiet cave startled him awake.

"Birdie?" Jack's voice was rough and quiet. His heart broke hearing it. He sounded so hurt and scared. The winter spirit sat up and turned to him taking his hood down.

Matthew noticed there were bandages covering his eyes. He hoped Pitch hadn't blinded him. He didn't want him to go through what he did. He could see burns on his face and bruises on his neck. He was worried and heartbroken that Jack had been hurt.

"I'm here." The Reaper said calmly. He wasn't calm, but didn't want to scare Jack. He felt for shadows, but couldn't find one. The cave was dark, but there weren't any actual shadows. He knew Pitch must have been blocking them. He couldn't break the metal bars either.

"Birdie?" Jack called again. He was feeling around for him in the cell.

Matthew's eyebrows furrowed noticing he had more burns and bruises on his arms. His sweater and pants were ripped and torn. There was blood on both as well. His wrists were also tied together with the same type of fabric covering his eyes.

"I'm here." The Canadian said reassuringly. Jack shifted looking in the direction of his voice. "I can't get in, Jack." He said sadly. "Can you come over here?"

"Yeah." The Guardian said. He didn't sound so sure. He checked again for shadows, but still couldn't find any. He wanted nothing more than to scoop him up and get him home.

Matthew knew why he was unsure as soon as Jack started to move. His one leg was twisted badly, it had definitely been broken. Maybe more than once. There was no way he could walk on it. He had to drag himself over to the bars. As he moved, he gritted his teeth in pain. He had to stop multiple times because of the pain.

When he got closer, the Reaper could see more burns, cuts and bruises on his face than originally. It looked like some had healed before more had been inflicted. He also looked too warm for a winter spirit, he was sweating.

"Birdie?" Jack asked again as soon as he reached the bars. He sounded lost.

"I'm here." The Canadian said reaching out. He went to untie the fabric covering his eyes. His hand barely brushed the winter spirit's hair. He jumped in surprise recoiling from the touch. Matthew felt back for scaring him. "Sorry." He quickly apologized. "I just want to take the bandages off."

Jack nodded reluctantly leaning back towards him. The Reaper moved slower this time. He carefully undid the bandages and slipped them over his head. He sighed in slight relief seeing the Guardian's eyes were normal. Jack looked at him in disbelief squinting from the little bit of light.

"It's really you!" The winter spirit smiled tiredly. He looked ready to cry. It made the Canadian want to.

"It's me." Matthew hummed with a small smile hiding his sadness. He hoped he was doing a good job.

The Canadian slowly reached out cupping Jack's jaw. The winter spirit felt warm to the touch. He leaned into his touch putting one hand over his. Matthew knew Pitch hadn't burned him, there must have been another spirit. Anger bubbled up in him. He wanted badly to hurt whoever hurt his boyfriend. He quickly pushed it away knowing anger wasn't going to be helpful getting Jack out.

"Are you okay?" The Reaper asked. He knew it was a stupid question, but needed to know if there were any other serious injuries he couldn't see. He knew the winter spirit couldn't die, but he never wanted to see him hurt or in pain.

"Not really." Jack whispered. He cleared his throat. "It's too hot. I want to go home."

"I'll get you out of here." Matthew said reassuringly with a smile. The Guardian looked up meeting his eyes. He nodded trusting him.

The Reaper slowly pulled his dagger from his coat. He very cautiously took the winter spirit's hands. Jack seemed to already know what he was doing. The Canadian just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to scare him again. He never wanted Jack to be afraid of him. He very slowly cut the fabric tying his wrists.

"Where's your staff?" The Reaper asked gently.

"Gone." Jack said sadly. The Canadian was confused, but didn't push. All his focus was on getting him out and away.

"How'd you get in there?" Matthew asked. He looked to see if there was some thing he'd missed. A door, crack or something, but there was nothing that told him there was another entrance.

"Hello Darling."