Summary:

Time has ran out.

Previously:

"No." Sandy created a big 'X' above his head. "We have two choices now. We either continue with the treatment, though it would most likely end in a painful death for Jack."

"The other?" North asked, clenching his fist at the news to come. Tooth was still staring at Jack and Bunny was pacing around the room.

"We have to kill Jack Frost."

—

"No." Tooth said first. She was shaking her head. "No. Not when he has only just became a guardian."

"We have to try." North agreed, pacing. "This iz what Jack would want."

"He's gonna die either way though, ain't he?" Bunny said into the silence. Tooth and North looked at him.

"Bunny –"

"He's gonna either die painfully, or die quickly at our hands." He ignored them both, staring out of the window and turning his back to their stares. "An' I don't see how ya know what Jack wants. We haven't even known him properly for a week."

"But…there could be a slim chance of him surviving…right?" Tooth whispered. All guardians turned to Sandy, who nodded hesitantly.

"Slim." He signed. "So slim."

"Well then decision is made!" North sprang up, eyes flashing with determination. "We try and fix him."

"No!" Bunny yelled. He didn't realise he spoke out loud, let alone shouted, until Sandy jumped and they all turned to look at him. Gritting his teeth, he glared out of the window again.

"I don't…" The Pooka tried to voice his thoughts rationally, surprised at the amount of care and conflict that went into them. "…I don't wanna create anymore pain for him. Not…not anymore."

"But there is hope, Aster." North said gently. Bunny scoffed, shaking his head.

"Yeah right." He muttered, laying back his ears.

"How can you just quit on him?" Tooth asked. Bunny forced himself to meet her gaze.

"I ain't givin' up on him." The Pooka growled. Tooth just shook her head, years brimming in her eyes.

"Well that's what seems like." She whispered.

"Sandy?" North asked, breaking the tension in the room. Sandy shook his head.

"I could numb the pain slightly if we go through with the treatment." He offered. "But it won't make much of a difference."

"Bunny, we need your help in this." North urged, placing a hand on his shoulder. Bunny let his posture slump, shaking his head.

"I just don't wanna see someone else suffer like tha' again, Nick."

North opened his mouth to say something, but a loud, shrill scream cut him off. Beside them, Jack began to wake, thrashing on the sofa. The argument was forgotten, and each guardian knelt beside the spirit, each trying to help. Sandy sprinkled some dream sand on his eyes but it only seemed to make him worse. A series of growls were coming from his throat, and low words that only Bunny could catch accompanied them.

"Almost…almost…almost…" the rasping voice chanted, making the Pooka step back a few steps.

Jack screamed, dry sobs ripping from his chest as he fought something invisible; his blind eyes were wide open and glazed.

"Sandy!" Tooth yelled over the noise. "Do something!"

The sandman pulled off Jack's hoodie, almost fainting at the sight of the bulging black veins that now invaded his entire body. They were wrapped around his arms, upper torso and back, twisting under his skin.

"We have to make the decision now." Sandy signed quickly, symbols fluttering above his head. North looked up at Bunny momentarily, searching his gaze. Closing his eyes, the Pooka nodded.

Jack let out another low scream, thrashing harder. North held the spirit down with shaking arms.

"Tooth, Sandy – the equipment, quickly!" He ordered and the two guardians nodded, disappearing into the other room. Jack began to mindlessly claw at North's arms, tearing the skin. Bunny dashed over, grabbing the spirit's fragile fingers.

"Jack! Stop!" North yelled. Jack didn't seem to hear but struggled harder, sweat pouring from his brow. He growled, biting down on the Cossack's hand and drew blood.

North cried out and snatched his hand away, moving it closer to himself.

"Where do you want it?" Tooth asked. Bunny turned and saw that the two smaller guardians were awkwardly guiding a large machine through the main room. The machine was resting on a dream cloud, and the Pooka shivered at the sight of it.

It was just like he remembered: it was large and chunky, held together by a range of silver bolts and nails. Long, thin tubes came out of the base, each ending with a thin, long needle.

"Here." North pointed to empty space next to him and the guardians followed his orders. Tooth placed a hand on Jack's forehead.

"Is there anyway we can cool him down?" She asked. Bunny thought back to where he found Jack in the first place.

"I'd try packin' snow around him." He suggested, gritting his teeth as held the struggling spirit down. "I think that was what he was tryin' to do when I found him. Cool himself off."

Jack flailed his legs, kicking Bunny hard in his newly bandaged ribs. He let out a groan, doubling up on himself.

"You good?" North asked him. Bunny nodded stiffly. When he opened his eyes again, Tooth had gone.

Jack wailed, coughing. Black blood leaked from his parted lips and dropped down his neck.

"Sandy, the jacket." North said. Sandy pulled out a long piece of material from under the machine. It had three leather belts sewn firmly to it. Bunny gulped, lowering his ears.

"Is tha'…" He whispered. North nodded grimly.

"If he thrashes and pulls the needles out…" the older guardian gestured to the small holes that escaped the rabbit's eye before. "This way we can keep them in place."

Wordlessly, Bunny helped North pull the jacket onto Jack, strapping the belts tightly over his arms. Jack wailed, trying to force himself out of the restraints. The jacket held him fast.

Tooth was back with buckets on her arms, quickly packing snow around the spirit's shaking frame. It soaked the sofa and Bunny's feet but the Pooka didn't notice.

North quickly began gently inserting the needles into Jack's skin, threading them through the holes of the jacket. Sandy moved by the machine, his hands raised above two dips in the metal. North looked at Jack, then Sandy, nodding.

With a sigh, the sandman pressed his hands down into the dips, dream sand pouring from his hands. Bunny watched as the golden grains moved through the tubes, disappearing into Jack's skin. Immediately, the spirit stopped thrashing, panting heavily. His eyes however stayed open, wide and unseeing.

—

Pain.

Jack couldn't see, but was aware of the people crowding around him.

Pain

Something was moving inside his skin, something like fire – he could feel it twist through his bloodstream and he wanted to run, run away from it all –

Pain

…but something was pinning his arms to his sides. Jack moaned again, coughing. It hurt so much, like someone was dragging knives through his skin.

Pain

Someone was screaming. Echoing in his ears, making him shiver. It was inhuman, strange and Jack didn't like it. Something was now getting destroyed in his mind, very painfully tearing him apart in the process.

Pain. Pain. Pai –

Another scream. It was him that time. It was just all too much. He wanted it to stop, and he tried to tell the watchers around him that it hurt, begging them, pleading.

No one came.

Jack felt hot tears drip down his face and his strength leave him. He pleaded again, whispering it over and over.

"Please –" pain, pain, "I want –" pain "I want it to stop –"

Pain.

Terror.

Pain.

"It's okay." A voice soothed. It fazed in and out of his ears.

Pain.

His breaths quickened as the pain grew sharper around his middle.

"You have to –"

Pain. Terror. Pain.

"Stay –"

Pain.

"Alive –"

Terror.

"Please –"

Pain.

"For us!"

Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pai –