A/N :
Night Fury Lover : Uhm...I can honestly say I have no idea what you're talking about. *is confused*
AinsleyWright : Poor Jack indeed, I feel sorry for him and yet I enjoy writing stuff like this. ^^"
Wolfrunner99-2 : *lowers head in shame*
Cat Girl 1995 : I don't think Jack would be the one to just give in and let people beat him up, he's a fighter!
Okami1001 : The bastards will get the scare of their lives but it'll take a few more chapters until that happens.
Nora Fost : I hope this chapter won't make you cry as well...although it's a compliment for an author to hear that people get so emotional about it. *offers you tissues in advance*
inabox : I love it as well! Guess that's the reason why so many people write stories about Jack getting injured, so there can be adorable family fluff lateron. Oh, and trust me, none of the guardians will be very happy about what happened to him. One of them most of all. Hehe.
Caithlinn13 : Angst is all we need, haha!
SaiyanPrincess : Thank you again ! ^^
lemonCocolate : I'm so sorryyyyyyyy. And omg, not the cat ! D8
When Jack came back to his senses and his eyes fluttered open weakly the sun was already beginning to rise. Early morning fog hovered over the field, giving the scenery a peaceful yet eerie athmosphere.
The beaten winter spirit groaned as he tried to move his sore body and noticed his ankles and wrists were still bound by the pumpkin roots. To his relief they had lost their powers and weren't stronger than ordinary roots now anymore so it didn't take much effort to pull his limbs out of their grasp. The constant strain had left red marks on his skin but he didn't care, he was happy to finally be free again. Dizziness hit him like a brick wall when he sat up, causing him to tumble backwards but his arms managed to support his weight before he could fall flat on the ground again.
Head lifted towards the sky he watched the grey clouds above him for a while until his senses were clear enough to realize that he was alone. Sam Hain and FlannMacHarvest were no longer around. He let out a relieved sigh and scanned his surroundings wearily.
Sapphire blue eyes landed on two pieces of wood lying a few feet away from him. His broken staff. Standing up took more effort than he wanted to admit and the sudden reappearance of the burning pain in his back made him gasp in shock. On trembling legs he slowly stumbled towards his ancient possession and dropped to his knees as soon as he had reached it. Pale fingers grabbed both halves of the shepherd's crook and held them tight, feeling the connection between himself and the conduit of his power despite the obvious damage. A burdensome thought crossed his mind as he stayed in this position and stared at the item in his hands.
When walking for a few seconds already made him pant in exhaustion, how would he be able to fix his staff? It took quite an amount of energy to merge it back together, he knew from experience.
But he couldn't just sit here and wait for help which would probably never come. His thoughts drifted off towards his room at North's workshop. To be more precise, his soft and comfy bed. Jack wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next days, somewhere safe, where no sinister spirits would harass him. But to get there he needed to fly, and for flying he needed his staff.
With flourishing motivation he sat up straight and pushed the two halves together, focusing his powers on the break line. Only a tiny spark of blue light flared up but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. The frost teen's chest heaved in frustration, he had to do better than this. To gather the remains of strenght left in his battered body he relaxed for several minutes and just continued to breath in and out steadily. As he felt ready for a final attempt he stood up, his legs shaking underneath him but refusing to give in. Determination was written all over his face and with a loud yell he slammed the broken pieces of his staff against each other. His powers were summoned from deep within him, sent down his arms, hands and into the splintered wood. Blue sparks started to glimmer when he felt his strenght fading away.
No, he was so close, he couldn't give up now! Eyes clenched shut and teeth gritted as he let out an animalistic cry and directed every last bit of energy into the staff.
"Come on, just a little more!"
His arms as well as the rest of his body were tense and shaking from the effort. Had fixing his staff also been that strenght- and time-consuming when he did it first? Right now he had the impression it would never come to an end. After what seemed like an eternity the blue light vanished and what's left was the restored conduit of the winter spirit's power.
Jack's happiness about his success was cut short when he collapsed on the earthy ground and laid there panting heavily, paralyzed. His body felt like an empty shell, his limbs like rubber, he couldn't move a muscle. The task of merging his staff back together had fully drained the pitiful remainders of his strenght, he couldn't even sit up anymore. All he could do right now was rest until he thought himself capable of doing more than lying flat on his stomach.
He had dozed off for a while when he was woken by the sun shining down on his face. Jack squinted his eyes at the blinding light and rubbed them drowsily. It must have been midday already. He still was far from feeling well but at least he didn't feel like a boneless pile of snow anymore and finally managed to get back on his feet, even though he needed to lean on his staff for support. The long flight to the North Pole wasn't something he was looking forward to but he pushed that thought away and imagined how comfy it would be to lie on the soft sheets of his bed.
"Wind, take me to North's workshop!" he exclaimed and only then noticed how hoarse his voice sounded.
His throat was sore from all the screaming and he cursed himself for not being able to simply shut up. Oh well, nothing he could do to change that now.
The wind picked him up gently, careful to not further hurt its master when it sensed that he was in a bad shape. Jack only hoped the journey would be over as soon as possible, if it had been up to him he would have gone into hibernation for the rest of the year.
All that kept him awake was the chilling breeze blowing into his face all the way to the Arctic. Whenever he threatened to lose consciousness it jerked him back to his senses, as if telling him to hold on for just a little longer.
After a seemingly endless flight Jack could finally see Santoff Clausen appear in the distance. He sighed in relief and headed straight in the direction where his room was located. To his dismay the window which he had always kept open was firmly closed.
"Oh come ON!" he groaned in frustration and slammed his fist against the glass.
Why couldn't life just give him a break already? The frost teen looked through the window with a grumpy expression and noticed that his room was tidier than it had been when he had left it. The bed was made, the books which had been spread over his desk were put back into the shelf and the empty plates of cookies weren't on his nightstand anymore.
Damn those pedantic yetis with their cleaning bugs.
Now that he did have a room to call his own he didn't like someone else rummaging through it while he was gone. Especially not when they shut down his entrance.
The winter spirit's glance landed again on his bed. So close and yet so far away.
He groaned in annoyance and flew around the building to look for another open window where he could enter. Shortly afterwards he found one but it didn't exactly make him whoop in joy. The globe room. Jack would have prefered to step into a less busy room, he really didn't need any sort of attention right now, all he wanted was to drop dead on his bed. Instead of dashing into the workshop with gusts of icy wind like he usually did the young guardian quietly landed on the windowsill, pulled up his hood and sneaked past the huge globe of belief which towered in the middle of the hall.
So far so good.
"Hey, Jack!"
The winter spirit flinched at the familiar Russian voice. His eyes darted to the corner of the room where North and Bunnymund were sitting at a large wooden table and staring at him.
"What are you waiting for, come here!"
With a deep sigh the young guardian slowly walked towards his friends and hoped dearly that they wouldn't notice his current condition. He didn't want their pity or worry, just a good long sleep. Looking down while approaching them his face was even more hidden by his hood. North didn't seem to mind but Bunny immediately grew suspicious, all of his senses kicking in when he looked at the frost teen. He was leaning heavily on his staff for support, literally dragging himself over the stony floor, although he tried to act like everything was normal. The pooka's sensitive nose twitched at a faint smell he couldn't quite pinpoint. Usually Jack smelled of snow and pine trees, but now there was something else. A mixture of...blood and something burnt maybe? But that didn't make sense, there wasn't any injury visible on the boy as he arrived at their table.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
The Guardian of Hope's assumption that something was wrong was even more reinforced when Jack's voice sounded hoarse, no matter how casual he tried to be. North however either didn't notice or didn't mind and gestured wildly with his arms when he replied.
"Ah, Bunny visited to show off his new metallic rainbow paint! I got to admit it looks fantastic, but he refuses to share it with me so I can try it out on new toys. I wonder who's the 'bloody show pony' now, eh?"
A provocating glare was sent in the anthropomorphic rabbit's direction but he just shrugged it off with a snort.
"However, while he's already here we started to discuss topics for next guardian meeting."
There was a short silence until Bunny decided to be straight forward like he always was.
"So what's the matter with ya, mate? Ya look a lil' under the weather."
Slender shoulders jerked nervously at the blunt question and Jack's pale hands grabbed his staff even tighter. In the next moment he relaxed visibly, or at least gave the best performance he could come up with, and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Nah, I was just busy playing with the kids and spreading snowfall and blizzards, guess it was more exhausting than I had thought it would be. Gotta take a little nap and I'll be right as rain again."
Bunnymund didn't buy a word of it. The winter spirit had more energy at his disposal than the four of them combined, the statement that a day of fun and games and his common winter duties were enough to wear him out was nothing short of ridiculous.
The Russian Santa got up from his chair and walked towards the white-haired boy, who instantly diverted his gaze to the floor.
"Then you better get some rest, let me know when you're up again, I made prototypes for new toys and am curious about your opinion." he winked.
"Sure thing, North. Can't wait to see them, I bet they're awesome." Jack smiled.
"That's a good boy, haha!" the Guardian of Wonder exclaimed and patted him on the back.
Much too powerful. As soon as the large hand collided with his back Jack's breath hitched in his throat and a wave of utter pain shot through his whole body. His vision turned blurry as he felt his legs give out under him and there was nothing he could do about it. Bunny reacted in the blink of an eye and jumped towards his falling comrade, catching him around the waist and saving him from an unpleasant encounter with the hard ground. The magical staff dropped out of his grasp as the Australian guardian knelt down with the panting winter spirit in his arms.
"Jack, what's wrong with ya?" the rabbit asked, for once not caring about how concerned he sounded.
After he got no reply, except pale icy fingers grabbing the fur of his chest in obvious pain, he shot a questioning look at North, who was still standing frozen in place next to them. The wide-eyed and shocked look on the large man's face made Bunny's stomach convulse and he followed the Russian's eyes which were focused on the teen's back. If he hadn't been so self-controlled he would have gasped out in horror. Jack's blue hoodie was torn into pieces, charred holes showing equally burnt and bloody skin underneath. Unusually gentle paws slowly pulled the hood off the boy's head, careful to not cause even more harm. North swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered himself next to the other two guardians. Plain worry shone from their faces as they took in the sight in front of them. What had once been silvery white hair was now tinted brownish red, mud covering the young spirit's pale face and dried blood from a wound on his temple clinging to his skin. His eyes were clenched shut as he fought an internal battle against the agony in his body.
"Mate...who did this to ya?" Bunny managed to say after what had seemed like forever.
Again there was no answer, just an exhausted moan coming from the barely conscious teen in his arms. Suddenly North came back out of his catatonic state.
"Does not matter right now, we must patch him up first. We'll beat the hell out of whoever is responsible for this later." the Russian declared with a firm and determined voice.
The Guardian of Hope nodded, for once not feeling the need to argue with the big man, and cautiously lifted the limp form up, making sure he didn't touch the injured back.
Orders were bellowed at the yetis as they hurried upstairs, no second was wasted to get the teen the medical attention he desperately needed. When Bunny realized they were headed towards Jack's room he raised an eyebrow at his companion.
"Wait, why aren't we takin' him to the infirmary instead?"
"Jack's quarters are coldest place in workshop, he'll feel far more comfortable there."
Okay, that was reason enough.
They finally reached the white door with the engraved snowflake and North pushed it open with such force it was slammed against the wall. There was no doubt the hardy Russian was upset and worried beyond imagination. Jack was like a son to him and Bunnymund was sure he was already plotting revenge on the people who battered him.
As soon as they set foot in the room North noticed something out of the ordinary and glared at noone in particular.
"Gah, what idiot closed the windows!? It should be a lot colder in here!" he shouted, stomping towards them and ripping them open.
While two yetis entered the room and placed a tray with several bottles and medical equipment on the nightstand Bunny gently laid the winter spirit down on the bed, being foresightful enough to place him on his side and not on his damaged back. A gust of chilling wind breezed through the open windows but noone, not even the warmth-loving rabbit, complained.
"I pressume ya know how ta deal with burns?"
"Of course, I had plenty experience when I experimented with fire spitting dragon toys a few centuries ago...wasn't my best idea I have to admit."
If the situation hadn't been so grave the pooka would have chuckled at the statement. But his attention was still drawn to his friend, the one he considered both an unbearable nuisance and a little brother at the same time, who seemed to be caught in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. His eyes randomly flickered open but when they did they only stared into the void. It appeared like he wasn't even aware of someone else being there.
"We must take off shirt to treat his wounds." the old guardian explained.
Together they raised the barely awake teen up into a sitting position and ever so carefully pulled the hoodie over his head. Looks of concern were exchanged between them as they saw Jack's bare upper body for the first time. Of course it had always been obvious that he was of slender build, but now he looked even more fragile and vulnerable than ever before.
North tossed the ruined piece of clothing on a nearby chair, reminding himself to let the yetis fix it later. He dipped a beefy finger into a bowl of water which had been one of the items his fellow helpers had brought. It wasn't cold enough for his liking. With a frown he walked towards the windowsill, grabbed a handful of snow and put it into the bowl. When he decided the temperature was alright he plunged a washcloth into the icy water and poured the contents of a bottle of iodine on it.
"This will hurt, but your wound needs to be cleaned to prevent infection." the Cossack addressed the barely responsive teen and proceeded to do what he had to do.
Dazed blue eyes shot open the moment the ravaged back was touched and a choked gasp rang through the air. The iodine felt like acid burning into his skin. Jack's whole body tensed and turned even more into a fetal position as his fingers crawled the bedsheets and his breathing got unsteady.
The Easter Guardian watched him with increasing concern when he saw beads of cold sweat forming on his pale forehead. Since when could a winter spirit sweat? This wasn't a good sign at all.
While North was focusing on finishing the unpleasant task as quick as possible to not let his young friend suffer for longer than absolutely necessary, Bunnymund hated sitting there and feeling utterly useless. There had to be something he could do.
A miserable whimper coming from the boy in front of him alerted him further and though he would never admit it to anyone he felt his heart wrench when he saw a small tear being forced out of tightly clenched eyes.
In that moment the pooka didn't care about giving his otherwise harsh demeanor a break or his comrades teasing him about it afterwards. He had to do something, no matter how futile it would be. A furry paw was placed on a smaller pale and trembling hand and stroked it with rarely shown kindness.
"Hang on, mate, it's gonna be alright. Soon ya'll be as good as new and cause mischief and annoy the crap outta me again."
Just the slightest indication of a smile formed on the frost teen's face, if Bunny hadn't waited for it he probably wouldn't have noticed. And yet, it was enough to make the rabbit feel a tiny bit relieved. The hand in his grasp released it's death grip on the bedsheets and the frail body relaxed visibly.
North stopped in his tracks and looked at his fellow guardian with a startled expression.
"I think he blacked out." Bunny stated, his eyes not leaving the limp form and his paw staying right where it was. "Maybe better that way."
The Russian Santa nodded in sympathy, who knew what else the boy had gone through in the last few hours, he surely deserved getting some rest and not feeling anymore pain for the time being. After he had finished cleaning the injury he poured a special ointment on his fingers and carefully rubbed it onto the teen's back. With Bunny's help he wrapped bandages around Jack's upper body and when the most severe wound was treated they washed the dirt and blood out of his hair and face and took care of the cut on his temple. Fortunately it wasn't deep and didn't need to be stitched, so they only applied a medium-sized thick band-aid on it.
When they were done with patching their youngest teammember up the two ancient guardians placed him back on the bed so he was lying on his side and covered him with a soft light blanket. They watched the peacefully sleeping form for a little while before they slowly walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind them.
"Ya really think we should leave him alone right now?" Bunny inquired with barely masked concern.
"He needs rest, we did what we could. Knowing him he'll be his old self again in no time." North in said confident voice.
Luckily for them all immortals had the ability to heal a lot faster than ordinary humans, but it would still take Jack a few days to fully recover. The pooka could already imagine what an unnerving task it would be to convince the Guardian of Fun that he had to stay in bed once he woke up.
"We should notify the others, though. Whoever did this ta him won't escape unscathed, I won't allow it." the large rabbit balled his fists and started to spin a plot about how he would take revenge.
"You're right, we must discuss with Tooth and Sandy what we're going to do about it. I'll go and activate Northern Lights." the Cossack agreed and made his way to the globe room, leaving the Easter guardian behind, who assured him he would join him in a bit.
Before he had realized it his paw had landed on the handle of the door and he stopped in his tracks. Yes, he should let the kid rest but for some reason he felt the need to check on him just once more. The door was opened in slow motion so as not to wake him and quietly shut again to keep the noise of the bustling activity in the workshop out of the room. A chilling breeze ruffled his fur and he shivered in dissapproval. Had it already been so icy in here before? Maybe he had been too upset to notice. Bunnymund snorted as he rubbed his arms with his paws to warm himself up. Green eyes landed on the sleeping form and the pooka walked towards the bed, looking the teen over to make sure he was still alright. Jack's formerly ragged breathing had turned back into a calm and steady rhythm, his facial features were relaxed and he seemed to be at ease, despite his physical condition. The Easter Guardian gently patted the boy's hair, silently promising him that whoever was responsible for this would pay dearly for it. Suddenly Bunny drew his paw back and shook his head in denial.
Since when had he turned into such a...softie? Towards Jack Frost of all people! He had hated the brat's guts for decades, couldn't have cared less about his well-being and wouldn't have given a damn if he had dissappeared from the planet altogether. But things obviously had changed. The bloody show pony could still annoy the hell out of him and wasted no opportunity to tease and bother him, but the thought that someone else laid a hand on him made Bunny's fur stand on end. If he wanted to admit it or not, Jack had become like a little brother to him and noone messed with his family and got away with it.
A/N : Before anyone feels the urge to kill me, don't worry, Jack will be fine. And is it obvious that I'm a sucker for Jack's and Bunny's brotherly relationship? :P
