It had been several days since Jack´s last encounter with Pitch and he was definitely stugling, he had cleaned and cared for the wound but it was still quite painful and most definitely limited his movement. He was uncertain as to what to do, the wisest option would be to return to the police and he knew it, the only problem was he was scared, very scared. The threat had been empty in reality, Jack knew the guardians and Manny had guaranted his safety, yet that didn't help with the fear.
He sighed as he sat apon the roof of the tall building watching the streets so full of movement, yet nobody looked up to see the young child. He watched the people live out there daily lives, watched how children ran around playing, how there parents called for them to not go to far while they checked out the vegetables, meat or other food products for dinner, he watched the groups of friends talking about work, weather or how smart there children were, he watched how a shop keeper complained to his teenage son that business was slow and how the police kept an equally cautious eye on it all, always without looking up.
Then, as he looked away from the busy market and into a smaller side street he saw something truly interesting, or perhaps horrifying, a small child was being held by several bigger men, they spoke loudly yet Jack coudl not make out what there were saying over the buzz of the market, and he clearly was not the only once seeing as nobody seemed to notice the event, looking towards the market he saw a couple searching and shouting frantically, Jack guessed these were the parents but there really was no time to tell them, instead he was quick to jump of the roof landing metres away from the group.
The men jumped back dropping the child who fell on her feet and ran of towards the market, Jack smirked at the men's shocked faces, it took the men a moment before they were on the move again, they attaced violently with punches and kicks, of course Jack had no problem in getting out the way, a single jump and he dodged the lot, landing behind them, he didn't hesitate to strike with his staff knocking one of them out, the two left hesitated before retreating towards the market, but before they could get out a familiar face appeared at the entrance to the alley.
"North," Jack said shocked, the man turned looking at Jack equally as shocked, only recovering when a small voice behind him reminded him of what he was here for.
"Them! Those are the men who attacked me!"
North nodded, and with a single swipe of his sword the men had backed against a wall and begging for mercy. The police had no problem arresting the three after that.
"Jack," North grinned and walkekd over to the much smaller boy, "we have been worried, searched everywere for you."
Before Jack had the chance to apologize for his absense the girl from earlier ran over and hugged him around the waist, "you saved me!" she shouted excitedly.
Jack took a second to register the girl before he laughed and nodded, "yeah, well I could't just sit around watching now could I?" he said with a smile.
The girl nodded and gave one last smile before turning and running back towards where her parents were waiting, Jack turned to see North smiling proudly, "I see you have been busy," he said before shaking his head, "but really Jack, it is time to go back home, others will be relieved to see you are alive and well, and not with Pitch."
"You though I had gone to join Pitch?"
"No, but we may have believed that you had been kidnapped, it wouldn't be the first time now would it?"
Jack snorted, "perhaps but you really should have more trust in me," he said but smiled all the same, happy to think that anybody was worrying about him.
North and Jack began to walk towards the mansion that the guardians called home, of course before they were even near the mansion North already noticed Jack wasn't doing too well, his breathing was of and he was shaking just a bit from the effort of walking, North stopped as he remembered how Jack had been during the battle, he remembered Jack lying down on the ground shaking while Pitch and Aldric argued over his fate right in front of him.
"Jack?" North whispered, Jack stopped and turned to look at North, head tilted in question, "are you okay?"
Jack nodded, "yeah, why? What do you mean?" he answered doubtfully.
"Jack, has your wound from the scythe been cared for?"
"I cleaned it..."
"And did you break any bones when you fell?"
"I-I havent checked," he admitted.
North nodded, "we will have you checked up when we get back, okay?"
Jack frowned but nodded, "guess I can't just go straight back to battle without at least checking, right?"
North nodded, "it is for your own good, you are not used to care and we know this but it is still necesity, understood?"
"Yeah, I got it North, I'll do whatever you want if it means I can have a hot meal," he said with a grin, North nodded.
"We will have feast to celebreate your return if you like!" he shouted laughing.
Jack laughed, "I was only hoping for some soup or something but you know, whatever you want, I ain't one to complain."
Soon they arrived at the house, North opened the door and entered followed by Jack, "welcome back!" Tooth shouted from the living room when she heard the door open.
"Hi!" Jack replied causing a gasp followed by running, soon Tooth was holding Jack tightly.
"Oh my god Jack do you have any idea how worried we have been about you!"
Jack laughed, "sorry, I kinda ran of didn't I? Old habits I guess."
Tooth sighed and smiled softly, "you must be exausted, and hungry, you should go to the living room and lie down a bit, I need to tell Bunny the good news!" she said with a smile as she ran of as silently and gracefully as always.
North looked at Jack and smiled when he saw how he smiled after Tooth, the kid could use more love and care and who was better for the job then Tooth, "come Jack, let us get you to sofa where it is warm and you can rest."
Jack nodded, letting North lead him into the living room and onto one of the sofa where he cuddled up into a corner apreciating the warmth of the room. Soon Bunny was in, "Jack?"
Jack sat up and turned around so as to look at Bunny, he smiled when he saw the relief on Bunny's face, "happy to see me?"
Bunny grinned as he sat down next to hin, "yeah, I guess I am," he said as he pulled Jack close and began to remove his hoodie, "let's see the damage then."
Jack whimpered but didn't stop Bunny from removing the clothing to reveal the horrible blue and red chest, "it looks worse than it is," he whispered.
"Though you said you cleaned it Jack?" North asked.
Jack nodded, "yeah but I opened it again when climbing onto the roof so... yeah..."
Bunny frowned, "North can you get some warm water and a cloth, we'll see how bad the damage truly is after that," North nodded and left.
"So, what have you been up to the last few days?" Jack asked hesitantly as Bunny looked him over.
"Mostly, searching for you," Bunny replied, then looked at Jack, "you can't run of like that all the time, it is dangerous, especially now."
Jack nodded, "I know, it's just that..."
"I know, the officer told us, and he was wrong to act the way he did, if it were up to me he would be fired instantly," Bunny said angrily.
"I wouldn't go that far," Jack whispered but relaxed knowing the guardians weren't angry at him.
Soon North returned with the water and cloth and quickly Bunny began to clean, the wound soon looked cleaner but actually seeing where the blade had cut though the flesh almost made it look worse, Jack whimpered a bit at the sting of the water but in general was very brave, he had been though worse pain after all. Once it was done Bunny checked for broken bones, finding quite a few ribs and many cracked bones all over his body, including his shoulder and his hip as the worst.
"Jack, I know you are going to hate this but you're going to have to rest for a few days while we investigate, we need more information and it's not like you would be very good at that anyway," Bunny explained.
Jack nodded, he didn't look pleased but wasn't going to bother arguing, "information on who? Pitch?"
"The whole lot, Pitch, Aldric, his followers, the weaker gangs that wonder arouns here, the more we know the better we can prepare for what is coming up next."
Jack nodded and sighed, "I may be able to help you with that, I know all the main gangs and plenty of outlaws around here and I may be able to give some information on Aldric..."
North nodded, "the more the better, Jack, do you want to tell us now or shall we wait?"
Jack nodded, "now is fine, I will probably need a paper and pen to write down all the gangs and outlaws, there are a lot more of them than you realize, as for Aldric, I guess that's what really matters, more than the outlaws from around here."
"Yeah, guess he is," North put a hand on Jack's shoulder, "but you don't have to say anything you don't want to."
Jack nodded, "I know, but there are some stuff that are important, like how he is an expert at traps, he can tie some amazing knots, he is also an expert at disguise, although I guess you probably figured that out."
North nodded, "Aldric was many people at once, he fooled many, even his wife..."
"M-Mary...?"
"Yeah, he fooled her into cheating on him sort of, in reality it was Aldric with a disguise but she didn't know that, murdered her for it in the worst way, of course we didn't find that out until years after the incident."
Jack whiped tears from his eyes, "she didn't deserve that, he abused her, she was just searching for help."
North nodded, "I can imagine, so young, she was only 23 years old, and her child," he shook his head.
Jack's eyes widened, "what happenes to him?"
"The child?"
Jack nodded.
North frowned, "dead, acording to Aldric, aparently he tried to run away."
Jack nodded, "I can imagine," he sighed, "Aldric is a horribly person," he whispered looking up, "he is good at psycology, he can make one feel guilty for doing the right thing," Jack explained, "he is a perfect actor, he can easily make you believe anything he wants you to, my suggestion is to not believe anything."
North nodded, "yeah, we have noticed all this in previous victims of his."
Jack nodded, "he is good with poisons."
"Poisons? Never heard that before..."
Jack nodded, "he saves them as a last resort, but they are very dangerous if you're not careful."
"Any idea what kind of poisons? We mya be able to prepare some anitdotes to have on hand," Bunny pointed out.
Jack frowned, "sorry, no, I know they are his own creation, he tests it out on animals... usually..."
Bunny looked at Jack's white hair and frowned, "usually..."
Jack sighed, "I'm sorry, my head hurts," he whispered.
North smiled, "rest, we can talk later, you have recovering to be done."
Jack nodded, resting his head on the cushion, he heard the guardians leave, closing the door behind them before he closed his eyes quickly falling asleep.