Author's notes: It's been a very busy year for me, guys. I'm a graduating student now, wow. Time really flies so fast, I remember when I first joined this fandom when I was barely in university! Thank you so much for all the kind messages, support, and patience!
Additional info about the last chapter: Jack isn't the only Winter Spirit out there, there are others who, like Jack, hibernates. Some of them hibernate on the months Jack is awake. These Winter Ones are the ones whose territory are in the Southern Hemisphere, they go hibernate up in the Northern Hemisphere when the S hemisphere goes to summer because it's colder up there. This also applies to Jack, only vice versa. He can feel his territory going over to summer so he goes to sleep because he and his territory are intricately tied that way. But he's a winter spirit so he needs to sleep somewhere cold like the southern hemisphere or the south and north pole
Author's chosen monster of the week: Bicho-papão is an imaginary monster from Portuguese children's mythology. It also appears in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, such in as Galicia, Catalonia and the Astúrias. The Bicho-papão is the embodiment of fear, a mutant creature who can become any form of living being, a spirit or a monstrous animal eating children. It is always lurking and is attracted to naughty children. The Bicho-papão is used by parents to frighten children and prevent them from disobeying. One can hear then in Portugal the motto "behave well otherwise comes the Bicho-papão". Feeling alone and helpless, children will tend to obey… In Portugal , the Bicho-papão is the theme of an old children song : "Go Bicho-papão, go away – above this roof – let the boy sleep – a restful nap."
Headcanon: There is a machine, invented by North and Bunny, that does Sandy's job for him, only for a few days though, technological limitations, but its goal is to give Sandy a few days off.
Prompt from rotgkinkmeme (also serves as a summary): There are a lot of fics out there that have Jack getting hurt and the Guardians nursing him back to health. I'd like to see the opposite of that… (continuation at the bottom, to avoid spoiling the plot)
Safe and Sound
by FeastofDeath
The child was crying behind him, grasping Jack's hoodie and burying his face on Jack's shoulder while the guardian of Fun tried to keep him away from the fighting. He tried not to wince as the little boy obliviously pushed on Jack's bruises. The bicho-papão had managed to get a hard swipe in, his chest felt bruised and his head was pounding from the enemy repeatedly slamming his head on the concrete walls of the boy's room earlier. It was a miracle that boy's parents hadn't come running in yet.
Jack curled around the boy protectively, staff in hand and pointed at the enemy, ready to protect at even a hint of violence towards them. The other Guardians were fighting the monster head-on, the bicho-papão was putting up an impressive fight and the Guardians were constantly caught off guard by its claws. They had various scratches varying from deep to shallow, the amount of blood was starting to get alarming.
The guardian of Fun covered the boy's eyes and mentally reminded himself to use one of Bunny's forgetting chocolate on the kid to prevent trauma. Right now though, he was too busy curling protectively around the boy as he tried to support his fellow guardians by icing the ground where the bicho-papão stepped. Every time he lost his step, the guardians would manage to weaken him and slow him down.
But the longer the fight went, the slower the guardians became. One of North's sword was stuck on the wall and the bicho-papão seemed to have blown some sort of dust in his face that made him seem dazed all throughout the fight, missing cues and getting knocked away a lot. Bunny had a deep gash on his shoulder and leg, Tooth's wings were a mess, so much so that she was barely flying, and Sandy had gotten some sort of venom in him that paralyzed half of his body, barely commanding the sands with one hand.
Jack took his chance when the bicho-papão focused his full attention on the guardians, noticing the great decrease in attacks. Jack stealthily lifted his staff and waved it, gathering the wind into forming a terrifying group of clouds right over them.
The bicho-papão noticed the forming storm overhead and after looking at the other guardians to see if they did it, he turned towards Jack and roared at the smirk on the other's face. As the guardian of Fun made a violent motion to the ground, calling forth sharp icicles from the makeshift clouds. The bicho-papão swung its spiky tail right in his direction, the sharp icicles fell on top of him at the same time.
Jack's eyes widened and the kid behind him fainted, just as the spiked tail was about to hit them. Jack covered his body, getting the tail embedded on his side. The guardian of Fun grunted, freezing the tail and tearing it painfully from his side, blood dripping to the floor at the action. He looked at the fainted kid and thanked Manny for small mercies. The kid was going to need so much therapy after this.
The bicho-papão was iced to the ground, trying to struggle free but the injuries he got from Jack and the guardians, made it impossible to escape. It let out an ear-piercing wail, making Jack wince. Bunny and Tooth, both with the most sensitive hearing among them, collapsed to the ground paws and hands on their ears.
"Bunny! Tooth!" The two guardians didn't respond, the ear-piercing wail was probably the last straw for their overtaxed bodies. Sandy was paralyzed and North was barely standing, looking lost and confused. Seems like Jack was the healthiest of them, excluding the kid.
"Great, I see I'm doing the clean up." He sighed, trying to push aside his worry. He iced the wound on his side, wincing and knowing that the injury would get worse if he didn't get immediate treatment. But for now, he had to banish the bicho-papão with the potion Bunny made and make sure everyone got back to North's place and can be tended to properly.
Jack first checked if the guardians were okay. He made North lie down and close his eyes, hiss easy compliance made him worry even more. Sandy gave him a thumbs up from where he was, his hand being the only thing he could move, Tooth and Bunny were lying still on the floor. Next, he lifted the kid up and placed him on his bed. There were a few tears on the blanket but the yetis can take care of that. Then, Jack went towards Bunny and looked through his bandolier of potions, finding the one for the bicho-papão and chocolate for a short memory wipe for the kid, thank goodness for Bunny's obsessive-compulsive planning.
He poured the dust from the potion bottle over the beast, "Go Bicho-papão, go away – above this roof – let the boy sleep – a restful nap." He muttered, the dust sinking into the monster's flesh and eating away at his skin, until no trace of him was left. The icicles holding him down clattered to the floor. With a wave of Jack's staff, they dissolved into snow which the wind carried outside.
Jack turned to the unconscious kid and placed the memory wipe chocolate in his mouth. It melted instantly. He could see it worked because the tense body of the kid relaxed and his face softened into sleep. Jack took out an extra bag of dream sand and sprinkled it above the boy's head just to ensure a happy sleep. Immediately, a good dream formed.
The guardian of Fun winced when he turned around, his side burned. He caught sight of the other guardians and worry gnawed at him.
It seems like he wasn't finished just yet.
The Yetis were bustling about the kid's room, making sure it was clean and a few were carrying the unconscious guardians through the snow-globe-portals while Jack directed the remaining yetis over what else needed to be done. After half an hour of making sure the yetis had everything under control, he entered the portal and entered into North's sanctuary.
He went to check in the guardians who were all being placed on their respective medical beds.
When he was assured that the guardians were all safely settled in the Medical bay, Jack called all the yetis and elves to the globe room.
He was situated on top of the globe when they came in and he tried not to wince much when he twirled his staff, "Okay, so here's the deal: we're in trouble."
There was curious chatter and Jack held up a hand silencing it. "As you all know, the guardians and I have just come from a very tiring and difficult battle with another Monster of the week. And I'm sure, you also saw how it didn't go as well as we hoped and now we have four guardians down." There was a general murmur of worry and Jack waved his hand to silence them. "Another thing, these four guardians, as you all know have very important jobs. Tooth and Sandy have very busy jobs that requires them to work every single day, Christmas is but a few months away and well, Bunny's Warren needs tending even though Easter is still next year."
There was a general murmur of agreement and worry at what Jack said. "And yeah, I'm afraid there is no news of when they'll wake up and as you know, fostering children's beliefs waits for no one." Jack said and then he inhaled deeply, "And we all know how important children's beliefs are, there are millions of kids out there relying on us but right now North and the others aren't in their best shape to be relied on. So, this is where you guys come in."
Realizing that they were about to do something very important, a few yetis started to take out notebooks to write on. Jack had been thinking about what to do with the guardians temporarily unavailable and he managed to come up with a few good things.
"Tooth has the mini tooth fairies to handle her job, but they need someone to supervise, which at the time-being would be Baby Tooth and a yeti who knows his way around the Tooth Palace." Jack said and Baby Tooth chirped as she fluttered about behind his head. "Next, Sandy doesn't have any assistants, but a few years back North made a machine that would help him get at least a week's vacation from his job of spreading dreams. So, what we need at the moment is a few mechanics. I have no idea how long the guardians will be recovering, so we need a few yetis up at the Sandman's castle guarding it and doing daily maintenance on the machine just in case Sandy's recovery take too long."
There was nodding and a few planning, Phil had a clipboard in hand, going over the names to assign to various tasks.
"Next, we need several yetis to maintain Bunny's Warren, because, aside from the eggs and sentinels- who guard the place and have no hands, none of them can do the planting and tending and everything. So, I want your best gardeners ready to go." Jack continued, "Phil will be temporarily in-charge of production here in Santoff Claussen and I'll be the one to look after the guardians and check in on everyone once in a while." Aside from mending few cuts, bruises and the occasional broken bones, none of the yetis were really nurse material. Bunny and Tooth were the ones who usually handled complicated medical care among the guardians and there was no better anaesthesia than the sandman's sand. Sadly, all three were out of commission. "Is that an okay plan for you?"
One of the yetis raised his hands and started grumbling and flailing. Jack sighed.
"I know, we're already short-handed without North but we don't have a choice. Christmas isn't the only thing endangered here." Jack explained, "I'll try to help when I can."
There were reluctant grumbles and then Phil started calling yeti names by grunts and Jack was left sitting on top of the globe, looking up at the glass ceiling trying to converse with the moon telepathically. But the moon was silent tonight as it always was. North said it was just who Manny was.
"I guess I won't be seeing you for awhile?"Jack gently nudged the fluttering Baby Tooth. She cooed at him and affectionately pecked his ear.
Phil waved at Baby Tooth, pointing at the yeti assigned to the Tooth palace. The tiny fairy waved at Jack before she followed the yeti to the snowglobe room.
Jack inhaled deeply before gracefully jumping down from the globe. One of the yetis in-charge of the medical bay was by his side in an instant, a clip board in hand.
"You patched them up as well as you could?" Jack asked and the yeti grumbled before pushing some papers in Jack's hands.
"Hm," The guardian of fun analysed the symptoms and the chemicals found in the bodies based on North's medical machines. "Has North or Bunny they started vomiting? Nausea?"
The medical yeti shook his head on the first question and nodded his head on the last question.
"Well, ready some bed pans just in case." Jack pursed his lips, worry in his expression. "Make sure they have oxygen masks on, they might have difficulty breathing. Sandy and Tooth…" He scanned the pages, "Overdose of Atropine…" He shook his head, he needed to read about this. So, someone needs to do research. "How bad are Tooth's wings?"
The yeti wince was answer enough and Jack's grip on the papers tightened. "Can we spare anyone for research?" Jack called out towards Phil who looked overwhelmed by the number of yetis he had to assign tasks to. Phil looked back and shook his head frantically.
Jack pursed his lips but then his side twinged in pain. He staggered and the yeti beside him caught him.
"I'm fine." He gasped, when the yeti tried to argue, he shook his head. "No time and we don't have any yetis to spare. I'll handle research and taking care of the guardians."
Jack raised his staff and the wind lifted him up, "Phil! I'm counting on you!" And with that, the wind cocooned him towards the library.
Heavy books littered the floor of the infirmary, Jack was seated on one of the empty beds, books stacked up everywhere within reach.
Bunny and Tooth began shivering, so Jack got up with a grunt, dragging quilts from a nearby cabinet to pull over the two guardians. Tooth was lying on her stomach, her torn wings were carefully wrapped in bandages. Jack carefully peered to look at the damage and to his relief, it seemed to be healing. It was probably because of the belief of the children, helping Tooth's healing along.
Bunny groaned on his side of the bed and Jack flew to his side when he rolled to his side, grabbing the bed pan just in time for him to puke. Jack grimaced as he placed the bed pan under the bed and got a warm cloth to wipe Bunny's forehead, twitching nose, and mouth.
After he moved to Sandy who was still paralyzed but awake. His eyes followed Jack who asked, "Are you thirsty?" He and Sandy had developed a blink once for yes, and twice for no system.
Sandy blinked twice and Jack helped him drink from the straw cup. His eyes conveyed apology and gratefulness.
North was groaning, moving side-to-side, sometimes he seemed to have difficulties in breathing. Jack looked around and saw the oxygen machine, dragging it over and placing the mask on North's face. When he was sure that North could breathe properly, he turned towards the cabinets and took out an ointment for Tooth's wings.
The Easter elf was the one who found the ointment and several other medicines from Bunny's cabin. Another yeti found a book filled with homemade medicines written by Bunny, along with their uses and ingredients and how to make them.
It was a mixture of arnica, basil, and cardamom- numbing herbs and various spices that came from Bunny's home planet, which he grew only in the Warren. It numbed the pain and sped up the natural healing of the cells. The book specified that it could only be applied at a small dosage, once every three days for tearing or scars.
Jack rubbed his eyes tiredly, after he washed his hands from applying ointment on Tooth's wings. He sighed and fell to the floor, grabbing a book at random and flipping to the next page. He flinched and his side throb in retaliation at his position and he slumped to the floor, curling on himself.
His ice could only stop the pain and poison from spreading for so long. He placed a hand on his injury and huffed at the wet spot on his hoodie. He slapped his hand on his side, reinforcing the ice and groaning in pain at the pressure.
A few days. He just needed a few days.
When the pain finally stopped throbbing, Jack sat up gingerly and grabbed the book again to continue reading.
Santoff Claussen was quiet.
The guardians were indisposed, the yetis were all divided into groups to help with the other guardians' realms and those left in the North Pole were too busy to talk. Even the usually boisterous elves were quiet, helping around because they could see how much strain everyone was in.
Jack missed the usual holiday bustle and the occasional pranking. He missed Bunny's loud accusations, North's booming laughs, Tooth's admiring sighs, and Sandy's quiet sassiness.
Once upon a time, Jack could have cared less about the guardians. He didn't care whether they lost or won or disappeared- sometimes he even preferred it if they would. Because they didn't care about him or even bothered to talk to him in his three hundred years of existence, so why should he bother to care about them?
But now, here he is, barely two years since the war with Pitch and the nightmares. He's a guardian now too, standing in Santa's shop where before he would have been kicked out by a yeti without a single word from him being heard.
He was standing in workshop's dining room, looking at the empty long table. If the incident with the bicho-papão never happened, they would have been celebrating in this very dining room with all the yetis, the elves, some eggs, and fairies. Sandy would have tried to get himself drunk from the eggnog. Bunny would be picking his food- avoiding chocolate and meat. Tooth would have been talking about something disgusting about teeth and gums and making a few yetis lose their appetite. North would be telling Jack a story about the old days, whatever that meant, and making jokes about Easter that would eventually make Bunny challenge him into an arm wrestling match.
Now the dining room was empty, the yetis had taken to eating while working, there weren't even any cooks in the kitchen. If you wanted to eat, you had to make it yourself or just grabbed whatever was edible.
Jack had a tray of full soup bowls balanced on his staff. He'd gotten distracted by the lack of noise and laughter. It reminded him too much of cold nights, spent alone, looking at the moon
If he failed the guardians, would his life go back to hollow laughter of unseeing children?
Jack's heart clenched at the thought and his flinch almost sent the tray toppling. Thankfully with a practice wave of his staff, the wind caught it and gently set it to the floor. The guardian of Fun ducked down and picked up the tray.
He couldn't do anything about his fear of doing something wrong but he can try to face what happens head on. If not for the children of the world relying on the guardians to be there for them, then for the guardians themselves, who is relying on him.
Jack inhaled deeply and set off for the infirmary.
It was in the middle of the night when Jack was jerked awake by a low groaning sound. He'd fallen asleep, slumped on Bunny's bed and his side and neck ached from his position. He placed a hand on his aching neck and clumsily got up, grabbing his staff to see what was happening.
It was North who'd made the pained sound. He was turned on his side and, to Jack's joy, was looking right at Jack.
"Jack…"
"North!" Jack jumped to his side, happy to see that, finally, one of the guardians were awake. He wondered if the poison was flushing itself out and if there was a way to make it go faster. Almost immediately, Jack's mind went through everything he'd read about detoxication herbs-
A warm hand on his arm jolted the guardian out of his thoughts.
"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Jack asked instead, sitting by North's bedside.
"Nyet… No, I am fine… eh, mostly. Breathing is difficult…" North coughed and Jack grabbed a glass of water and straw. North's movement was limited, so Jack helped him drink, pushing the oxygen mask to the side.
When everything was calm again, North moved his head to the side, narrowing his eyes to look at his fellow guardians in bed.
"I see, I am not the only one bed-ridden, heh-" Santa's blue eyes twinkled in amusement as though he just thought of something, "Am I the first to wake?
"Yes?" Jack raised a confused eyebrow.
"HA!" North exclaimed. Jack jumped in surprise, "I am much stronger than overgrown rabbit-!" He said before he began coughing. Jack wanted to face palm, but instead he shook his head in amusement and pushed North back down, helping him drink again. "Spasibo…"
Jack quietly watched the older guardian.
"What is wrong, Jack? You are quiet." North asked, turning to the youngest guardian.
"I'm just glad you guys are gonna be okay." But then North raised an eyebrow, knowing there was something more. Jack's shoulders slumped, "I don't know what I'm doing." He admitted. "It's been days since you and everyone were attacked and we're barely holding it together here."
"Oh, so Christmas hasn't been cancelled yet. That is good news." North said good-naturedly, chuckling at Jack's eye roll.
"Have some faith in me, North." Jack said exasperatedly, "I won't let belief in you vanish without a fight."
North smiled, "I have all the faith in you, Jack Frost. As do the other guardians…" The guardian of Wonder said, "Which is why we can rest so peacefully, knowing you are there to protect the children's belief in us, in what we represent."
Jack swallowed, "But… we're barely holding it together."
"That is more than enough. I do not think we would have been as successful, if we were in your place." North said with a smile, "You are doing a fine job."
Jack looked down, eyes burning. He inhaled sharply and cleared his throat, "So uh, you really don't need anything? Are you hungry or-"
"No, it is fine. I would ask for more numbing ointment but I am guessing you are using Bunny's mixture." North said, "Which means it can only be used once every three days."
"Yeah." Jack apologized, "Sorry."
"Not your fault," North waved away his regret. "Why not tell me a story instead?"
Jack's head shot up expression incredulous, "A story?"
"No one is too old for stories," North said wisely, "It is how we spread belief, is it not? Because children believe in stories told about us."
"I- yeah." Jack nodded, "What story would you like? Do I need to get a book from your study?"
"Nyet, the story I want to hear has yet to be written, I believe." North said, bright eyes looking at the younger guardian. "Which is a shame, because I believe everyone deserves to hear the story of how Jack Frost came to be."
Jack's breath hitched, "You want-"
"You have heard of our stories and our adventures. I think it is time that we have the same privilege." North said, slowly moving his hand to pat Jack's arm. "Three hundred years is a long time."
"It is." Jack swallowed thickly, "A very long, cold, lonely time for a winter spirit with no memories."
North conveyed his apologies in his eyes, "Tell me."
And so, Jack did.
It took two weeks for the guardians to finally be able to move, although somewhat gingerly.
Tooth had strictly been informed by Jack and the head yeti of the infirmary not to use her wings for at least a month. She had to walk around like a human being for awhile, and had to recover in Santoff Claussen because of her limited mobility. Baby Tooth assured her that the situation in at the Palace was in control. The other fairies were just relieved that she woke up. They were working harder than ever because of it, allowing the two yetis assigned at the palace to come back to their old jobs.
Bunny also had to stay put because of his injuries. Though, he did insist that the yetis in his Warren be called back, he didn't want to owe North anything.
"The Warren can handle itself for awhile." Bunny said, groaning as he stretched his legs. "Now that I'm awake, I can put it in temporary stasis, to preserve the plants there until I'm back."
Sandy was relieved he could use his sand again. In the end, Jack found the solution to Sandy's predicament through one of North's old journals. It said that moon crystals had healing properties for fae and star spirits alike. Thanks to Phil, Jack was able to get his hand on a moon crystal to grind it and mix it with Sandy's sand and dream roots he got from Bunny's Warren.
Sandy hugged Jack and made a big THANK YOU sand-banner for him. The yetis in his sand palace were called back and Sandy merely went to North's balcony to spread his sand wherever it wanted to go. He still had trouble flying in long distances, often plummeting to the floor when he floated for too long.
North, of course, was in better shape than any of them. A fact he did not let Bunny forget. He thanked Jack loudly, pulling him into a bear hug and patting his back so strongly, it made Jack topple to the floor. He ordered the yetis to prepare a feast for their recoveries and success against the bicho-papão.
Dinner that night was as loud as Jack expected. Maybe even louder what with the yetis going all out in celebrating after two weeks of working nonstop to keep the belief around the world going.
Jack smiled from where he was seated. He looked down at his food and it looked delicious-
But he didn't feel like eating.
The pain on his side was a constant thing now. The ice was melting faster than he could refreeze it. He'd wrapped his stomach in bandages, hoping it would help.
Thankfully, the festivities didn't last as long as it usually did. The yetis needed some rest for tomorrow and so did the guardians. Jack immediately hopped to the window ledge, ready to go.
"Jack?" The guardian of Fun turned to see Tooth clumsily walk towards him. She wasn't used to merely walking. "You're not going to stay?"
Jack tried to smile, but he had a feeling it was more of a grimace. "Yeah, lots of things to do, snow to deliver. You know if I don't do my job, other, harsher winter spirits do it for me."
"Oh." Tooth said disappointed but she covered it up with a smile. She reached out and Jack carefully leaned down to allow her to take his hand. He winced internally at the position, "Well, I hope you have a safe trip and come back soon. We owe you a lot for taking care of us and for making sure that the belief of the children is still strong."
Jack shrugged awkwardly, "You guys grew on me." He said trying to lighten the serious atmosphere. He cleared his throat, "But yeah, no big deal."
"It is a very big deal," Tooth said seriously, "Thank you so much, Jack."
Jack smiled sincerely and said, "Glad I could help."
Jack panted as he crash-landed outside of his hidden cave in Burgess. He winced as he dragged himself inside, collapsing on his makeshift nest of blankets and pinecones. He curled into himself, shivering as the remaining ice on his wound melted and he felt the searing agony of the bicho-papão's poison on the inflicted wound.
He whined and tried to wrap himself in the blankets, which only aggravated the wound further. He couldn't apply the ointment because the wound was still open.
The guardian of Fun reached for spare bandages and took off his hoodie. He clumsily wrapped it around his stomach and when he was done, he fell back into his makeshift nest.
Jack fell into a fitful sleep.
The next time he woke up, Jack felt feverish. There was a steady drip drip sound echoing in the cave and the solitary sound in the silence eased him like a lullaby. He pushed himself up and reached for a wooden cup. He tried to conjure some ice cubes in the cup, to chew on, but he was too weak and was only able to make slushy water.
He brought it up to his feverish face and drank. He shivered and put down the cup, grabbing some blankets and wrapping himself around it once more.
The guardian of Fun didn't know how many days had passed. Burgess wasn't as cold as it should be at this time of year and Jack could only hope that whichever snow spirit who took over the job wasn't one of the cruel ones who liked making blizzards and hail.
He groaned when his stomach gurgled in hunger and the guardian of Fun pushed himself up. If he remembered correctly, there was a berry bush somewhere near his cave.
The thought of moving made Jack feel sick and he leaned against the cave, sighing in relief as the coldness made contact with his skin.
He reached out and grabbed his shepherd's staff, painfully pulling himself outright. He limped his way outside and he almost cried when he saw the berry bush, sliding to the ground to gather a handful of them in his shaking hand.
He went back inside his cave and to his nest, grabbing a bowl and spoon he placed on one of the rocks. He tried to make ice again but only manage to make more slush. He placed the slush into the bowl along with six berries and crushed them. Their color mixed with the slush. He picked up the spoon and begun to eat the berry slush.
Jack could barely finish his bowl before he put it down and slumped back on his cold nest of blankets sniffling. His bandages were wet from his blood and melting ice but he didn't have the energy to change it.
He could do nothing but go back to sleep.
The next time he woke up, it was night, and there was a unicorn made of golden sand, looking down at him.
"Crap," Jack breathed out in pain, rubbing the heel of his palms into his eyes. If one of Sandy's dreams was here, then it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the guardians came too.
Jack opened his mouth, planning to shoo the thing away or to send a message that he didn't need any help, but the unicorn neighed and leaned down to nudge his face before he could say anything.
"I'm okay, really." Jack insisted and the unicorn gave a disbelieving snort. Jack was about to argue but then he sneezed, and the sand creature exploded in his face.
Immediately his eyes grew heavy and he slumped down on his blankets, falling into a healing sleep.
This time, it was the guardians turn to take care of him.
To be continued…
Continuation of Prompt: (…)All the other Guardians get hurt and Jack has to take care of them. Maybe there was a difficult battle, and the Guardians are in various states of injury. So Jack, whose injuries are small by comparison, is the only one left to take charge. Jack gets them all back to the North Pole (or wherever), patches them up, and watches over them while they recover.
Bonus:
+ Jack is still injured some, but he pushes through the pain to focus on what's important: his friends' safety and health.
++++ the whole experience makes Jack realize he's become extremely attached to his newfound friends, and doesn't know what he'd do without them (Idk if I managed to get this one into the story)
++++++ Jack runs himself ragged trying to care for all of them at once
++++++ Once the Guardians recover, they in turn take care of Jack.
…+ and Jack is a horrible patient. (will elaborate more on this in the next chapter, maybe)
Author's note: I was actually planning to end it here and without further elaborating about Jack's injury and how the guardians took care of him, only a glimpse of how that went. But my sister persuaded me to expound and I realized it won't fit on my ten-page limit plan so yeah, whole other chapter XD Hope you enjoyed!