The first thing Jack heard when he woke was arguing. He recognized the voices. He swung his legs out of bed, rubbing a hand first across his eyes, then his hair. He went over to the door of his room to press an ear against it. What were the guardians doing here?
Half an hour before, the guardians stood at the entrance to Pitch's lair.
"Do we just barge through the front door?" Bunny asked, one eyebrow raised.
"How sure are you that Jack ees down there?" North returned. "Ninety-nine point six percent."
"Then there ees point four percent chance that I'll let Pitch have one more minute alone with Jack." He concluded, then before any of them could stop him to explain the benefit of surprise, he was dropping himself down the large hole.
"We don't care why ya want Jack. Honestly, it's irrelevant, 'cause Frostbite's not the kind of person to hang around you willingly, anyway."
"Maybe. I have to say though. He doesn't seem all that keen in being with you four either." The voice he now knew as Pitch's seemed utterly indifferent. Jack didn't know how to feel. A part of him hoped that the guardians had come out of concern for him when he didn't return, but another insisted he needed to be wary of them.
The voices were very soft, and he was straining to hear the next words. He gently nudged the door open, being careful not to let it creak. He slipped into the hallway, then around a stone corner. They were much more easily heard now. He could tell they were just in the room adjacent. He hugged the wall, desperate not to let himself, or his shadow be seen.
"We did not come to fight. We came to retrieve Jack. Tell us where he ees so we can leave."
"Why do you want him back?" Asked Pitch scathingly. "Why is it that recently you all seem so interested in poor Jack? Maybe he liked his life the way it was before. I know I did. He never got in the way." In the hallway, Jack's brow ridged over. From what Pitch had told him before, they had been very close. Friendly. How had he gotten in the way? He felt his fingernails dig into his hands when he concluded that Pitch was not telling him the whole truth either. Who had lied about what? What if he couldn't trust any of them? He decided to withhold what judgement he could for now.
"It shouldn't matter to you." That was Tooth. "We may have defeated you in the last battle, but we're not stupid enough to believe we can destroy fear completely. We do know that we are strong enough to keep you in check."
"You mean because you had Jack? He is very powerful. I have a feeling that none of us know the true extent of his powers. Which is why he belongs with me."
"We won't let you use Jack for your own benefit!"
"Isn't that what you're doing? Your benefit just happens to be different than mine."
"Jack doesn't belong to-" there was a bam that drew all of their attentions to the door into the hallway. Jack was standing just over the threshold, having thrown the door open.
"Frostbite!" Yelled Bunny. "I knew ya were here! Are ya okay?"
"Where is my staff." He asked Pitch in a monotone. He completely ignored Bunny. Tooth flew to him hesitantly. He refused to look at her. He couldn't believe he'd been so thoroughly tricked by her caring friend act. When she went to touch his shoulder, he shook her off harshly. He could feel his anger rising, and all he wanted to do was get out of there. But he needed his staff. He advanced on Pitch.
"My staff." He repeated. "Give it to me." Pitch made no movement.
"Your staff was gone when I found you." Jack had learned better than to take things at face value. An icy wind ruffled his hair.
"You have ten seconds." He stated, still not looking at any of the guardians.
"Jack," said North tentatively. "What ees wrong? We came for you. Are you-"
"Don't talk to me!" Jack shouted, finally rounding on the group. "I trusted you! All of you! And the only thing you wanted was me to help you in some kind of... Battle! I'm not an object. Now, give. Me. My. Staff!" The wind escalated. Something fell off of the desk in the corner and shattered, but Jack didn't see what. What he was focused on was the momentary ruffle of Pitch's cloak. It had blown back slightly, and he had seen a scrap of something brown.
"What are you talkin' about, snowflake?" Bunny asked after he had collected his thoughts. "If this is because of somethin' Pitch told ya-" Jack advanced on Pitch, walking past Bunny without even a glance. Pitch involuntarily rocked back a step, slightly unnerved by the look in Jack's eyes. Pale blue daggers shot him through in fury. He was only distracted for a split second, but that was all Jack needed to throw back Pitch's cloak and tear the staff from the pocket that had obviously been hand sewed in. Pitch took a grab at it, but Jack swatted him away.
He turned to throw a parting glare and phrase at the gaping guardians. His intense emotion threw them. They could see tears gathering in the bottoms of his eyes. "I don't care what you wanted to use me for." he took a half-step towards them, clenching his staff tighter. "I have pride."
"Sweet tooth-" tooth tried to coax, but with one wave of his staff, Jack shot out of the room. They all stared at the place he had been for an eternal moment, then North whipped to face Pitch.
"What did you tell him." The soft inquiry slightly disturbed the others. His voice was usually so loud and full of enthusiasm that this quiet question was infinitely more dangerous. It distracted Pitch into letting Sandy flip him painfully to the floor.
"I don't care! Aww, stuff it." Bunny punched the wall next to him. "I'm goin' after him, or well never find him again. You have fun here with that... Thing." He jabbed a paw in Pitch's direction, then bounded out the door Jack had taken. He almost slammed into the wall with his speed, but continued sprinting.
oOo
Jack let the tears fall freely now. He was away from people, in the place he felt safest. He wasn't entirely sure what part of the world he was in, but he didn't care. Now that he felt safer, alone in a snow drift, he didn't really mind crying. He curled tighter into himself as he realized that he really was alone. He looked blankly out at the landscape in front of him. All white, full of swirling flurries. It was numbingly beautiful. Nothing interrupted its perfect horizon line, and he felt each snowflake that fell as a witness to his pain. They comforted him slightly.
He thought back to how comforting the guardians presence had been to him when he first woke up. He had been confused. Alone. Just a little scared. But he had felt so much better with their easy company around, chuckling at their friendly banter. He had loved knowing that somehow, he was a part of it. Could join them at any time. That he had a belonging.
Another few tears fell in quick succession when he remembered that all of that had been merely an illusion. He'd heard it himself. When they came to retrieve him from Pitch, it had only been because they wanted him on their side. He looked at the staff that lay beside him. A sob escaped him and in one sudden movement, he picked it up then threw it as hard as he could into the blurry, snowed over distance. What power had they been talking about? He could fly, sure. He could Frost things over. But those were hardly battle techniques. Whatever it was, he didn't want to know. He just wanted to be alone. That seemed the best for everyone anyway.
Jack reached up and covered his eyes with his hands. He was so deep in a rut of depression that when Bunny hopped out of a rabbit hole a couple yards away, he didn't even notice. The pooka took in his new surroundings carefully, passing over Jack twice before he registered the boy. He was completely covered in snow, easily mistaken for a part of the tundra. Bunny paused for a moment, wondering how to approach the winter sprite. He was most likely a ball of misled, pent up anger at this point. Bunny eventually went with his instinct: simply hop over.
Jack heard the crunches of footsteps. At first he had assumed he had been mishearing; there was no one out here but him. Then he took a tentative glance up. He was met with the sight of two, grey, fur covered legs. He nearly fell over in outraged shock. Why was Bunny in his sanctuary?
"Ya done bein' dramatic? Or am I gonna have ta force ya ta let me explain things."
"There's nothing you can say that I want to hear!" He informed the rabbit. He looked frantically for his staff. Stupid! He chastised himself. He needed something to protect himself with. He remembered his dream, felt again the large furry hands shove him in a bag; then the next thing he remembered was being alone and in pain. He knew Bunny wasn't above using violence.
"Are ya sure about that?" Bunny asked, folding his arms with a smirk. "Cause ya seem ta be confused about some things."
"If you're just going to feed me more lies, please leave."
"Now who lied to ya?"
"You! Everyone! I don't know! Just leave, okay? I don't want to help you or fight for you, so you have nothing to gain by being here. I like being left alone."
"It sounds like I'm the one bein' lied to, if ya ask me. Ya didn't act that ways coupla days ago."
"That was before I knew you didn't actually like me. Before I remembered everything."
"Ya can't possibly remember. If ya did, I wouldn't hafta straighten out all this tangled wire Pitch turned your brain into."
"Stop it! I don't know who told me the truth about what! So I'll just stay by myself. That's much easier than dealing with any of you."
"Frostbite, listen to me for a second." Bunny stretched out a hand to shake Jack's shoulder, but pulled it back in alarm when the teen flinched away from him intensely. It was almost like Jack thought he was going to... Hurt him. "What?" He asked. Jack had never done this before. He remembered arm wrestles, hair ruffles, high fives, and even a round of tackle football on a bet. But this... trepidation, this wariness had never been there before. "You're not... Ya can't be be afraid of me."
"I'm not scared of you!" Jack said immediately. Bunny was not convinced. The statement sounded more like a child's declaration to a bully than anything else. He looked at his paw, then the distance Jack had put between it and his shoulder.
"Why?" Asked Bunny, disbelief quieting the words. "What have I ever done to ya ta make ya afraid of me? We fought a lot, yeah, but... look at me!" The last command was given as Jack dropped his gaze. "We're friends! Frostbite, all of us were friends' a family! Why are ya actin' this way all of the sudden?"
"A family?" Jacks head snapped up, his eyes raging blue fire. "Friends? That's convenient for you, isn't it!" His voice rose, and anger seeped out of his very countenance. "You're just trying to make the most of my memory loss. But here's something I bet you didn't know." He gave a short laugh, a sound more infused with pain than anger. "I've been getting my memories back. Slowly. And guess what? I remember enough. Enough to know that there is no reason I should trust you! You've hurt me, then lied to me about it! So will you just leave. Me. Alone!" With every syllable, the wind around them increased.
Flying skeet whipped into Bunny's face, forcing his eyes closed. Hail was beginning to fall, and Bunny felt truly in danger. If those lumps got any bigger, they could seriously injure both of them. He needed to calm Jack down.
"Let me talk to ya!" He roared, desperate to be heard over the wind. The snow only increased in response. Bunny pushed his way forward, the wind beating against him ferociously. He could barely see anything now, but he knew Jack was there. Bunny's fur was coated in cold white fluff, and his fingers and toes were so cold they burned. He ignored it.
Another Herculean effort, one more step. He could see a blurry outline. He reached for it, yanking it as hard as he could into the fur of his chest. Jack fought him. Bunny felt a punch land just underneath his ribs. Smallish hands pushed with surprising strength on his torso, his arms, anything to get away. Bunny refused to let go.
"There's somethin' I gotta tell ya!" He insisted steadfastly. "Ya can kick 'n punch 'n throw a fit all ya like, just listen to me for a sec." The wind around him calmed slightly. Jack made likewise, settling to only a weak effort every few seconds.
"Let me go."
"No. I won't let ya run off again. Pitch has obviously messed ya up real bad, so I'm gonna tell ya exactly how things were. Ya don't have ta believe me, but I swear I'm not lyin' to ya. "We never got along perfectly, but after really meetin' ya about a year ago, really gettin' ta know ya, I grew ta like ya. We all did. We regret leavin' ya alone for so long. Not only 'cause it was wrong, but also 'cause we missed out on so many years of havin' ya around. To be our friend. A brother. A teammate. We love ya, Jack, memories or no, what do I gotta do ta prove it?" By the end, Bunny's voice was trembling almost as hard as his body. Jack was completely still in his freezing arms. After a second, he felt the boy shift.
"You're really not lying? Pitch was? Pitch is... the bad guy here?" One arm twitched, seeming to want to move.
"I promise ya with everythin' I have." Jack's arm rose and wrapped lightly around Bunny's body. Bunny realized that the boy needed some encouragement, so pulled him in a little tighter. As Jack wrapped his arms securely around the pooka, the snow all but died. Bunny's breath blew the boys hair askew, and now that things were calmer, he could feel the boys sobs hitching in his chest. The tears that dripped into his fur turned to icicles almost instantaneously.
All four of his paws burned with icy fire, and he was in serious need of a drink. But he didn't move. As much as it tore him up to see Jack so distressed and in pain, it felt good to be needed. To know he was doing something for his friend. And he didn't care what he had to endure to prove that that was a constant fact. He would stay there until he was so frozen he couldn't move, all Jack had to do was keep holding him like this. And he was fine with that. He was unshakably confident that he always would be.
A/N: ...yeah. So I'm back! No, no, no, wait! before you start throwing things, I have a reason for not posting in so long. I've been working on (wait for it...) my Toothiana cosplay! tada! Yeah, I know. Not really acceptable. But I hope the chapter makes up for it. I was going for lots of fluff here, so it made ME happy.
And to answer a question I got, I'm not really sure how much longer this is going to be. There should be one more twist. Or plot device. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WRITERS BLOCK. So please don't take me too seriously. XD
However, I do feel that it is somewhat headed to a close. So tell me now if there's something you guys want incorporated! Thank you so much for your patience and comments. They absolutely make my day, without fail.
Love, Mariah.