When Ashley opened her eyes, she was quick to notice that she felt really fucking crappy... She also hurt. Like, a lot... Especially her back... Maybe a she'd had a rough night with a lot of alcohol...? It would explain why she felt a bit off... She didn't do that very often...

Well, never, more like it. Maybe she'd wanted to try it once...? Nah, she wouldn't... probably.

As she laid there on her side, pondering as to why she felt like shit, it hit her. She had fought the Nightmare King! And... it was surprisingly easy.

She really had expected more from him. Kinda disappointing...

But! But, but, but! She had died! She had kicked ass, then gotten her ass handed back to her! And then it was dark, and she had been in a forest, and-She was-she had seen her mom! She had been at the gates of heaven and seen her mom and-!

Dude! She had to go-go tell Zach about it or something, what a tale she had to tell!

She wanted to move, and she started to, when she noticed that something-someone was clinging to her torso...

The girl's face broke into a smile.

Zach must have crawled in the bed with her... The kid was using her outstretched arm as a pillow, and clung to her sides like she would turn to dust of he let go. Her arm was thrown around the boy-probably done in her sleep, and she gently raised her arm to run her fingers through his hair.

He mumbled something under his breath, and nuzzled her neck. She grinned in response and looked in front of her, only to damn-near leap out of her skin and scream.

Freaking, Jack, man! He was gonna be the death of her one day, she swore it! Grimacing, she clutched her racing heart with her free hand and calmed herself down. God, the way his head was tucked into his arms and his way too pale skin-he looked dead! She really needed to go make that boy get a tan... Especially if he was gonna be wearing white t-shirts like he was! Bejesus!

Man, the guy was lucky he was sleeping, or she'd have whacked him in the head. Puffing out her cheeks in silent annoyance, she huffed before stopping and looking around.

"Back in the nurses office..." She mused to herself quietly, raising a brow when she realized that, no joke, everyone she had ever met since she'd become the spirit of courage was squeezed into the infirmary, and then some... And they were all snoring away, sleeping anywhere they could find room. Bunnymund was curled up at the foot of the bed she was in, and Alice was using North's massive frame as a pillow.

Was... was all this for her...? If it was, all these people were clearly insane. Even she wouldn't wait for herself to wake up. Now, if it were Zach or Bunnymund or someone else that was cool, sure, but her?! Shoosh... she hoped they weren't hanging around for her.

There was a small window in the room. It was pretty dark out, with a tinge of pink in the sky, so she was guessing that it was either fairly late in the evening or really early in the morning...

Ashley turned back to Jack and put her hand in his hair, ruffling it slightly. "Hey. Wake up, would ya, Frost?"

The winter spirit gave a quiet groan and peeked an eye open. He caught sight of her and a tired smile crossed his face before jumping up like he'd suddenly remembered that he left his cookies in the oven. His eyes widened and a goofy grin crossed his face. "You're!-"

"Shhh!" She hissed, jerking her head down to Little Z, putting a finger over her lips. "People are trying to sleep." He nodded and calmed down a bit, but he still had that goofy smile. Once he had put his head back down on the bed and she was sure he wouldn't wake anyone up, she grunted, "What are you doing here right next to my bed, man, I don't like you..."

She'd meant it as a joke, but... he must not have caught it, because his face twisted into a look of hurt, and she immediately felt bad. It wasn't just any old hurt, either. It was the hurt, disappointed look a puppy gives you when it brings you a dead squirrel and you recoil with disgust. It wasn't the kind of of look anyone, especially Ashley, would have wanted to receive.

"But-but I... I had to fight to get to sit here," He protested weakly, "I... I thought..." His voice cracked, and well... That tore it for her.

Wincing, she held up her hand reassuringly. "Sorry, I-I was just kidding, babe, I'm sorry... I'm just-I just woke up, and my humor is kind of failing me and... That came out less jokingly and meaner than I'd intended it to. You're my best bud, man, honest." Just for good measure, she reached over and lightly pat his cheek. "I'd damn-well kill for you, and you'd better believe it."

He still didn't look sure or relieved enough for her standards, so she moved as much as she dared to against the pain and risk of waking up Zach. She scootched a bit closer, and brushed a bit of his silvery hair from his forehead before lightly pressing her lips against the pale skin above his brow.

"If you think I'd ever tell you that I don't like you and mean it, you've got another thing coming, Frost..."

His face turned a bit darker (to which Ashley raised a brow) and smiled as she leaned back, placing her hand hand back on top of his head and running her fingers through his hair. An uncharacteristically affectionate action, but he wasn't complaining. "Are you feeling alright? Your back hurts, right?"

She shrugged her one shoulder. "Yeah, but I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Yeah," He breathed, laughing a bit as relief flooded his voice. "You are... You really had us all going there, you know that...? I... We thought you were dead."

"Oh, I was," She confirmed offhandedly, "I was gone. Right at the gates of heaven. By the way... how long has it been since I've been out?"

He gave her a look, but shrugged it off before answering. "Just a few days."

"And what about you-are you okay? Don't hurt too bad, do ya?"

"Nope."

Ashley hummed and nodded her head. "Good, good..." Stifling another yawn, she added more to herself than the winter spirit, "I'm surprised I don't hurt more..."

Jack glanced down at her arm before looking back up at her and smirking. "I'm surprised you haven't freaked out over the needle yet."

She froze and looked down at the arm Zach was sleeping on and had to suppress a scream, with only a small, high-pitched squeak coming out which made Bunnymund's ears twitch. "Oh God," She choked out, grabbing the winter spirit's sleeve. "Take it out, man, take it out!"

He fought back laughter at the panicking girl and tried to calm her down. "I can't, you need or something, just calm down."

"I can't calm down, there's a fucking needle in my arm!" She yelped, trying with everything she had to stay as quiet as she could, heart racing the more she looked at it. "I'm dying... Oh God, it hurts, it pains me!"

"You didn't even notice it until I mentioned it!"

"I don't care, just get it out!" She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and resisting the urge to jump up and scream. "I don't like pointy, sharp thing in my body parts! Agh, it hurts-ow, ow, ow!" When he didn't move to do anything in the next few milliseconds, she decided to take matters into her own hands and more or less ripped out the needle, much to the dismay of Jack.

"What are you-I-but-are you crazy?!" He hissed as she nursed the spot where the needle had been, "You could have messed something up, doing that!"

"It hurt!" She defended.

"You didn't even feel it until I pointed it out!"

She opened her mouth to deny it, but she knew that to say that would be a lie... so she closed her mouth and huffed. "I don't like needles or-or knives in my body parts, God!"

The boy heaved a sigh and gave her a look. "If you weren't already hurt, I'd smack you upside the head."

"No, you wouldn't," She dismissed with a wave of her hand, "You flippin' love me, don't deny it."

He scoffed. "If anything, you love me. If I do recall correctly, you agreed with me when I said I was irresistible!" Sheesh... she was already regretting telling him 'maybe.'

"You were delirious from blood loss, and I didn't want to hurt your feelings!" She defended, "And you're forgetting that you said I was, too! Oooh, if I didn't have a hole in my back, and if you didn't have one in your gut... the things I could do..." Jack raised his eyebrows at her, and she quickly added, "Not-not like, sexual things-punchy and kicky things. Not bow-chicka-bow-wow things, ow-my-face-hurts things."

His face turned red, and Ashley grinned as he covered his face with his hands. "What is wrong with you...?"

"Well... I died not too long ago, and I do have a hole in my back..."

The teen grunted and grumbled something into his hands before going silent.

It was quiet for quite a while, actually. Not an awkward or tense silence, just a companionable silence. It was nice... She had been fixing to go back to sleep. She snuggled her face back into the pillow and calmed down. It had been a while since things had been so quiet, so of course, Jack had to go and break it...

"Hey, Ash...?"

Said girl heaved a sigh. "What's up, babe...?"

"What did you mean, when you said you were right at the gates of heaven...?"

"I said what I meant and I meant what I said, Frost." She mumbled. "I was right at the gates of heaven. Had to decide whether or not I wanted to stay or go back and live." Idly scratching her neck, she awkwardly added. "I... I almost chose to stay in heaven, to be honest."

A look of fear crossed his eyes for a minute, but she was quick to stamp it out. "Clearly, though, I didn't. I turned down the invite to heaven... because I'm an idiot," She said dryly, "And when I heard you crying, I felt really bad, despite the fact that I didn't even remember who you were..."

The boy gave her a bewildered look, and just stared for a while, before nodding to himself and leaning closer. "Okay... You need to tell me what happened after you went down."

Now, Ashley was tired... she really wanted to go back to sleep, but she also knew that she could sleep whenever she wanted to, now.

So she sat up a bit, wincing as she did so, before spinning out her tale. She told him of the never-ending darkness, of the suffocating silence that was louder than anything she had ever experienced. Of Squishy, and the gray, silent forest. She regarded the little light with slight annoyance, but also with humor and fondness. She told him about her struggle up the wet, muddy hill, and meeting with Vergil, who was the only person she'd been able to remember during the whole thing.

At the next part... She was a bit hesitant with that one. She wasn't sure she wanted him to know just how close she had been to leaving them, how she had wanted to go inside the gates, completely willingly...

But, nevertheless, the teen eased it out of her, bit by bit. He got her to admit that she had wanted, so badly, to go to heaven. She told about seeing her mom, and all the old friends that she hadn't even recognized. It was, well, paradise. And she really had wanted to go to it. She'd heard them, calling to her, begging for her to stay with them, but she had ignored it.

It didn't feel right, saying that. She felt like a royal bastard thinking about it, and even more so telling him to his face that she had wanted to leave them behind. But he didn't really seem all that mad... As a matter of fact, he almost seemed happy. But that would be ridiculous...

The corners of Jack's lips turned up as her story came to a close. "Well, in the end you chose us, and I'm really glad you did." Oh. Maybe it wasn't so ridiculous...

"You... you're not mad...?" When he shook his head, she snorted and looked up at the ceiling. "And they say I'm the crazy one..." Looking back at Jack, she started to tell him to go back to sleep. Started to...

But, it just so happened that Zach started to wake up right at that moment.

The young boy stirred and stifled a yawn before opening up his eyes. Ashley bit back a complaint, something along the lines of 'never getting any fucking sleep anymore' and gave a crooked grin at the boy. Jack noted that the girl's eyes brightened considerably as she ran her fingers through Zach's hair in a half-hearted attempt to fix it.

"Hey there, little man. Guess who's not dead?" The boy drunk in the sight of her a few seconds before breaking out into a smile.

"Ashley!" He cried out joyfully, relief flooding his voice, "You're okay!"

"No shit!" She agreed heartily, pulling him closer and kissing his nose. The young boy didn't even protest in mock embarrassment, and she beamed at him. "I did pretty alright, yeah? Everyone's okay, and I got the bad guy. I didn't even mess everything up this time-can you believe it?! I can't!"

"Ash!" Bunnymund's ecstatic voice rang through the room, and said girl had barely a moment's notice to prepare herself before the old pooka leaped at her, carefully but also quickly pulling both her and Zach into a hug. Also waking up every freaking person in the room. Ashley could find it in her heart to overlook it, though... If Bunnymund had pulled what she had on her, she probably would've yelled, too.

She really did like getting hugs from the old bunny... It was familiar, and warm, and really soft. He smelt pretty good, too, if that didn't sound too odd. Like a clean forest and faintly of chocolate. She almost didn't notice the stinging pain in her shoulder, as she rubbed her cheek against his furry chest and hugged him back.

"Bloody hell, Ash, you had me scared half to death!" He scolded her lightly, "I thought ya were a goner! Don't you ever pull that kinda crap on me again, ya hear?"

"I hear," She grinned. "I also heard you crying, by the way. I didn't know you cared so much." A low hum reverberated from his chest, and Bunnymund nuzzled the top of her head, making her already messy hair ever messier. Too bad she had no fucks to give about her hair...

"Yeah, ya bet your arse I was... I thought my little ankle-biter went to the light."

And right after that, freaking everyone in the room exploded. They all jumped up, cheering and or scolding her for not being more cautious and turning her back on the boogie man.

Then Tooth gave a very excited squeal and hugged the girl around the neck. Did it hurt...?

Yes.

But did she have the heart to make that known to well-meaning fairy?

Absolutely not. So she just sucked it up, and put on her game face as Tooth kissed her all over her face. It struck her that that was something her mom used to do long, long ago... And as embarrassing as it was, it also uplifted her spirits more than they already were.

Tooth finally stopped and pulled away a bit to scold her a bit. "Don't you ever do that again. You made all of us absolutely terrified. We were all crying and sad and-"

Jack coughed. "Well... we weren't all crying."

"Lies!" Tooth scoffed and stabbed the white-haired teen in the chest with her finger. "You were crying just as much as the rest of us!"

"Was not!"

North rolled his eyes at the teen. "Is right. You vere probably crying more, now that I think of it." The large man ignored the winter spirit's protests and beamed at Ashley, eyes lit up like a blue Christmas light. "Ve are glad to see you alright, Ashvey. You have done good, and ve are very proud of you." Sandy, as well as most of everyone else in the room nodded in agreement...

Hearing that made Ashley falter. She had to stop what she was doing, because, well, it surprised her. She wasn't used to hearing that... She'd gone a large whole of her life messing things up and getting things wrong. Shit, look at all the stuff she had messed up on in the big boss fight!

She had ruined the plan. Bunnymund had found out about her smoking. She almost failed to save Jack. She'd went up against Pitch by herself, which was an incredibly stupid move, by the way. Almost killed the guy, and ended up making another huge mistake-turning her back on the Nightmare King and getting killed herself... She had considered the whole thing a failure, but here everyone was, telling her that she had done good.

It felt good. Really good. Would they tell her the same if they were to find out about how she selfishly almost left them behind...? Probably not.

Now, would she tell them if they asked? Most likely, yeah... Luckily, they didn't seem too intent on knowing what had went on when she went out of it. It was a damn good thing that only Jack had been awake to hear about. Even better that he didn't seem to mind it. And maybe... just maybe, he would keep it a little secret between the two of them.

Until then, she would bask in the praise, because damnit, she rarely ever got it from anyone that wasn't Zach. And even then, when the boy praised her, she always found herself with a little lump in her throat. So, as I'm sure you can imagine, she had a pretty hard time keeping herself composed when the full meaning behind North's words hit her.

"Wow," She cleared her throat when her voice cracked, and looked down at her hands. "Um... thank you...?" Her face felt a few degrees too hot all of the sudden, and Eros gave a rather loud bark of a laugh.

"Ha! You're blushing! I don't recall everseeing you blush!" The ginger man grinned, and Nate slapped him upside the head.

"Don't be such a motherfuckin' dick, yo..."

Ashley startedto scold Nate for cursing in front of her baby, but Zach let out a giddy whoop of excitement and suddenly hugged the girl before she could start. He nuzzled the crook of her neck, mumbling quietly. "I love you."

Said girl paused and glanced down at the boy before giving him a fond smile and running her hand through his hair. "Yeah, baby, I know," She told him quietly. "And I love you, too. Always will, too." She stopped when she realized that pretty much everyone was staring at her. North and Bunny were looking at her with pride in their eyes, Tooth with fondness, and Jack with... yearning...?

Eh... She'd never been good at reading body language. Too much work and all that...

She sighed with content and leaned against Bunnymund, who beamed down at her. Idle, happy chatter filled the air, and she couldn't help but wonder to herself... What now?

"Now, we revel in our victory."

Ashley was the only one in the room who didn't jump at Slendy's sudden appearance. She was also the only one who rolled her eyes and acted almost annoyed.

"Y'know, instead of reading my mind, you could just... I dunno, say 'hi' like a normal person." She said dryly, turning her head as far as she could without causing a stinging pain in her back to greet her faceless friend. "Hey, Slendy. How are ya?"

If the tall being had a mouth, he would have smiled. "Fine, now. Better than I have been, now that everything is balanced. Natas appreciates it, too, I'm sure. This whole ordeal has shaken him quite a bit."

Nate scowled. "'Ey, ey! You don't need ta be goin' around spoutin' my lame-ass name like that!"

Slendy pointedly ignored the scraggly man and leaned down to be more level with Ashley's face. "You have done us a great service."

"Yup. You should get me a medal. Bitches love medals," She informed him jokingly. "Have a whole ceremony for it and all the stuff."

A single, bony hand came to his chin in thought as he hummed. "Yes... We should." Slendy straightened suddenly and nodded to himself. "We will."

She jerked and gave him a bewildered look. "Wait, say what now?!" She shook her head vigorously as her eyes widened. "Naw, no, no, nonono, I don't-I was just-"

"-My apologies for cutting this short, but I must go and make the appropriate preparations-"

"-Wait a cotton-picking second, I wasn't serious, I was just-" Slendy folded his hands behind his back.

"-Everyone, be sure to dress your best. It will be quite the occasion. Nate, that means you must wear a shirt."

Both Nate and Ashley were protesting now.

"What?!"

"Wait a second!" The young girl all but screamed. "I don't wanna-!"

A crack of thunder rumbled, and with a flash of light, her Slenderman was gone.

Ashley's eye twitched as she stared at the spot Slendy once was. Her temper boiled inside her gut, and she ground her teeth together before yelling in frustration, "SON OF A PROTESTANT WHORE-Would it kill you to stop a second and listen?!"

It appeared that today wasn't her day either...

Author's Note~

THIS IS SO LATE WUT. I am a rate-A ass hole. And I'm sorry. But this part... This one part! I could not right it. At all. I just had the damnedest time writing it. When I was in the shower or laying in bed, the words SCREAMED at me, but once I got to a computer, I just drew a blank. And because of that, I would just go and waste time on Tumblr. SO, if this part seems a little rushed... It is. I got tired of having good flipping ideas and then losing them, so I just grabbed the basis and slapped it on and I am so agitated. I JUST WANNA BE DONE WITH THIS ONE PART I'M SORRY IT'S NOT REALLY GOOD OTL

So... There's my lame excuse, homies. I will take the hate in stride, now. I honestly can't believe you guys have put up with me so long... I don't why, but I'm bloody glad you do, and I appreciate it. Even I wouldn't put up with me, heaven knows why you do. No joke, every other day, I'll pull up the thing and stare, just wondering WHY? Can I like, hug all of you? I would. You and me, guiz. Solvin' crimes and makin' up rhymes.

Ahem, so... If I made some mistakes or anything, let me know, eh? And as always, I hope you got a few laughs out of my lame little story.

ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ Bear with me guys. I'm trying, I really am. Up next-A party!

, BlueAsh666