I was so excited to write the next chapter! I have to admit I love writing Jack like this. He's so fun to write! As always your support is appreciated, and welcomed!

Disclaimer: Don't own ROTG.

Something soft touched his face. He could feel it brushing his hair away from his forehead. He scrunched his nose for a second as he was brought out of the darkness he was in. Not wanting to give up the darkness he was in, he squished his eyes together even deeper.

"Ja-a-Jack." Choppy words reached his ear. Something was telling him that it was important for him to get up.

"Jack. Jack! Jack!" The urgency in his voice made him moan. It almost sounded like they were talking to him. Something inside of him told him that he was doing something bad. Somebody shook him gently in the shoulder.

Was it time to get up? Did Pitch want something? Pitch? Pitch!

With a gasp he shot up, his eyes opening in alarm. White filled his vision and he covered his eyes with his arm. After a couple of seconds his eyes adjusted to the light. Hesitantly he lowered his arm. Now that he finally took in where he was he let out another gasp and backed away feverishly. The Guardians were all surrounding his bed. He scooted back until his back hit the pillow.

He was trapped. All the Guardians were surrounding him and there was no way he could run. Run? What was he thinking? Did he want to make the Guardians angrier? What was wrong with him? With a start he realized that Bunny had been the one that had been calling his name. And he had ignored him! He looked at all of them.

North was on the edge of his bed while Sandy and Bunny were on either side of him. They had him cornered, and his only exit was blocked. He took in a sharp breath only to whimper in pain. He clutched his side as he waited for the pain to recede.

"Jack? Jack are you okay?" Bunny moved closer making him flinch. He let out a sad sigh before moving backwards.

"Yes." He muttered quietly. He knew better than to tell him the truth. He could only imagine what could happen to him if Bunny knew he was in pain.

Bunny stared at him sternly. He shook his head before looking at him. There seemed to be regret shining in his eyes, but that couldn't be right.

"Jack." His voice was firm and he had no choice but to look at him. "Tell me the truth. Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

Jack looked away. That was a direct order and he couldn't lie. Even if that meant he was going to be in even more pain.

"N-no I th-think." He stopped himself as he realized what he had just said. He didn't think. He was too stupid for that. His opinion didn't count. "I'm sorry. My rib m-might be b-broken."

He waited to get struck. The spirit wasn't allowed to ever voice his opinion like that. When the blow never came he looked up. Bunny's face was filled with horror. Swallowing Jack looked around at the other Guardians. North had a similar look but there seemed to be as much horror as anger. Finally he looked at Sandy. He could see the anger swirling behind his eyes, but when Sandy noticed that he was looking at him he gave him a small smile.

"Jack tell me, did Pitch do this?" This time North asked him.

He gave a hesitant nod. How did they know Pitch had been here? Had they seen him? His eyes suddenly widened. What had Pitch done? He had told him that he couldn't have him awake for what he was going to do. So what had he done? He looked down at himself. Nothing seemed out of place. He looked the same.

"Was that the only thing he did to you?" Bunny's green eyes were full of concern.

He froze knowing full well that Pitch didn't want the Guardians to know what he had done. He was just going to have to lie, and hope that the Guardians didn't notice.

"Yes." He lied.

Bunny's eyes observed him with such an intensity that it made him squirm. Did he know that he was lying? If he did he was going to get punished for lying, but he couldn't tell them the truth. He was willing to take the risk.

"Jack you know we would never hurt you right?" Bunny's sudden question caught him off guard. Why was he telling him that kind of stuff? Of course he would hurt him. Everybody ended up hurting him at some point. Was he trying to trick him? That was the only logical explanation.

When he didn't answer Bunny let out a soft sigh. Taking that as a sign of irritation he immediately apologized. This time Bunny simply looked at him. A tense silence surrounded them as Jack looked down at his lap.

"With Pitch attacking us today we realized something." North broke the silence. He looked up at them in surprise. Pitch had attacked them? As he looked at them more closely he realized that he had failed to notice the bandages that covered Bunny's arm.

"We can't have you here." Bunny said softly.

His eyes snapped up to him. There it was. What he had been waiting for. They were finally going to kick him out. Pitch didn't even have to come take him they would just give him to Pitch. He knew that he had been right in not letting himself believe that somebody would actually care for him. Nothing was ever going to change. He was always going to be stuck with Pitch.

He looked down as tears jumped to his eyes. He couldn't let the Guardians see him cry. It would just make things worse for him. He wouldn't be able to deal with their insults.

"Jack?" When he didn't look up right away somebody touched his shoulder. He flinched away, his head snapping up. Bunny's form was blurry from the tears that were in his eyes, but he still saw him frown.

"Jack are you okay? Why are you crying? Are you in pain?" Bunny asked him slowly trying not to scare him.

Knowing it wouldn't make much of a difference he decided to take a risk and ask a question.

"Are you giving me back to Pitch?" This time he couldn't keep his lip from trembling. He knew that he was seconds away from crying. He didn't want this anymore. He was tired. Tired of all the abuse. But he was especially afraid of going back to Pitch. Of what could, and would happen to him. When he blinked the tears dripped down his cheeks. "I'm s-sorry!"

He managed to stop his shoulders from jerking but he couldn't stop the tears that were dripping down his cheek. When nobody answered he looked up. North who was directly in front of him was staring at him wide-eyed. At that moment he saw the sadness and guiltiness in his face. His eyes flickered over to Sandy who had moved back from him. His face had fallen and his shoulders were slumped forward. Finally he looked at Bunny.

Bunny's reaction was the most noticeable. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were looking at his. When they meet the guiltiness, regret, and concern in them was too much for him. He didn't understand any of this. Why were they acting like this? The concern for him almost looked real. He could almost lie to himself and think that they cared for him. But that wasn't true because if it was they wouldn't be kicking him out.

A loud mutter made him look up. Bunny was tightening his hands. His eyes were drawn together and a snarl was forming on his face. He looked furious. He looked almost as intimating as Pitch. And for a moment he saw Pitch reflected in him. Bits and pieces of memories flashed before him. All of them with the same expression on Pitch's face.

Pain

Anger

Humiliation

Regret

Pain

Apologies

Tears

Blood

PAIN

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Sorry!" He sobbed openly. He could only see Pitch standing there waiting to hit him, to cause him pain, to punish him. Out of instinct and years of experience he raised his hands in front of his face. "Please don't h-hurt me. P-please!"

He knew he looked pathetic and he was probably only adding more reasons to get kicked out and get hurt. A small sob tore through his throat and he immediately clamped a hand on his mouth. His blue eyes widened in horror.

"I'm sor-"Jack was cut off as something curled around his thin frame. He tensed up as his mind tried to comprehend what was happening. Two furry arms were wrapped around him and his head was placed comfortably against a shoulder. Two blue eyes stared ahead in shock.

"Listen to me closely. We would never, and I mean never give you to Pitch willingly. I know we failed you once already but I won't repeat that same mistake ever. I promise you that we'll try to take care of you. I know it won't be easy but we owe you that much." Bunny's voice was soft and gentle.

All the words died in his throat as he felt another smaller pair of arms wrap themselves around Bunny and him. When he blinked another trail of tears fall down his cheeks. He had no idea what was happening. What were they doing? This time a stronger pair of arms wrapped themselves around all three of them. Were they trying to suffocate him?

"We are here for you Jack." North's deep voice was kind and soft. A golden heart flashed above Sandy's head echoing what the other two Guardians had said.

With all three of the Guardians hugging him all Jack could do was stare ahead in surprise, shock, and confusion. How was he supposed to react to this, this show of affection? Was that what it was? Affection? That couldn't be, how could they show affection to somebody like him? A chill went down his back as remembered Pitch doing the same thing. Yet like the last time this hug felt different. There didn't seem to be any dark intentions. He could always be wrong and he usually was.

"I know I scared you with what I said and I want to apologize. I shouldn't have said it like that. It was my mistake. What I meant to say was that it's not safe for you here. At North's place. We're going to move you to a hopefully safer place. We're still going to take care of you but you'll just be in a different place." Bunny explained to him, but he gave no indication of letting go.

"Where?" He asked quietly afraid that he would anger them. He kept asking questions and talking out of term. It was a miracle they hadn't punished him for that. He remembered the one time that Pitch had put something close to a muzzle on his face for about a month because he had talked to him when he wasn't supposed to.

"When we helped the Tooth Fairy collect teeth we stopped at a certain house. North woke the child up and he saw all of us. We left him sleeping. Then in Easter he was one of the few that still believed in me. We managed to convince him even more that we're real along with a couple of other kids. All of us agreed that you staying with him for a bit would be out best bet." Bunny explained to him. "At least while we find Pitch and attack him. He's probably at the weakest he'll be for a while."

North finally let go of them and stepped back. Sandy followed his example a couple of seconds later. Bunny seemed to be the only one reluctant to let him go. His grip on him didn't tighten instead it remained loose almost as if it was allowing him to break out of it. Unsure of what to do and no longer being able to resist the urge, he felt his body relax against his wishes. His head was nestled against Bunny's shoulder and he couldn't gather the will to raise his head off of it.

He could never recall a moment where he had felt so comfortable, almost safe, than right now. Slowly he felt his body relax even more. His shoulders weren't as stiff anymore and he actually leaned into the contact. A flicker of warmth appeared in his chest. But it wasn't painful, no it was a nice type of warmth. One that he had never felt. He couldn't explain what it was, but whatever it was it felt nice.

"Sandy and I are going to get the sleigh ready. We'll be waiting for you. Oh and try not to make your injuries worse Bunny." North interrupted the comfortable silence they had been in.

"I'll try. We'll go in a minute." Bunny answered him. Without another word the other two Guardians made their way to the door. Sandy turned around and gave him a small reassuring smile. Jack looked back at him before trying to mimic him. He forced his mouth up and hoped that it looked something like Sandy's. Sandy stopped dead in his track as his face filled with surprise. North who noticed Sandy stop, turned and looked at him. His eyes widened.

For a moment his smile faltered, scared that he had offended them. But then Sandy let out a huge grin and clapped his hands excitedly. He flinched slightly at his outburst. He looked at North trying to understand why he was acting like that. It was almost like the mini fairies. But Sandy wasn't obsessed with teeth, was he? Did he like his teeth too?

"Please forgive Sandy. He just got excited at seeing you try to smile." North's voice was filled with amusement as he tapped Sandy on the shoulder. His reaction was lost as Jack froze as he felt Bunny twitch slightly. Was it because of what North had said? When Bunny didn't do anything he focused on the other two Guardians.

Sandy looked at them before realizing what he was doing. An embarrassed expression settled on his face. He scratched the back of his head before waving and turning around. North smiled again before following Sandy out the door.

Once they both were out the door Jack was reminded of his current situation. Bunny seemed intent on staying in the position they were in. Realizing that there was nothing he could do, he complemented the idea of getting comfortable on his neck. That would be taking a huge risk. What if he ruined the moment because of what he was going to say? After a moment he made up his mind. Summoning as much courage as he could he licked his lips.

"C-can I-I." All the courage he had evaporated as he felt Bunny turn his head slightly. What was he doing? He couldn't imagine what Pitch would have done if he would have seen how many times he had spoken out of term.

"Go ahead. You can ask me what you want." Bunny shifted slightly and he felt himself get moved slightly to the side.

"W-would you g-give me your per-permission to get comfortable o-on your s-shoulder?" His voice wavered and he prepared himself to get shoved off.

"Of course you can, I don't mind at all but we have to get ready to move you. We had the yetis remove the IV while you were asleep." Bunny slowly started to unwrap his arms from him. The loss of warmth brought his back to reality.

"I know you won't feel comfortable with this but it would be best for your health if I carried you to the sleigh." Bunny shifted away from him as he got up.

"I could w-walk if you want to. W-with crutches or w-without them." He made sure he looked submissive as he spoke. He didn't want Bunny to think he was rejecting his idea.

"With broken ribs and a broken leg!" Bunny looked at him startled. "Did you really walk like this?"

He looked at him from beneath his bangs. "Yes. I-I have jobs I h-have to do."

Bunny's gaze softened and he shook his head. "It's a long way there and there's some stairs that would make it impossible to get there safely. I know that it'll be uncomfortable but I'm going to have to put my arms under you to lift you up."

He nodded not understanding why he was warning him. Bunny nodded back and stretched his arms under him. He jumped despite seeing his arms go under his knees. Bunny hesitated as he saw his reaction but he continued and put his other arm under his back. With little effort Bunny picked him up.

Even though he saw Bunny doing it as gently as possible his newly broken rib along with the other ones protested. He muffled a whimper and instead it came out in a small hiss. He closed his eyes and waited as the pain passed.

"Jack did I hurt you? Are you okay? Can you go on?" Bunny asked him slowly as he brought him his chest. He mentally cringed. Of course he would hear him, Bunny probably had excellent hearing.

"I'm o-okay." He responded instinctively. Bunny looked down at him for a second. Something passed behind his green eyes that he couldn't decipher.

"I'll try to walk gently and not move you too much so I don't agitate your injuries." Bunny told him.

He nodded and Bunny slowly started walking. Every time he took a step a shot of pain went through his chest but Jack did his best to ignore it. They walked through the door and into the hallway. Bunny's strong arms held him comfortably, not squeezing him too tightly or loosely enough that he could drop him.

As they walked down the hallway he got a close look at the disaster that it was in. Black sand littered the ground, a testimony of the fight that had occurred. Yetis were walking down the hallway cleaning the mess and fixing any damage that they could find. Whenever one passed by he would shrink even more in Bunny's arms. He was surprised that Bunny hadn't told him to stop.

Not knowing what to do he kept as still as possible so he wouldn't anger Bunny. Even as tempting as it was to snuggle his head into Bunny's chest he didn't want to risk being dropped.

"About what you said earlier, I give you permission to get comfortable. You're so tense." Bunny looked down at him for a moment.

"Thank you sir." He said respectfully.

Bunny stumbled just as they reached the end of the hallway. "Woah, just call me Bunny okay? That makes me feel old."

His eyes widened in fear. He had insulted him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know." He knew Bunny could feel him trembling.

"It's okay. I was just joking." Bunny curled his arms bringing him closer to his chest. Resuming his pacing he watched from Bunny's arms as they exited the hallway.

As his eyes took in everything he was sure his eyes had widened and his mouth was hanging open.

Bunny ignored the pain that he was starting to feel. His arm throbbed but he paid it no attention. The only thing that was a bit worrying was his head. He was sure that he had hit it harder than he had originally thought. He had it checked and the yetis said he had a concussion. Of course North and Sandy had made a big fuss about it.

Considering the fact that he was no longer stuttering and tripping he blew it off. That's why he had decided that it was safe to carry Jack. He didn't want to risk dropping him. But now that he realized how light Jack was he didn't think there was a possibility of him dropping him. He barely weighed anything. Bunny had had an assumption that he was underweight considering how thin Jack was. Now that he was actually carrying him in his own arms he had an actual feel of how thin he was.

Bunny was sure that if he squeezed any harder he could break him. In fact he was so scared of grabbing him to hard and hurting him. He held him protectively but at the same time he made sure that Jack could see what Bunny knew was going to be a nice view. Just as he thought Jack moved in his arms.

He looked down at him discreetly. Just as he had suspected Jack's mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide open. Bunny hid a smile and kept walking like he hadn't seen his reaction. He made sure his steps were slow and steady.

"It's a beautiful sight isn't it?" Bunny asked softly. When he felt Jack tense in his arms he glanced down. His eyes were wide and full of fear and panic. He seemed to be debating over something. "What's wrong?"

His question seemed to make things worse. Jack started breathing faster making his chest rise up and down harshly. Bunny was left questioning how it didn't hurt his ribs. Not wanting him to hyperventilate Bunny quickly tried to fix his mistake.

"It was a comment. You don't have to answer. I personally think that it's a pretty nice sight, just don't say anything to North." He made sure his tone was playful and gentle. His response shook Jack out of the panicked state he had been in.

His face relaxed and the overwhelming feat that had clouded his eyes slowly disappeared. Bunny mentally sighed in relief. No matter how many times he had seen North's place he still found his eyes looking around in wonder. Even if there weren't as many yetis working, since most of them were helping clean the mess that Pitch had made, it was still a breathtaking view.

Bunny made sure that Jack wasn't paying attention to him as he looked at him. A smile tugged at his mouth as he watched Jack's eyes flicker across the room. His eyes had widened even more and with the light that reflected his eyes looked even bluer. Jack leaned a bit more on his arms to get a better look. Bunny pretended not to notice even though Jack didn't seem to remember.

His head kept twitching at every sound, and every time his eyes caught something interesting Jack would keep staring at it until it was out of sight. Bunny could see the innocence in his eyes as he stared at everything. For a moment the old Jack was there. He looked like a child, and this time a sad smile formed on his face.

"You should see this place when it's near Christmas." He said softly. Jack seemed to finally remember that he was in his arms and quickly stopped leaning forward. "There's so many lights and everything's so peaceful even if everybody is running around."

He reached the pair of stairs that he had told Jack about. With a bit more difficulty he managed to go down the stairs. His head started to hurt but Bunny ignored it. Instead he concentrated on going down the stairs. He felt Jack grip onto his arm and Bunny brought him closer to his chest. To his surprise he felt Jack snuggle his head into his chest. He almost stopped in shock but he managed to keep going. He didn't want to scare him.

Especially now that he was finally showing something else that wasn't fear. He had seen a small bit of the old Jack for a moment. It wasn't a lot, but to Bunny it just convinced him even more that they could help him. He might not be able to be the same Jack but they could help him enough that he could smile and talk without being afraid of getting hit.

As he made his way down the stairs he glanced down at Jack for a second. Jack had actually snuggled half of his face into his chest. Bunny was sure that he liked how soft his fur was. His eyes were slightly closed almost as if he was starting to doze off. Jack's mouth was partially open as he slowly lost the fight to keep awake. His fingers twitched slightly as Jack tried to keep his eyes open. Bunny grinned at how adorable he looked.

There was still hope.

I know a faster update, I probably amazed many of you. That scene where Jack is all amazed is almost like how the place looked when Jack first saw it in the movie. I tried to write a slightly happy chapter but at the same time I feel like it was sad. I actually went aww, when Bunny hugged him and I'm the one writing, haha. I feel like it was an important moment when all the Guardians hugged. Oh, if only things could stay like that….