So this is the One Shot request by Guest who wanted a little something about a weird/shocking/awkward/surprising habit that Jack had formed during his three hundred years of solitude.

I thought pretty hard on it, and came up with this, I ya'll like it, and I also hope that it is weird/shocking/awkward/surprising enough.

No I do not own ROTG, no matter how much my heart pines for it…it is not true.

It was a day like any other, it had been three months after the defeat of Pitch and the Guardians were gathering together for one of their biweekly meetings, and as per usual Jack was late. North sat at the table, reading glasses on his face, and blueprints for a new invention spread out in front of him as he softly hummed to himself. Tooth was having a heated debate with one of her fairies about the difference between various brands of toothpaste, and Sandy was enjoying a nice snooze in his chair. The only person not keeping themselves occupied was a certain anthropomorphic rabbit. He was currently sitting in his chair his face set in angry impatience, feet propped up on the table, and his arms crossed accompanied by whiskers that twitched in time with the ticking of a nearby clock.

"Blast it," the rabbit finally burst as he lunged forward and slammed the table with an irritated fist "where is Jack, he should have been here an hour ago!"

"Jack told me he would be late," North waved away still poring over the papers "it is why I have cake and coffee brought. If Jack thinks he needs to tell me he will be late, then we will have long wait."

Tooth giggled "That's true, normally Jack just arrives when he wants to, but if he thought to tell you he was going to be late, then we are going to be waiting for a while."

Bunny wilted, his features an unhappy pout before he finally straightened up and strode away from the table. North glanced up over his glasses, blue eyes twinkling in both amusement and curiosity "And where," rumbled the large Russian "are you going?"

"I'm going ta get Brain Freeze," the rabbit snarled as he tapped the ground with his foot "regardless of him tellin' ya he'll be late, kid needs ta learn that there are some days that ya be on time ta important things and not make other plans."

Tooth rolled her eyes with a fond smile, and North gave a small chuckle as he turned back to his work. If Bunny wanted to travel the colder parts of the world searching for their youngest member, he certainly wasn't going to stop him. Aster hopped into the hole, his eyes glowing with determination as he thought about the various ways he planned on giving the kid a lecture as he slowly dragged him back through the tunnels. It took various tries in many places until the rabbit finally found the winter spirit sitting in a cave far in the northern reaches of Alaska. Walking into the cave, Bunny gave a tentative sniff, nodding his head in confirmation when he smelled Jack's scent. He was not prepared for what he would see however.

There sat Jack on the floor of the cave, facing the interior of the cavern, and in front of him was the image of a person sitting cross legged on the floor carved from an ice block. Bunny hung back, unsure of just what was going on, and waiting for some kind of clue that would show give him the answer. Jack sighed, his critical gaze eyeing the ice sculpture, and leaned forward to brace his elbow on one knee, and rest his chin on his fist.

"Hey," the boy said softly.

'Hey' his voice echoed back seemingly from the ice sculpture.

Bunny jerked back, Snowflake wasn't seriously talking to this…thing…was he?

"I know I haven't been here in a while," Jack chuckled nervously.

'Haven't been here in a while'

"You can at least pretend to miss our talks" Jack pouted

'At least pretend to miss our talks'

"I came here, didn't I?" Jack shouted.

'Came here, didn't I?' his voice shouted back causing Jack to wilt and go silent.

Bunny was standing in jaw slackened shock; Jack was actually talking to a block of ice and pretending that it was talking back. The idea was so ludicrous it took every drop of resolve within the Pooka not to stomp out there and bash that ice person into tiny melting pieces, but then he was struck by the realization that if he did that then Jack would have no reason to trust him, and might even cling to the ice person even tighter than before. The idea sent a shudder rippling down the rabbit's spine, and so he resigned himself to merely watching, and listening.

"So," Jack stammered before coughing and strengthening his voice "how have you been?"

'How have you been?'

"You answer first" Jack sniffed.

'You answer first'

"I don't want to," the winter spirit growled "you answer first."

'Want…you answer first'

"Typical, you never answer that question" Jack sighed.

'Typical…never answer…question'

"Shut up," the ice child snarled "it's not like you care."

'Shut up…not…care…'

The lonely sprite scoffed "No need to get so defensive."

'Get so defensive'

"I do not!" Jack snarled "You never talk back to me anyway, you don't even matter!"

'Never talk… you don't matter!'

Suddenly the all too familiar throb of pain over his heart began to suffocate him, stealing his breath, and Jack felt the heavy weight of depression settling in "No," he said in a broken sob "You're just a useless block of ice!"

'You're… useless block of ice!"

"Leave me alone!" Jack screamed striding towards the ice person in angry steps "you're pathetic, and worthless!"

'You're pathetic and worthless!'

"SHUT UP!" with an outraged scream Jack threw himself on the ice sculpture, and Bunny watched in growing horror as the boy beat it into ice chunks "You know nothing!" Jack shouted brokenly though whether he was talking to the statue or to himself the rabbit didn't know "You ARE nothing! You're just a cold piece of ice, and all you do is hurt people! You have no heart, and you're not even worth talking to, YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST!"

'You're not…worth talking to, YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST!' came back the echo.

And suddenly Jack fell to the ground in the middle of the wreckage, wrapping his arms around himself, giving a shudder, almost as if he were cold. Tears streamed down his face in torrents as he fell over on his side, and curled into himself in the fetal position and began to sob violently. His shoulder jerked as they fell up and down as the weeping caused them to convulse, and as Bunny watched, one pale fist began to beat on the hard stone. Time after time it swung, leaving Aster hypnotized, frozen in horror as he watched it strike the rough stone until it bled. His breath coming in short shallow gasps, the boy kept swinging his fist, taking his anger, sorrow, and depression out on the cold rock surface. It wasn't until Bunny heard a loud snap from within the boy's hand that he was broken from his trance, and darting forward with a speed even he didn't know he possessed, scrambled forward just in time to capture Jack's hand and keep it from hitting stone once more.

Jack's blue eyes whirled up, and as green met blue, he winced as shame crashed through him. The winter child struggled to scramble away, needing to hide from Bunny, wishing that he could just run away and pretend it never happened, but Aster wasn't letting go. With a choked whimper, Jack huddled into himself, one arm still being clutched by the Easter bunny, the other wrapping around his knees, hugging his legs to his chest. Burying his face into his knees, Jack refused to look at the rabbit, crawling into a defensive shell, wishing for all he was worth that this was merely a nightmare. Bunny couldn't believe the change that had taken place in their little Guardian. True Bunny had only technically known him as a friend and fellow Guardian for three months, but he never would have guessed that Jack had these kinds of deep seeded issues.

"Jack," Aster began but his voice dropping when he noticed the harsh flinch that shook the boy.

Biting his bottom lip, Aster struggled with how to proceed when suddenly an idea popped into his head. Jack didn't need words, at least not right now, he needed someone alive and breathing to help him realize he wasn't alone. And so with a gentle but firm hand, Aster dragged Jack by the arm, patiently resisting the attempts to escape, and pulled the child into his lap. Jack waited, waited for the harsh words and the sneering voice, waited for the confirmation that everything his ice person had said was true…but it never came.

Instead furry arms wrapped around him, and a deep voice rumbled as Bunny hummed soothingly, one paw gently patting his back. Fierce trembles overtook the child, and soon he was melting into yet another puddle of tears. Pale fingers clenched Bunny's fur in a death grip, and soon Jack was finally allowed to empty himself of the sorrow, fear, and pain of being alone for so long. Bunny placed one paw on Jack's head, softly stroking the white strands and pale neck, his voice never faltering as he rocked back and forth allowing Jack his cry out. After almost an hour of continual sobbing, Jack finally calmed, his breath coming in shuddering gasps as he snuggled even closer into the Pooka's embrace desperately craving validation for his existence and worth.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered miserably in a voice hoarse from crying.

"Fer what?" Bunny asked incredulously.

"For… I don't know," the boy croaked over a threatening sob "for not being strong enough, or good enough…for not being a better Guardian."

Bunny scowled into the white hair "And how are ya not being a good Guardian?"

Guardians don't talk to ice people," Jack hiccupped into Bunny's fur "they aren't like me…weak and pathetic…unable to do anything worthwhile."

"Now ya stop talkin' like that," Bunny held back a growl "those are lies, and I don't care who told 'em to ya, they aren't true!"

Suddenly Jack went very still, and in a small voice Aster could barely hear, he mumbled "You told them to me."

A slice of pain stabbed Bunny right in the heart, and unconsciously he gripped Jack even tighter against him as those horrible dreaded words came back to him, words he had uttered many years before. Bowing his head in abject grief, the anthropomorphic rabbit bit his lip till it bled, unable to cope with the sheer amount of pain and torment he had helped reap upon this child and ultimately lead him to this situation. Cuddling the boy, Bunny snuffled his temple, giving it a small nudge as he struggled to form the appropriate words needed to heal this immense hurt poisoning Jack from the inside out.

"Jackie," Aster said softly "ya need ta listen ta me, mate."

After receiving a small nod into his shoulder, the rabbit sighed and continued "I'm so sorry that we, that I left ya alone fer so long, it was horrible, and I feel awful about it. As for those things I said…I'm so sorry, it was wrong, and ugly, and utterly, utterly terrible of me ta have even ever said that ta ya. I know I can't even begin ta make up fer the time you spent talkin' ta…ice people…but even though I know I don't deserve it I want ta try, if ye'll let me."

Seconds ticked into minutes, and Bunny waited breathlessly, hoping that Jack had heard his plea for forgiveness until finally he felt the smallest nod against his shoulder. A sigh of relief whooshed from his lungs, and the rabbit clutched Jack with gratitude. He knew that the time taken to ponder his answer, and the minute sized nod was proof of Jack's reluctance to trust, but even if it was a itsy bitsy tiny step forward, Bunny was willing to take it. As long as they were on the path to forgiveness and true reconciliation, that's all that the Pooka wanted.

"Come on," Aster said in a voice choked up with emotion "let's get ya ta the Warren so I can take a look-see at that hand."

"But," Jack small voice cut in, the tone small and unsure much like a child's "what about the meeting at the North Pole?"

Bunny looked at the boy, and considered it, before cracking a wide grin "Nah," he chuckled with a wink "I don't think the others were too psyched about havin' a meetin' today anyways."

Jack answered with his own grin, and as one, the two walked out of the cave, each leaving behind a past of broken shattered pieces and into a future full of light and possibility.

Can anybody say "AWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

That actually turned out way better than I thought it would, and wow, I even turned up the angst-o-meter too!

OKEYDOKEY! So a little of Human!Bunny next, but only if you guys are good and post LOTS of REVIEWS! Ok? So get those numbers dancing!