Sorry I disappeared!

Good news though! My preemie nephew has finally reached 5 pounds, and should be home from the hospital by Christmas!

Ok, on with Kidnapped!

"NORTH!" Jack screamed at the top of his lungs as he and Pitch reappeared at the Pole from the portal, carefully carrying the injured unconscious Pooka.

The large manran around the corner, his eyes growing wide with shock, and a string of Russian curses slipping from his lips as he rushed to Bunny's side "Aster," North whispered in shock one meaty hand gently stroking the gray ears "what happened to you?"

"Orion," Jack spat his mouth twisted in angry disgust "that jerk came back for his revenge, and captured Bunny. He and two others have been holding him in a puny stone cell, torturing him, and even put a shock collar on him!"

Blue eyes became stormy as they narrowed with intense fury "Orion," Father Christmas rumbled, gripping one hand into a tight fist "he will pay!"

"Agreed," Pitch nodded, "but first we must attend to the rabbit, he is severely injured…not to mention…" the Boogeyman paused and cast his eyes down in shame, his pale lips pursing as he struggled to continue.

"Not to mention what?"

All swung around at the soft voice behind them, only to see Toothiana hovering in midair, her lavender eyes filling with tears as she looked on the wretched form of the young Pooka. Tearing her gaze away, she once again addressed the specter "Not to mention…what?"

"H-He's…" Pitch stumbled, his hands that were holding the arms of the stretcher tightening their grip as his chest clenched with the dreaded news that he must tell.

"He's poisoned," Jack finished in a dry sorrowful rasp "Orion stole poison that Pitch had locked away in his lair centuries ago, and used it on Bunny."

Tooth's eye flew wide as she slowly sank down to stand on trembling legs "H-He…what?!" she whispered.

"It's true," The Boogeyman swallowed heavily, trying to dispel the strong feeling of guilt and shame creeping up the back of his neck, and prickling his scalp "I had made a terrible poison many, many centuries ago, but I quickly regretted it, and so locked it away. I couldn't dispose of it; if I poured it into the ground it would poison the very Earth. If I tossed it into the ocean, everything living underwater would die. I couldn't even lock it in a chest to abandon it in a dark cave or grotto fathoms deep under water or dirt, for fear of anyone else finding it. So…I locked it away in my vault, determined to never use it, or let it be used, until the end of time."

"But that plan failed, didn't it?"

Pitch looked up at the quiet snarl, only to find himself pinned by Tooth's glare of furious pink Arabian silk, feeling his stomach sink to his toes the specter looked back down at the floor in guilt and whispered his reply "Yes, it did."

Tooth gritted her teeth, an action she hated but was the only defense she had to keep herself from screaming her anger out the visibly remorseful Boogeyman "Let's just get Bunny to the medic bay," she finally hissed.

All three males nodded, and quickly moved towards the infirmary.

Jack looked over his shoulder, his brow furrowing with worry over the state of his adopted brother, then glanced up at Pitch and felt his stomach drop when he saw just how dejected the older spirit looked. "Hey," the boy whispered making Pitch slowly look up "I don't blame you, yeah you made the poison, but it's not like you gave it to him."

"Maybe so," Pitch murmured his topaz eyes dark with shame "but I may as well have. If I had never created the disgusting thing, then none of this would have happened and Bunny would still-."

"Not true," North interrupted, placing a beefy hand on Pitch's shoulder causing the grieving caravan to pause "even if you had not made, Orion would still have taken Bunny, and used some other kind of evil to hurt him, but all hope is not lost. We have you, and you know how to fight the poison, is much better than having to deal with foreign poison, no?"

Pitch stared at the large man in dumbfounded silence before giving a mute nod "…I suppose…"

North smiled, as the duo continued their trek to the infirmary, and then turned to Toothiana "Toothy," he murmured softly "do not blame Pitch, he is very…" North waved his hands saying a word in Russian as he fought for the English translation.

"Yes North," Tooth nodded with a sad smile "I know that he's distraught, and I know that being angry at him will solve nothing."

"Then," the man nodded his white head "forgive him, and then talk to him. Pitch greatly values your opinion, and for you to be angry…you hurt his inside."

Tooth nodded, guilt curling in her stomach for the unintended harm she caused Pitch "I'll talk to him, later."

…..

"Let's put him on this bed closest to the fire," Pitch motioned with his head "the poison makes a person feel very cold, so we want to keep the rabbit as warm as possible."

Jack ducked his head with a small pout "I guess that means I can't help take care of him, huh?"

Pitch allowed a fond smile to twitch at the edges of his mouth "I never said that," he spoke with a soft chuckle lacing the undertones "you can help, just as long as you don't smother him with cold, and we keep heavy blankets on him while you are on duty."

A smile brightened Jack's face and he gave an enthusiastic nod accompanied by a snarky military salute "Aye, aye mon capitan!"

Pitch rolled his eyes, and flicked Jack on his forehead "Don't get too excited, or I might change my mind," he growled playfully.

The winter child sent a half serious glare at the Boogeyman before cracking a grin once more "I'll go get some more blankets while you and North set up to take care of Bunny's injuries."

Pitch nodded, watching the boy flit out of the door, barely avoiding Santa as he entered. North watched Jack leave, a smile on his lips before growing serious as he looked once again to the form currently lying on the bed where Pitch had just finished placing him. With a heavy sigh, the normally jolly man approached the bed, one hand dragging across his face as he was hit with sudden fatigue. Pulling a chair to the bedside, North dug in his shirt pocket for a pair of glasses, then peered through them at Bunny's condition, his lips pursing at the devastation wreaked across the Pooka's hide. Nodding his head decisively, North stood up with a soft groan, and walked across the room to rummage through a cabinet. While he shuffled items around, occasionally taking various tools and bottles down, he addressed the dark specter currently standing guard over the warrior rabbit.

"Tell me about poison," North's baritone rumbled across the room.

Pitch sighed, but nodded his head "Essentially it destroys anything within a person that helps them fight fear," he spoke softly, topaz eyes sorrowfully looking at Aster's tortured form "courage, strength, logic, love…hope."

"It will destroy Bunny's…Hope?!" North asked in a shocked tone.

"Yes," Pitch practically groaned.

"But…But…That would KILL him!" North continued.

The Boogeyman kneaded his temples between two fingertips "I know."

The large man shook his head, his eyes taking on a glint of determination "How do we fight?"

"We fight it by keeping his Hope alive," Pitch replied with a nod "we stay by his side, and keep him strong by reminding him that he is not alone, and is stronger than he thinks."

"And this," North replied gesturing with his hands "will save him?"

"Yes," Pitch nodded "I have seen it before. As long as the one who is poisoned has a strong enough support group, they can survive past the point that the poison fades away and loses its potency."

"Good," North smiled with a relieved sigh "then this is what we must do!"

….

Tooth paced back and forth in the library, her mind racing as she considered the problem that had fallen into her lap "Orion," she hissed slamming one fist into an open palm "when I get my hands on you, you're going to regret ever seeing our Bunny!"

But how would she do that?

That thought made her fall onto a couch in a depressed slump. Sure they had the manpower to beat Orion to Kingdom Come, but what do they do if he managed to come back and kidnap Aster again, only this time deciding to just kill the Pooka and be done with it? They needed a more permanent solution, something that they could count on to keep Orion away for good, but what could they do?

Suddenly Sandy flew through the window, signs flashing over his head accompanied by many exclamation points as he figuratively shouted at Tooth about Aster's condition.

"Sandy, calm down," Toothiana soothed "as far as I know, Bunny is in stable condition. We have a rough road ahead in making him well, but the real problem lies in taking care of Orion."

Sandy shook an angry fist, his normally chipper face screwing up with intense fury as he punched through a dream sand figure of Orion. Tooth giggled softly, nodding her head with agreement.

"I feel the same way," she smiled fondly at her friend "but beating him up won't solve the issue, he'll just come back."

Sandy's face transformed from fuming to thoughtful as one finger tapped his chin, and he slowly sank to perch on the couch cushion. Tooth crossed her legs, and placed her chin on one fist as she watched the golden man think. A few moments passed before suddenly a golden light bulb formed over Sandy's head, and a brilliant smile lit his face. Racing back to the window, Sandy pointed at the constellation Orion, making Tooth cock her head in confusion.

"You want to lock him in his palace?" she ventured.

Sandy shook his head as an X drifted through the air, and then he once again pointed at the constellation. Tooth shook her head "You'll have to try to explain a little better," she sighed "because I'm not getting what you are saying."

The sandman rolled his eyes, but still smiled. Rushing to a bookshelf, he snatched up one of the many lined there, and plopped a book concerning Grecian mythology into Toothiana's lap. Turning to the story about Orion, Sandy tapped the book indicating that she read it, and made another constellation symbol with his sand before flitting out the window and up into the sky disappearing from view. Tooth looked at the book currently in her lap and began to search for the constellation of Orion and the one that Sandy had shown her, then seeing a page that had a picture of the two different constellations; she discovered what Sandy had meant about the other. Lavender eyes growing wide as an excited smile lit her face, Tooth could only manage one word.

"…Oh…"

Anyone want to venture a guess on how they are going to take care of Orion?

Hope ya'll enjoyed this installment!