Requested by: Anonymous (on tumblr)

Words: 1,986

Pairing: Jarida

Prompt: "Merida was raped or sexually harassed on her way to hers and Jack's apartment making her arrive very late, Jack was worried, she acts strangely and when Jack finds out he comforts her."

Jack Comforts Merida

Jack sat in the in living room, impatiently waiting for Merida to get home. Merida was never this late, it had already been two hours since she should have arrived. Jack was worried that something might have happened to her. It was uncommon, even for her, for not to call if she was going to be Ithis/I late. There had been occasions where she had to stay half an hour, or even an hour, behind at work but she would call to let him know, unless she was extremely busy. But two hours was just too much.

There was also the possibility that she had just not called him because she was an 'independent woman' who didn't need to tell him what she was doing at every hour. When this occurred, it irritated Jack because it wasn't like he was the overprotective, or the overly jealous type, it was because he just worried for her.

Another ten minutes passed and Jack began to pace back and forth, the carpeted floor creaking just slightly and making small noises under his feet. This kept on going for about ten minutes until a loud squeak indicated Merida was finally home. Jack sighed in relief and walked over to greet Merida at the door. He also wanted to demand why she had been so late, and why she had not called.

"Merida! You're finally home" he spoke softly to her, taking her into his arms. Seeing her in front of him assured him that she was indeed home and safe. Soon after being completely assured he stepped back, now a strict expression on his face. "Why are you so late? I get no call, no message in advance that you were going to be late. I know that you enjoy being this independent woman and showing your mother that you can live off on your own. And form your own life, but I still don't understand what is so hard about a simple call. Really Merida don't you think I wor-" Jack stopped himself. Something was off. Merida was responding to him, she wasn't yelling back at him. All she was doing was staring down at the floor with a distant stare. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, suddenly very worried.

Merida's head slowly raised itself, curls barely moving at the motion, contrary to their usual bouncy self. Her curls always moved very flamboyantly at the slightest movement she made, but today they almost refused to move.

"Nothing" Merida reassured Jack, with a sweet smile, but there was a crack in the smile.

"Something is wrong, I know it" Jack insisted. Marida was never like this. Yes she could be hot-headed and sometimes to active, but never like this. "Tell me what is wrong?"

"Nothing really…" Merida responded, already turning away from Jack, settling her things down on the entrance floor. "I hope you already had dinner, I am not very hungry. I think I'll go to bed early tonight" she told Jack, kicking off her heels.

That is when Jack noticed it. The heel of one of her shoes was broken, barely hanging on by the outside leather of the shoe.

"How did your heel break? Did you fall? I told you not to wear those shoes for work" he said walking over to her. Merida seemed lost in thought though, she was listening to him. "Merida?" Jack asked, walking closer. She still did not reply and so he went to reach for her shoulder, only

to get his hand smacked away very harshly.

"D-don't touch me" Merida said through gritted teeth, but there was fear in her eyes.

"But Merida..."

"Stay away please...just stay away" Merida pleaded as she walked away from Jack, towards their bedroom.

Jack was left behind, to ponder what he had done wrong. Had he asked too many questions? But it was only logical after seeing that one of her shoes were broken. Just as he was going to walk back to the living room to just wait and see if Merida was going to let him talk to her, he heard the shower from their bedroom turn on. Now that was weird, Merida never took a shower at night because it woke her up. That is why she always showered in the mornings before going to work. Everything was different today and so Jack decided to do what he knew best. He would give her a peace offering asking for her to forgive him for whatever it was he had done wrong.

He walked to the kitchen and grabbed himself a new bought apple and went to their room. There he patiently waited for Merida to come out of the bathroom so he could give it to her. The apple was rather tempting to eat though, it was so plump and red, just the right color. Jack refrained from eating it though, it would get him into more trouble than the one he already was.

Merida walked out not long after to find Jack sitting on the bed with an apple in hand, and a bright smile playing on his lips. Any other time she would have smiled and taken the apple from him, but she didn't this time.

"I told you I wasn't hungry" was all she said, and walked over to her side of the bed to lay down.

"How come you took a shower at night? You always take it in the mornings because they wake you up?" Jack said changing the subject, knowing full well that if he kept going at something she had already made clear was over he would regret it.

"So what if I wanted to take a shower at night. I still have time before my usual time for bed to get sleepy" she answered sharply.

"Ok! What is wrong with you?" Jack couldn't take it anymore. What was wrong with Merida, why was she acting so cold towards him. It was obvious something had happened, and Jack was going to find out what.

"Nothing..." Merida sighed, "Nothing." She turned around to turn off her lamp light, and as she did so her damp hair moved away from her left side of the neck, revealing what seemed like bruises.

"What is that?" Jack asked alarmed, immediately walking over to Merida to inspect the bruises.

"Nothing!" Merida exclaimed, her hand already covering the bruised skin.

"Let me see, that isn't anything" Jack complained.

"No, it really isn't anything" she assured, but her voice cracked.

"Let me see Merida" Jack demanded now.

Merida just shook her head, but some tears had begun to form in her sky blue eyes. She couldn't form sentences anymore, there was a big knot in her throat.

Jack's expression softened understanding something had gone wrong, but not knowing exactly what. "Merida what is that?" he asked much more softly now.

Merida again only shook her head, this time she didn't even look at him. "I-I can-n't…"

"Why?"

"I just c-can't"

Jack was going to reach out and hug her, to comfort her and let her know he was there and that she was alright, that she could trust him, but she cringed away. She pulled away from him, hugging her knees to her chest, as close as she could.

"Why do you run from me?" Jack asked puzzled and hurt. He tried reaching for her again, but she jumped out of bed, now the tears were running down her face.

"I can't..."

"What can't you do? Tell me" Jack pleaded, wanting to know what was making Merida act in such a way. He was scared. Jack was scared of what it was that was causing Merida to act such a way.

"Please Jack, just leave me...I am not clean anymore" she answered in a hush tone, but her voice still cracked.

"What do you mean not 'clean'?" Jack asked, again trying to walk towards her.

"Exactly that. I am no longer clean" she answered.

"I don't understand what you are saying Merida" he replied, maybe a hint of irritation in his voice.

Merida heard the hint of annoyance in his voice and she too got irritated and angered. "I am not clean! What do you not understand of that! I was touched by another man! I am not clean!" she almost yelled at him. Her voice did not crack this time. It was filled with anger, hurt, fear, and above all embarrassment.

Jack's eyes widened at the realization. The hurt in Merida's eyes, the fear, it made a big knot form at the pit of his stomach.

"Oh Merida..." Jack ran to her and took her in his arms.

"No stay away" she pushed away from, trying to pull away, but it was useless. Jack had his arms wrapped strongly around her, and he was convinced never to let her go.

"Shh" was the only sound he made as he continued to hold her close to him, close to his heart.

Merida didn't fight against him anymore, she nuzzled into his chest, taking in his warmth and smell. For just a few seconds Merida managed to forget the horrible experience she had had.

"Now, who was this bastard who did what he did to you. And...what exactly did he do to you?" Jack asked.

"Well...well I didn't really see him very clearly, but I am sure I would be able to distinguish him in a crowd of people" she explained and then paused for the next question. "Um he grabbed me and..."

"Yes?" Jack urged her on, anger plainly audible in his voice.

"He pulled me close and began to try and clean up my skirt and shirt..." Merida couldn't go on. The thoughts came back and she just shook her head.

"Please Merida, go on. I need to know what he did to you so I can...so I can..."

"Do what Jack? Go after him and do the same? Or worse try to kill him. He isn't worth your time..." she answered. "And you don't even know how he looks."

"Doesn't matter, go on."

Merida unwillingly went on to tell him the rest. "But as soon as I got a hold on whatever it was that I found I smacked him right in the head...and after that right where it hurts" she said gesturing to Jack's lower part of the body.

"So he wasn't able to go all the way?" Jack asked.

"No, he kind of passed out after I beat him up" she said.

"That's my Merida!" Jack cheered, hugging her once more.

"That still doesn't take away the experience and the fact that he still..." Merida didn't continue.

"I know, I know" Jack replied.

(A little something extra I wanted to add)

~A few weeks later~

Merida and Jack were taking an evening stroll around their block when Merida spotted a familiar figure off in the distance. Jack noticed her sudden change because she came closer to him, holding to his hoodie, rather tightly. Jack followed her eyesight and found what she was looking at. In a matter of seconds he was in front of the other man, and his fist was making contact with the man's face. A crunching sound was heard.

Merida gasped at the scene, not knowing what to do about it. Jack seemed pretty heated up so she did the first that came to her mind. She called the police, having already done a report about her incident, a request from Jack, the police had told her to call if she ever saw the man again.

The police was actually very quick to arrive, but the man already probably had a broken rib or two. The police assured he would be taken into custody and not released again.

This assured Jack and Merida, but mostly Merida. She was free to roam around free from the fear of that man.

((Author's Note: These kinds of subjects aren't really my forte, so I apologize if I complete messed up on writing it. I hope it was good enough though and that you like it.))

**Requests are still Open