AN: I would recommend that you read my first two stories in order to understand this one. However, I realize that is a lot to read. To summarize the first two, Jack was Pitch's slave for 80 years and he is scared and scarred because of it. He has been free of his master and with the Guardians for a year. Just prior to this chapter, the Guardians had watched Jack's memories and seen everything that he had gone through. Now, they are dealing with the aftermath and some characters reappearing.

"The prettiest smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears. And the kindest hearts have felt the most pain," Unknown.

Jack blinked, startled to see the familiar outline of his room at the Pole. There was light streaming in through the window, a stark contrast to the darkness of the memories they had just witnessed.

As the rest of the Guardians also blinked the brights out of their eyes, the teen tried to rapidly organize all of the thoughts and emotions competing for dominance. They swirled too quickly though, faster than he could pin them down. There was fear, as there had been for a very long time now. It seemed that emotion was almost ever present and all encompassing, a knee jerk reaction after so long. However, there was also a muddled jumble of confusion for what the others would think, say and do. This uncertainty bubbled over into fear, tightening like a vice across his chest and making it difficult to breathe. Finally, there was a hot, uncomfortable bolt of shame that roiled and seethed in the pit of his stomach. It was shame for what he had done, what he had experienced, for giving in and everything he had done since then.

The Big Four turned to him, expressions soft and pitying. In that moment, he couldn't take it. He could feel their gazes like electric shocks across his body. They caused his breath to come out faster and his mind to spin like a top.

The wind rushed in, batting the window open as if it were a pesky fly. It swirled around its favourite child, enveloping the boy in its folds. There were a few precious seconds where it held the Guardians at bay, trying to pull its child outwards and to safety.

For a moment, Jack resisted and then, his knees bent of their own accord. He felt as he had a thousand times before springing away from a potentially dangerous situation. There was relief. It flowed through him like a river, soothing away his worries as the wind carried him away. It was always safer for him to run. It was the only way that he didn't get hurt.

The teen's mind wandered, drifting about like the air he rode. The lack of clarity protected him from having to think about anything that had just happened and he clung to that safety for as long as he could. It was only when snow began to fall around him from the unconscious depths of his emotions that he had to confront the feeling in order to stop them. As he did, it was like riding a whirlwind. The fear, confusion, uncertainty, shame, and now that he stopped to consider it, anger, rose to the surface.

Jack took a deep breath through clenched teeth, working for a few moments until the light snow stopped. He couldn't lose control like that. It was not even winter anywhere for the snow to be forgivable.

Wind suddenly angled downwards, bringing him steeply down to the ground at the edge of a forest, far away from any town. The weather was mild, not too hot as to be uncomfortable.

So there, he curled up on a high tree to have a good vantage point and cried. He sobbed with despair for all that had passed, the family he had lost, the fights he had had once he became a spirit and the innocence he had lost with Pitch. He also cried for the love he had most likely lost from the Guardians. There was no way they could care for him knowing the extent of the damage done to him. He was broken, shattered almost certainly beyond repair. They would want him no longer. Not only that but they knew exactly how much he had done for his enemy, helping his rise.

He took a breath, steeling his emotions for the loneliness that would follow, the attacks from other spirits that would follow, the possible attempts to be captured again. It was nearly too much to bear.

Then came the anger. Rage abounded not just for Pitch who had done all of this to him but for Man in the Moon who had abandoned him without care. The anger was also for himself for being weak. However, it was that very anger that terrified him the most. It had been a long time indeed since he had last felt the hot licks of fury, a long time since he had been allowed to feel it. Was he allowed to now?

After hours, the winter spirit slumped against a branch, too emotionally drained to feel anything else. His thoughts were numb, eyes thick and puffed from crying. His body felt weak.

However, looking into the setting sun, he knew he had to get away, to hide. At least he knew how to be invisible.

Bunny blinked along with the rest of the Guardians, startled by the sudden light. It was nearly blinding after so many memories of darkness. After a moment, he could see more clearly and turned his eyes towards the winter spirit. The boy looked forlorn, a lost child who was unsure of the way. However, noting their gaze upon him, Jack shivered. In the span of a couple breaths, the wind swirled into the room, buffeting them away from the child at the centre of the maelstrom. The winter spirit bent his knees, confusion apparent in his eyes before they flashed with relief and he leapt. The wind secreted him away into the daylight.

There was a moment of silence among the Guardians. Jack had never done that before.

"We have to go after him," Tooth declared, already tensing herself to leap out the open window.

Bunny lunged forwards to grab her by the wrist. At her furious glare, he clarified his actions. "Where would you go? Where would you search? He is already out of sight and most likely needs more than a moment to understand how to react to everything he just saw."

"So what, we leave him alone to figure out how he feels about it all?" Tooth snapped back. "We abandon him as we have for centuries?"

Priming himself to bite back a fiery retort, Bunny was deflated as North cut across the two of them.

"There is no use arguing about it," the Russian boomed.

In the silence that followed, Sandy could finally get a word in edgewise. His words were translated by North. We are not abandoning Jack at all. I agree with Tooth that he has been alone for too long, most of that by our own failure. However, I also agree with Bunny in the fact that we need to give him the smallest amount of time to come to terms with reliving all his hardships.

"When?" Tooth asked, more subdued but almost desperately. For once, her voice nearly cracked with emotion, betraying the caring woman behind her façade of a warrior queen.

As much as the Pooka agreed with his own urging to wait, he couldn't help but feel the guilty squeeze of his heart in his chest for any more time the winter spirit had to spend alone.

"Ve vait a day. If Jack has not come back tomorrow, ve go look for him," North declared, nodding his head decisively.

Hours passed, each Guardian occupied with the flutterings of his or her own anxieties. All of them stuck around the Pole, mostly keeping each other company. Sometimes they talked about what they had seen, expressed sorrow for the suffering their fellow colleague and family member had endured. Other times, they wallowed in their own silence, thoughts wrapped up so tightly as to be nearly suffocating.

Each of the allotted 24 hours passed by and there was still no sign of the winter spirit. At that, their worries just increased.

"Okay," Bunny started, meeting the rest of them in the kitchen. "How are we going to do this?"

North opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by chaos that heralded the approach of several yetis into the room. Three of them stumbled in, wide eyed and gesticulating wildly as they warbled over each other.

"Quiet," the Russian boomed and a rush of silence descended over them. "Now one at a time," he demanded.

One of the yetis stepped forwards and in their grumbling, groaning, warbling language, proceeded to outline whatever it was the three had been trying to say.

As the story continued, North paled noticeably, jaw clenching and blue orbs blowing wide. He was speechless a moment when everything was silent once more.

"Mind telling us what all that was about," Bunny prompted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. It was probably just some other Workshop disaster, he tried to assure itself. However, the Russian's face was giving him what the man would have called a 'bad feeling in his belly'.

"Ve have a problem," North declared, subdued. "The imprisonment ve set up for members of Dark Court has had a breach. Some of them are loose."

"Oh no," Tooth gasped, wings fluttering to a standstill so that she gently dropped to the ground. Then, they sped up again, moving faster than before. "We need to find Jack."

That thought had already occurred to the Pooka. "Ya think he will respond to the lights?"

Only one way to find out, Sandy signed.

The four rushed to the globe room and immediately depressed the lever, sending out the Northern Lights. They waited a minute, then two, then ten with no show. Each paced, fluttered or jingled with impatience and anxiety.

"Why isn't he coming?" Tooth questioned.

Bunny sighed slightly, bringing all of their attention. Despite thinking his idea was right, he really did not want to voice it as it would be a blow to all of their hope. "Mates, I think we only got a few options. One, Jack is too afraid of us to come." He almost stopped at all of their pinched, guilty expressions. "Two, he is still trying to sort out his emotions. Three, he is someplace he can't see 'em or asleep. Four," he paused, closing his eyes. "He thinks we no longer want him to be a Guardian."

Their silence was profound, agreeing.

"You can tell if he is asleep, right Sandy?" Tooth murmured, seeming unwilling to completely break the overwhelming silence.

The golden man nodded then showed a symbol with an x through a dream and then the teen's staff.

She drooped. "I didn't think he was. Three options then although I think the first two are unlikely."

"Vhy," North questioned, grasping at straws for an answer to contradict the one his eyes showed he had already worked out himself.

Tooth dropped her gaze, tears gathering in her eyes. "We've seen how well Jack was trained. Especially with the reminder of all that, I think he we would be more fearful of refusing a summons than anything else."

Bunny grit his teeth, trying to hold his emotions in check. "Well, one thing to do then, mates. We go look for him. Should we all split up?"

"Yes," North returned. "But vait a moment, I have been working on prototype communication device."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Pooka couldn't help but snort. "Ya mean you still haven't perfected the cell phone?"

"Nyet," the Russian replied. "It not just cell phone. Ve can talk but also can be used as transportation like globe if one of us is in trouble."

They each got outfitted with one of these devices which was strung in a necklace around their throats. Each of them chose probable locations to look for the winter spirit and then less likely places and finally the rest of the globe split up.

Bunny was tasked with first checking Burgess. He rattled around the teen's lake, dismayed to find no traces of the winter spirit having even been there previously. Then, he raced to Jamie's house to find the boy playing outside.

"Bunny," Jamie called enthusiastically. "I know I said it before but this Easter was awesome."

"Thanks mate," the Pooka returned, smiling genuinely at the compliment. "By any chance have you seen Jack around the last couple days?"

The brunette boy shook his head. "It's been a couple weeks but he promised to visit this coming weekend. Is everything okay?"

"Of course. Just had to tell him something," the Pooka assured, hating the taste of the lie in his mouth. He fixed on a reassuring smile. "If any of ya see him, would you mind just telling him that we want to have a Guardian meeting at the Pole and that we need all the Guardians there to do so?"

Jamie nodded.

Saying his goodbye, Bunny nodded sharply. Hopefully that message would get the teen thinking that he was still a Guardian and that they weren't mad. If he ever came around to hear it.

The Pooka tried to trace the winter spirit by scent but was only rewarded with a town that had the melting dregs of a quick snowfall and a branch that smelled like him. The trail disappeared after that.

He checked all of the teen's normal haunts that he had been assigned. However, the boy was not in any of the places on his part of the list. Finally, he had to go about searching the corner of the globe for which he was responsible.

As the Pooka was scouring a mountain in France, he felt a pull from the necklace he was wearing. Withdrawing it quickly, he noted the rapid blink of the purple dot that signalled Tooth. He pressed it and was sucked into one of North's portals.

He whipped his head around, searching for any trace of the Tooth Fairy until he spotted her out of the corner of his eye. She was fluttering around desperately, many of her fairies around her, as she whipped her head back and forth.

"You find him?" he called up to her.

She turned to him and as she did so, the two others came out of their own portals.

Tooth drifted down, shoulders slumped, defeated. "I saw him but he got away."

"Got away?" North asked. "Did he see you?"

"I think so," she muttered. "It seemed like he saw me and then started flying in the other direction, weaving between trees to lose me."

They were silent for a moment, processing the new development.

So he's hiding from us, Sandy declared. Why?

"Afraid?" Bunny suggested, desperately wanting his words not to be true. "Maybe he thinks we are angry at him and does not want to be hurt again."

North sighed deeply. "Ve keep looking. Whoever see him, try to approach slowly and calmly but if it looks like he is flying away, try to tell him we are not mad, tell him about Dark Court."

"Won't that make him more afraid?" Tooth asked softly, despair creeping onto her face.

The Russian shrugged with a grim set to his mouth. "Maybe, but it is better that he know and is prepared."

They broke away from each other, resuming their respective searches. There was one more false alarm. This time, it was Sandy who sighted the winter spirit, tracking him down in England. It was clear that the teen had seen the Guardian this time. The dream maker reluctantly chased the boy through the streets], ducking and weaving around houses and people until Jack seemed to disappear.

When the Guardians were summoned that time, they swore viciously, worry only growing. Bunny tried his best to keep their hope up but he could feel it dwindling fast.

Another day passed and they were forced to rest.

"Can't you track him when he falls asleep?" Tooth asked Sandy.

Through North, the dream maker replied. He is sleeping now but since he is not dreaming, I cannot find exactly where.

Bunny sighed. "Worst comes to worst mate, I think Jack will still honour his promise to see Jamie this weekend. We can set up to be there."

North scowled. "I don't like it but ve vill do vhat ve must. Let us hope we can find him before then, before the Dark Court members do."

Bunny stopped by Burgess the next day, just catching Cecilia as she was leaving the house. "Pardon me," he said, startling her.

She put a hand to her chest as if to calm her racing heart. "Sorry Bunny, you scared me. What can I do for you?"

The Pooka sighed. "Have you or your kids seen Jack in the last few days?"

"No," she replied slowly, "Should we have?"

Bunny shook his head, gritting his teeth. He should have known that the teen would not be stupid enough to go to a place they would be sure to check. "No, just wanted to know." He moved to tap his foot and resume his search when a hand on his arm stopped him.

"What happened?" Mrs. Bennett asked.

He sighed. "He's hiding from us and there is something we absolutely need to tell him."

"Start from the beginning," she demanded, all matronly steel.

"Man in the Moon wanted us to watch Jack's memories to understand what he was trying to tell us." He left out exactly what it was the teen had said. That was much too complicated to try and explain now. "And it was … tough … on all of us but of course Jack most of all. When we were done, he ran away."

Cecilia gasped. "That is very unlike him. Do you know why?"

"We assume it is because he thinks that we will no longer want him to be a Guardian but we will only know when we find him."

"It is not just that he left though. Your desperation tells me otherwise. What else happened?"

He chuckled weakly, running a hand over his ears. This Sheila was much too perceptive for her own good. "Some bad spirits he helped us put away are on the loose again and we are trying to warn him."

She paled slightly. "I'll let him know if I see him and also tell him that he is still a Guardian."

"Thanks. We owe you."

"Just bring him home safely."

He nodded and sped away once more.

Bunny stopped, taking a deep breath to confirm what he had just noted. The smell of snowflakes and winter was strong just ahead where there was a depression in the cliffs. It seemed to be a tiny cave, which based on the scent, currently held the winter spirit for which he had been scouring the globe.

Slowly, he brought his hand down to his necklace, trying not to make any sudden movements in case the teen was awake. He depressed the panic button and kept his eyes fixed on the entrance. His muscles were tensed to spring just in case it was necessary.

There were three successive pops as the others appeared behind him. He didn't turn his head to see them.

"Did you find him?" North asked, trying his best to whisper.

"I think so," Bunny answered.

Then, the winter spirit himself appeared at the entrance to the cave, stumbling as if he had been jolted from sleep. Jack was visibly distraught, hair tussled and eyes red rimmed, expression closed off and depressed. As soon as he registered the four of them standing there, he took a seemingly unconscious step backwards and tensed, ready to spring into the air.

"Hey mate," Bunny said softly, gently. His voice was soothing as if trying not to spook a wild animal. Tone told intent and his was to be as non-threatening as possible. "No harm, we just need you to stay. C'mon, all we want to do is talk to ya. We're going to figure this whole thing out together." He took a cautious step forwards, noting that the teen's eyes widened but he didn't flee.

Unfortunately, North took this as a more heartening sign than it was and advanced a few steps, Tooth trailing right behind him. "Don't run away from us, ve just have something to tell you. And ve just vant to understand the Pitch thing."

"We still care about you, sweetie. Never doubt that," Tooth tried.

Bunny could see that they had just taken it too far. His ears strained forwards as he tried to interpret what it was the teen would do next. It seemed all the words and the crowding were too much. Jack was starting to hyperventilate and his feet twitched. His face went blank, masking the fear and he tensed to spring.

The Pooka mentally berated himself, hating what he had to do to get the teen to stay. They couldn't afford to lose him again or they may be too late to warn him. Without tackling him to the ground, there was only one way to get the teen to stay, to protect him from all the threats. "The darkness is rising," Bunny barked out, injecting some steel into his voice.

Anguish passed across Jack's face as he jumped as if prompted by a shock and immediately dropped to the ground. He was on his knees, sitting on his heels and his hands laced behind his head. The teen was quivering, eyes blank as if he was no longer quite registering his surroundings. What made it perhaps worse was the fact that he had dropped his staff, his one constant comfort, in order to obey the order.

The other three Guardians glanced at the Pooka, a mix of expressions on their faces ranging from understanding to appalled to uncertain.

"Unless you wanted to grab him, I didn't see another way to make him stay, tell him about the Dark Court," Bunny murmured defensively but his ears started to droop with guilt.

Sandy nodded, sad but understanding. I didn't know if it would still work.

"Me neither mate," the Pooka returned, casting a despairing glance at the teen. The boy's obedience cut at his heart with tiny knives. The fact that he was the one that prompted the obedience felt like a sword had pierced his heart.

"He's in the middle of a flashback," Tooth informed, tone sharp and accusing but at the same time remarkably caring.

Bunny nodded, looking for the signs. Now he could see the slight flickering of the teen's eyes, his faraway look. The Pooka crouched down, getting on level with the winter spirit. "Mate … Jack," he called softly, incredibly gently as if caressing the words. "Jack, listen to the sound of my voice. Follow it back from wherever you are. Whatever you are seeing is not real, you are away from that. C'mon mate, come back to the present. Feel the ground against your knees, feel the wind against your check, feel your sweater against your arms. Come back, you are safe."

The teen shuddered, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. This time they were clear and focused. He tensed though at the sight of the Pooka right in front of him. He bit his lip, unsure, and kept his position.

He was without words so Bunny just reached up, heart clenching at Jack's flinch. Gently, he took hold of the teen's hands and pulled them away from each other. Then, keeping his grip, he stood, tenderly drawing the teen upwards until he was standing again. "You're safe mate, we ain't going to hurt you," the Guardian of Hope whispered.

The teen stood placidly still in the Pooka's grip. Then, his shoulders began to shake, breaths came out unevenly.

"Shh," Bunny soothed. He put his hands hesitantly on the teen's shoulder, unsure if that would be a comfort now. When he didn't get a reaction, he put the other paw on the boy's cheek, lifting his chin slightly. When blue eyes were looking into green, he murmured, "You're okay now. We are never going to leave you."

Afterwards, Bunny could never have said how it happened but somehow Jack ended up crying on his shoulder, the Pooka's arms lightly wrapped around him. His green eyes shot to the other Guardians, panicked.

They all were suppressing smile, amused at his panic.

Jack stiffened slightly, recovered from whatever memory he had witnessed again. His hand tightened as if on his staff and his eyes widened at finding his hand empty.

Tooth flew forwards, scooping up the stick. "Jack," she said lowly, calm. "We have something really important we need to tell you. If I give you your staff will you promise not to run off again?"

He swallowed thickly, fear flashing in his eyes before he nodded. When the staff was back in his hands, he clutched it tightly as if that would protect him from everything. True to his word though, he did not attempt to flee, merely bowed his head, awaiting his sentence.

"Jack," North began, "I know this may not be news you want to here but ve need you to know." He paused as the teen's shoulders slumped, defeated and the Russian looked to the othesr for support. They waved him onwards. "The Dark Court spirit ve put away. Some of them got out."

The teen's blue eyes flickered upwards quickly, betraying his surprise. He quickly fixed them back down again.

"Ve vanted to warn you and also help protect you if they decide to come for you. Vill you come back to Pole with us?"

Jack nodded obediently, the motion stiff and compliant. He followed with his head bowed as North opened up a portal.

It was then that it struck Bunny that the boy had yet to say a word. He just hoped that they could get him to talk and that the relived trauma of the memories had not robbed him of his voice.

AN: Please review, favourite, follow. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I may change the title because I am not sure if I am satisfied with it. Other ones I have been considering are: Maybe They Can Both Be Free; Life Doesn't Give Second Chances (Too Often); Back Down the Rabbit Hole; Recovery Knows No Boundaries

Let me know your thoughts or if you have a different title to suggest (or if you like my current one).