"Oy! Frosty! It's time to wake up, mate."

Jack was abruptly ripped from his unconscious state as a furry paw slapped him over the face.

"Hey! What was that for?" Jack shrieked with wide eyes and jumped up from the ground. He immediately regretted doing so as a headache literally exploded inside of his head. He rubbed his temples to get rid of the pain but to no avail. Meanwhile the big, grey Australian Guardian in front of him only stared at him in slight amusement.

"Ye refused to wake up. Almost thought ye were a goner. Come on now. The others wants to know where ye've been."

The Easter Bunny stomped a hole in the ground and before Jack had any time to protest, a pair of strong paws had grabbed him and dragged him through miles of whirling tunnels until they reached Santoff Claussen.

"A piece of warning would've been nice. I barely managed to grab my staff," Jack complained and swung his shepherd's crook nonchalantly over his shoulders.

The movement made him dizzy again and he had to shut his eyes to not fall over in the snow. The bang against the tree must've been harder than he first thought.

"Ye're one thankful bastard. I could've just left ye there, ye know," Bunny replied with every word dripping with sarcasm.

"Nah, I think you care too much about me to do that," Jack said with his signature smirk.

"Just sip it, Snowflake!"

/\/\/\

The second Jack entered the toy factory he was greeted with two big, purple eyes that stared at him with worry.

"How are you, Jack? Where have you been? How's your teeth?"

"How's my-"

Before he could finish his sentence a pair of small hands were showed into his mouth to examine his teeth. Toothiana then smiled happily.

"Nope, they seem fine. They sparkle as nicely as always," she said and let go of him. Jack rubbed his neck in confusion. It had been a little too much invasion of his personal space today for his liking.

"Tooth! Please!" North's voice rumbled and named Toothfairy smiled apologetic at Jack. The big Russian then turned to Jack.

"What happened Jack? Is Jamie okay?"

Jack sat down on one of Father Christmas big, red armchairs in front of the fireplace. His body gratefully welcomed the rest.

"Yeah, he's alright. He just had a..uhm..." He cut himself short, not really knowing how to proceed.

"What, Jack?" Tooth asked, now even more worried. Jack felt a bit uncomfortable when suddenly four pair of eyes were directed at him and he rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"He, kinda, had a nightmare," he finally blurted out. There was no idea to sugarcoat it, they had to find out eventually. But that also meant they had to find out about his careless acting and he didn't look forward to that scolding.

A moment of silence followed as the four original Guardians pondered what had just been said. Sandy was the first to break the silence. Or rather he tried to but the combination of being short and not able to speak was an obstacle. He tried to catch the others' attention but when no one as usual seemed to notice him he simply flew up in front of Jack's face. With grumpy expressions he pointed at his own head where a dreamsand picture of Pitch Black followed by a question mark was formed.

"Exactly what I guess we all are thinking," North said and patted his stomach as an verification that he had felt it, in his belly! Bunny looked at his Russian friend and rolled his eyes.

"But that isn't all, is it? How come I found ye all knocked out?" he asked where he stood lamely leaning against the wall and raised a slight accusingly eyebrow at the frost teen.

"What!?" the Tooth Fairy shouted and flew towards Jack with anxiousness painting her features. Jack gently tried to wave her away but to no avail.

"I'm fine Tooth. Really, I am," he said but the words was not around near to convince the Guardian of memories. She sat down next to him on the armrest and looked at him like a mother who had just heard that her child had been beat up at school. Well, frankly, that metaphor was in fact not too far from the truth. Jack could feel Bunny's eyes drill into him and somehow Jack knew that the Pooka had already guessed, if not all the truth so at least a part of it. He was after all the one who had found Jack. Who knew what he had been seeing or sniffing up before the frost spirit came to his senses? As a confirmation to his thoughts Bunny suddenly took a step forward and pointed at Jack.

"Ye met Pitch, didn't ye?"

For a second Jack was caught off guard and felt like a child who had been doing something not allowed and now his parents had found out. But he quickly came back to his cocky self and stood up from the armchair. But before he had the time to respond, North broke in between the two. He looked at Jack with his blue eyes gleaming with concern and for a swift moment Jack felt ashamed of being the reason for his worry.

"Is this true, Jack?" North asked softly. Jack looked away from the older man. Damn he was stupid! Why couldn't he just had let the Nightmare go and return to Santoff Clausen like the mature and responsible Guardian he was supposed to be? He could feel everyone in the room holding their breaths, while awaiting his answer with their eyes darted at him. The atmosphere was so tense he felt that he could've touched it. With no further due he nodded almost invisible. Behind him he could her Toothiana gasp at the realization.

"Bunny, how did you know?" North asked without taking his eyes from Jack who still refused to meet any of the others' gazes.

"There was Nightmare sand in the clearing where I found the lad and it was the same forest in which Pitch disappeared. Not hard to figure out," Bunny explained and then continued:

"I think it's about time ye tell us the whole story, mate. Or do ye want us to keep guessing?"

"Bunny, please..." Tooth said with her brow furrowed as she flew closer to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Even Sandy came closer and showed a dreamsand picture of the four of them fighting Pitch Black.

"Like Sandy says," North said. "To defeat Pitch you must tell us what happened. Is he strong?"

Jack shook his head and then started telling, still concentrating his gaze on the all of a sudden very interesting floor. He told them all about the sick Nightmare and then the encounter with Pitch himself. But he left out the King of Shadows' threat. He was still not used to people caring and he didn't want them to worry more than they already did. He would deal with this like he had dealt with everything for the past 300 years: alone.

"And then, well he kind of knocked me out," Jack shrugged and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible like it was no big deal at all. The others just stared at him. This was a little too much to take in. Not only had their old enemy already gathered pretty much of his former strength but he had also attacked one of their own.

"Jack, I don't really think you understand how serious this is," Tooth said softly and turned him around to face her. With one hand she smoothly tilted his chin so that he was forced to look at her. The action was so unexpected that Jack was caught completely off guard and for a moment he felt something warm at the sensation of being touched, move inside him. And for a brief second Tooth saw straight into his eyes and realized how much he had been longing for another person's comfort with no ways of getting it. It almost broke her heart to see him so vulnerable. It lasted no longer than it takes for someone to blink their eyes, then Jack pulled away and gave her that self confident smirk that masked all his pain, even from himself.

"I said I'm fine guys. Besides, Pitch is no match for this baby and my powers," he said and patted his staff like it was a kitten.

"Now listen, Frosty. Toothiana is right. This is serious business and ye can't just shake'em off like minor problems. This is something new," the Pooka stated with knitted eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, now feeling an uneasiness crawling up his back. Sandy came up to him and pointed directly at the frost teen. North looked at the little golden man and nodded.

"He wants revenge on you, Jack. He sees you as the reason to his downfall."

All dreams and thoughts about him betraying (in lack of a better word) Pitch, suddenly came back to Jack. The Nightmare king was looking for revenge on him because either he had wanted it or not, by refusing to join Pitch, Jack had led to his defeat. The King of Shadows would never be stronger than the five of them. But his powers combined with frost spirit's...well, that was a whole other matter. Fear was threatening to take control over Jack's heart but he would not let the others see it. Instead he just laughed.

"Really? And he think he can take me? Wow, that year in solitude must have made him crazier than we first thought."

"Jack this is certainly nothing to laugh about. He is dangerous and unpredictable!" Tooth tried in vain. She was horrified over how lightly Jack seemed to take this. How he had survived so long on his own was for her a mystery.

"There's no need to worry. I got this," Jack grinned in a try to let the matter go. He was more in a mood for cookies than discussing the overhanging threat of him getting his ass kicked by some vengeful Boogeyman.

"Dammit Jack, why can't ye get it? If he messes with one of us he messes with us all. We're family now. So don't come here acting like it's not a big deal, 'cause it's sure as bloody hell is!"

They all stared at Bunnymund in surprise and slight amusement. It was nothing new that the big rabbit had a short temper but this was really interesting. He showed not only an annoyance towards Pitch attacking Jack but also some level of caring for the frost spirit. And had he just involved Jack in the word "family"? The Guardian of fun was unsure of whether he would laugh at, tease or hug the big Australian. He found it wisest to do nothing. Bunny suddenly realized his own mistake as he saw the looks on his friends' faces.

"I mean eh...it's... Oh, Crikey!" he blurted out and threw his paws up in the air and walked over to warm himself by the fire. The truth was that he did care about Jack. He saw him as a nephew; someone that would be there either you wanted it or not and even if that someone was annoying at times you couldn't help but to feel a responsibility to help and care for that person. But as it was now, Bunny would rather cut off his own tail than admit it to any of the others.

"Anyway, Bunny and Tooth is right. You're in danger, my boy and before we are certain of what we are dealing with I want you to stay in workshop," North said after he had suppressed a laughter that would not help with calming the Guardian of hope down. Jack stared at the Russian Santa in disbelief.

"You're telling me that Pitch knocks me unconscious and I'm the one you're giving house arrest?"

"Not the way I would put it but yes. You can see it as punishment for you being so reckless but above all it's for your own safety," North explained with a chuckle but the look on his face told Jack that there was no point in arguing.

"Great," Jack muttered. "I'll be in my room if you want anything."

He then headed towards named room but as soon as he was out of the Guardians' sight he went for one of the big windows in Santoff Claussen. No way they would keep him locked in! He could handle Pitch. He hadn't been prepared before that was all. The tension of being the cause of everyone's worry had almost choked him and he needed to get out, to feel the wind around him and his powers bend to his will. He would be back before anyone noticed.

/\/\/\

You know you're addicted to movies when you're writing a fanfic and baking cookies at the same time and then loudly to yourself calls out with a Russian accent "Still waiting for cookies!" ;)

Oh and I just found the idea of Bunny calling Jack "the lad" adorable. Don't really know why :P