{Jack's POV}

            "Hold still..."

            Jack grunted as he squinted his eyes, a blinding light shined directly into them. The chains rattled as he attempted to pull away from the light, turning his head away as much as possible. Tape was securely placed over his mouth, tugging constantly at his skin as he attempted to open it to speak, muting any protests and curses he had to offer.

            "Come now, Jacky..." There was a dark chuckle that made his blood run cold, and he slowly looked forward, glaring at the man who had held him prisoner. If not for these infernal chains he would have torn out this man's throat long ago... However, as it were he couldn't even open his hands fully without his fingers striking the metal balls they were encased in. Right now, Jack just wanted this guy to leave him alone and let him go.

             Of course, the man wasn't nearly that cooperative. Aiming the tiny flashlight into his hollow eyes, he began murmuring to himself. Semi-psychotic ramblings, of an intellectual nature. "No eyeballs, yet his 'eyes' seem to react the same way to bright light..." A red glow appeared in the hollows of Jack's sockets as he gave an annoyed grunt, the best he could do since he couldn't exactly growl with the tape on his mouth.

            After a few moments the light vanished and he relaxed a bit, only to flinch as there was another sudden bright flash of light. Squinting, he automatically moved to rub his eyes but, of course, he couldn't. Stupid chains. Jack grunted and shook his head as an alternative, only for that man to grab his head and hold it in place. Glaring at him, Jack saw he was holding up a camera. So THAT'S what that flash was...

             "Say cheese," the man chuckled. Jack groaned as there was another flash, and the man snapped many more pictures from various angles before finally setting down the camera. Relief flooded through Jack as he blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of all the bright spots on his vision. "You know, I'm curious... What about your eyelids?" At this point Jack's irritation vanished, replaced by surprise. Wait... what?

            Before he could react the man jabbed his finger towards Jack's left eye and stuck into it. Pain surged through Jack as the man felt around his hollow socket, his face scrunching up in agony. He began shaking and trying to pull his arms free, to shove the man's hand away, but he couldn't. The chains kept pulling tight and every jerking movement exacerbated the pain as the man's finger bounced around the inside of his eye socket.

            "Come on, hold still, Jacky... You'll hurt yourself." The man chuckled darkly as he tugged Jack's upper eyelid from the inside and pulled it up, causing him to suck in a sharp intake of breath as more pain shot through him. Raising the camera, the man smirked. "Say cheese, Jacky... Jack... Jack..."

            "Jack!" Suddenly Jack's eyes shot open as he felt himself being shaken. Instinctively he lunged, knocking his assailant to the ground with his hands around their throat. Below him was a pair of very wide [e/c] eyes set against a [s/c] face, full of surprise and confusion. For a moment he just hovered above the person, hands unmoving but still in place around their neck as he panted heavily.

            His assailant spoke slowly, their voice trembling. "J-Jack... L-let go, it's me..." Panting heavily as he stared down at those shocked [e/c] eyes, tears pricking the corner, after a few moments his hollow eyes widened with recognition.

            This wasn't an assailant, this was [Name]!

            Immediately he removed his hands from her neck and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her up into a tight embrace. Her body stiffened at the sudden contact, making him pull her closer. He spoke softly, his voice shaky and trembling. "Shit... [Name], I'm sorry. I didn't... It... it was just a reflex, I would never...! I didn't mean to...!"

            He trailed off, his body trembling slightly as he tightened his hold on her. Her body remained stiff, making him worry that maybe he'd gone too far, that he'd lost her trust and that all that was left was fear. Her face after the appendectomy flashed through his mind, full of fear and distrust, making his heart sink. He couldn't bear that, not ever again...!

            However, to his relief, she slowly relaxed and finally returned the embrace, rubbing his back gently as she spoke, her voice soft. "Shh... Jack, it's okay... You were having a bad dream, that's all... You're okay now, that's all that matters..." His eyes widened slightly for a moment before squeezing tightly shut, his hold on her briefly tightening. His arms then went somewhat slack around her and he exhaled softly, rolling his head slightly to inhale the sweet scent of her [h/c] hair.

            After a few moments he finally broke the embrace, looking at her inquisitively and worriedly. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? How's your neck? Is your side okay? And why is my mask on the ground?" At this point his gaze was directed to the blue mask, laying on the ground a few feet away. [Name] followed his gaze.

            "You fell asleep, so I took it off," she explained. "Sorry..." For a moment he just kept staring, then his hand shot out to grab it, quickly pulling it over the face.

            "Don't DO that!" he growled as he adjusted it. Immediately he felt guilty, though, as she flinched and shrunk away from him.

            "I-I'm sorry, it's just, you kept twitching and whimpering in your sleep... I just wanted to check if you were all right...!" The words tumbled out her mouth, her eyes widening as her body trembled slightly. Jack's shoulders slumped as he recognized a brief glimpse of an all too familiar emotion in her [e/c] eyes: fear. Guilt flooded through him at the sight, having lost any desire to see that look in her face ever again.

            "...Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that," he sighed, hanging his head in shame. "It's just... don't remove my mask, okay?" He kept his head bowed, feeling ashamed of, well... everything. She'd seen his face... He hated showing his face to anyone, but especially to her. She probably looked at him like a monster without it. Not only that, he snapped at her without thinking. He sighed at the thought, his shoulders slumping. Just thinking like that made his heart sink. [Name], meanwhile, said nothing, just stared at him.

            "I shouldn't have removed the mask," she finally sighed, and he nodded.

            "Well, I overreacted anyway..." He slowly got to his feet, extending a hand to her. "Come on, let's just go home..." She looked at it for a moment and then took it, allowing him to help her to her feet. With that they began walking home, Jack staring at the ground silently.

{Reader's POV}

            My neck seemed to throb as we walked through the woods, even though Jack hadn't squeezed it at all. Honestly, though I'd put up a tough facade, I was kind of scared. My life had flashed before my eyes when he'd pinned me, bringing back memories of his other attacks. Maybe that was why my neck was throbbing—I was remembering how he'd strangled me, not once but twice. Waking him up had turned out to be a bad move.

            As scared as I was, though, I didn't really regret waking him up. I couldn't just leave him like that, he just looked so... scared. Hurt. Afraid. And I did forgive him for attacking me like that. Everyone's a bit disoriented after first waking up, and Jack is no exception. Actually, he's even MORE likely to be disoriented. The guy has PTSD, of course he'd lash out like that, and the nightmare probably made it worse. Even now, I had no regrets.

            Not sure I'd wake him up again, though.

             As I mulled over this I cast him a glance. Guilt seemed to radiate from him, showing in everything from his slumped posture and bowed head to the way he seemed to purposely avoid looking at me. I frowned at the sight. "...Hey, Jack? Can I say something?" He perked up a bit, glancing at me over his shoulder.

            "...Yeah. It's not like I can tell tell you NOT to." He shrugged and I stopped walking. Taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I took a deep breath and spoke.

            "Your face isn't that bad. I like it more than the mask." He stopped walking, just staring at me in silence. Cheeks reddening, I quickly took off for the cabin, leaving him behind. As I glanced back I saw him still standing there, gently touching his mask.

            Maybe my words got through a little more than I thought.