There was an awful groaning noise. For a moment, Jay didn't realize that the sound was coming from him. 

There was something different. Even without opening his eyes, he knew where he was: With the Guardians. Jack was there, too, hopefully.

Now what?

The Guardians brought them here for a reason. Whatever that reason was, Jay was unsure of. He wasn't even positive that he wanted to know.

Jay opened his eyes a crack. Bright light nearly blinded him, making his head pound. Pain was everywhere. His whole body ached, and his leg... His leg hurt like hell. He could a feel it up to his knee, but after that, nothing.

Jay lifted up his hands so he could see them.

They were stained red. 

Red. Blood. Pain. Fear. 

All those words were linked by the simple color... Red.

Jay began to tremble. The blood on his hands brought back so many memories. 

No, He thought, Stop that. Thoughts like that will bring on another mental breakdown. 

He couldn't let that happen. Jay hadn't forgave himself after loosing it on Jack when the Guardians first came. 

Jack was always there. Jack was the one who threw away his dignity to beg Pitch not to hurt his brother. He was the one always willing to take the first hit. He was the one who always took the first step.

Jay tried. He really did. He had tried to pull Jack away from Toothiana when she first saw them. 

But all it took was one touch.

Her fingertips, soft and smooth, had barely grazed his cheek when his mind shut down. His limbs acted on their own, and he fell.

He left Jack to face them.

Jay let his hands fall back down on the blanket, gasping when the broken edges of the bone in his arm ground together painfully.

Hold on.

He was on a bed. With a blanket. And pillows. 

The windows were letting in light. Natural light, too, and lots of it.

And the Guardians were standing by his brother, looking at him.

Was that even his brother? It must be, but it didn't look like Jack.

The half of Jack's face was swollen and purple, blood-soaked bandages covered his arms and neck. He even had gauze on a cut above his eyebrow.

Jay had never realized it, but Jack was dreadfully thin. Even with the bandages on, you could see each bone in in his arms, probably his legs, too, but they were hidden beneath a blanket. His eyes were hollow with dark circles underneath, and his cheeks looked sunken...

Jay probably didn't look much different.

Jack made a sound of discomfort as Tooth handed a yeti his hoodie to be washed.

"You'll get it back, mate." Bunny promised.

"Until then," said Tooth carefully, "I need to set your arm."

Jay's mind whirled. To set and arm... That meant to fix it. He looked at his own arm. Would they do that to him, too?

He could see that Jack was afraid. Sense it, even. 

Jack gripped the edge of the mattress in his hands, shaking violently.

"Calm down," North said, "Tooth will be quick."

Sandman nodded.

"Bunny, I need your help." Tooth announced.

Bunny jumped. "Me? Why me? Sorry, Sheila, I don't do well with fixin'... People."

"This isn't for me, this is for him. Now get over here and do what I say, Fluff-butt." Tooth scowled.

Jay watched as Bunny nervously followed Tooth's instructions, taking hold of Jack's upper arm.

Jack shuddered.

"Ready?" Tooth asked.

What kind of a question is that?  Jay thought, How is there even a way to be ready for this?

She took Jack's wrist and pulled out, pushing the broken bone back into place. Jack was trying not to make noise, but a strangled cry of pain came from his mouth, echoing around the room.

Jay pushed his fingers into his ears, shutting his eyes. He didn't want to hear Jack scream. The sounds scared him.

After a few moments, the now-muffled screaming stopped. Jay pulled a finger away from his ear carefully, relieved that it was over.

Well, for him.

Jack was laying there, his breaths ragged with pain.

"Okay, I'm done." Tooth soothed. Jay noticed that she did most of the talking. 

One of Bunny's ears turned towards his direction. He whispered something to North and Sandman, who tapped Tooth on the shoulder.

The Guardians were now looking at him.

"Good, you're awake, Jay." Tooth said, she sounded relieved. "For a moment I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

How did she know his name?

Jack must have told her.

Jay gave Jack a pleading look, who mouthed 'sorry,' back at him.

"So, we're trying to get you two up to speed." She continued, speaking to both of them. "You have kind of a lot of injuries that we need to take care of before you can walk."

Walk? Jay could walk. Even with a broken leg, he had been able to limp around the lair before. He was forced to. There wasn't another option, because Pitch had once threatened to break both of them.

"You can sleep now," She said to Jack, "But first, can I have your name?"

Jack hesitated.

Jay didn't know why, but he felt that Jack shouldn't tell her. 

His twin looked to him for help. Jay gave his head a tiny shake, unsure of what to do.

"U-um... " Jack mumbled. "J-Jack."

No.

"Jack and Jay?" North asked.

"Both with a 'J,'" Tooth smiled. "That's cute."

"Anyways," said Bunny, "Jack can sleep now. But you... "

Jay shuddered as the Guardians eyes rested on him.

"We still need to clean you up a bit," Tooth finished, giving Bunny a look. She probably didn't want him to scare Jay, but it was a little late for that.

Tooth sat on a stool by the bed he was on, looking at him sorrowfully. Jay turned red. He knew they looked terrible. He knew they were a mess. He knew that she pitied  them.

He didn't want their pity.

"I'm just going to clean up the cuts with a little peroxide, just like I did for Jack. Is that okay?" She asked.

Jay didn't answer. There wasn't an answer he could give.

Tooth frowned. "Okay?"

Biting his lip, Jay dropped his gaze.

"Jay?"

Her hand reached his. Jay gasped a little, his heart racing from fear. Don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me-

"Can't you... Can't you talk?" Tooth asked, her eyes wide.

He looked away.

"Crikey," Bunny muttered. North and Sandman looked troubled.

"We can try speech therapy, Toothy," North murmured, "Sandy can try to teach him sign language."

Jay didn't want anything from these people. Anything. He should have stayed at the lair with Jack. The Guardians never should have tried to help.

Now Pitch was angry. And he would try to find them. He would succeed. He would bring them back to the lair and torture them more than he ever did before, until they went insane.

That's all that was left for them. After screaming until your throat hurt, begging until you cried, but never having the escape that death provided... There was nothing else to do. Nothing else but to give in.

Jay was already there, in some ways. Already insane. His lack of speech was proof that part of him was leaving.

Proof that parts of him were already gone.