its been two months since they managed to drag Bunny out of the Warren. he still hadn't said a single word since he'd told Jack he was sorry.

he had to be supervised 24/7 to make sure he ate and took care of himself. Sandy stayed with him as much as he could, but it was often left to North and Jack to supervise him.

today it was Jacks turn.

Bunny didn't do much but sit in his nest, arms around his knees, staring at a wall. he always looks lost in thought. Jack watches him from the doorway, before clearing his throat.

"hey, time for lunch." Jack murmurs. Bunny blinks before turning to him. Jack gives him a half smile, holding the plate out to him. he carefully walks over and puts the plate in front of him. "better eat." Jack murmurs. Bunny reaches for the plate automatically. he knows, by now, its just easier to do what he's told.

ignoring food, water, or sleep, ends up with him back at Norths, laying in the infirmary until he cooperates again.

"do you wanna do something today?" Jack asks, watching Bunny nibble at his food. the Pooka glances at him, tense. he still had a hard time being alone with Jack, not that the younger didn't understand. Jack smiles at him slightly.

Bunny didn't smile anymore though. he hadn't in months.

Jack glances over him. despite forcing him to take care of himself, Bunnys ears remain shredded and covered in bandages. even with Sandy making sure he's taken care of in his sleep, Bunny always manages to claw them back open in his sleep.

"we could do whatever you want." Jack murmurs. Bunny looks up from his empty plate, blankly. he eats quickly these days, so the others don't try to force it down his throat. Jack smiles at him a little.

Bunny blinks at him again and Jack sighs.

"okay come on, time to go outside for a bit." Jack says.

it takes a bit more convincing, but Jack gets Bunny out of his den and into the Warren. the plant life was attempting to recover, most of it having wilted while Bunny had himself locked away.

Bunny lets Jack lead him over to the dye river, looking slightly confused at the blanket set out on the grass.

"come on, figured we could paint some eggs, y'know?" Jack smiles. he sits on the blanket, patting the spot beside him. Bunny avoids the blanket, but sits down, leaving a couple feet of space between them. Jack gives him a small smile, motioning to the paint and brushes on the blanket. Jack picks up an egg, holding it out to Bunny gently.

Bunny stares at him a moment, before shakily reaching for the egg. he's careful to grab the egg with his claws and not touch Jack, who gives him a small hesitant smile. Bunny immediately turns to his egg and starts painting. Jack sighs softly and grabs his own egg to start painting.

they sit quietly for a few minutes, painting, before Jack feels something. he sits up looking over at Bunny. he can feel a spark of pure unbridled joy, cracking like electricity, coming from the bigger, but it only lasts a brief moment before its gone. it lasts just long enough to give Jack hope.

Bunny jerks slightly at the sudden jolt of hope he can feel in his core. a quick side glance at Jack, thinking Jack can't see it, lets him know the Pooka knows its him.

"I fucked up Bunny... I don't get nightmares... at least... not from made up things. I usually don't dream about things that haven't happened... I ruined your life... I know." Jack says softly. Bunny tenses. "but... if you'll let me I'd really like to be your friend again. I know you probably hate me and I really don't blame you, but could we try?" Jack asks. Bunny pauses in his painting, turning to look at Jack. his nose twitches. Jack idly wonders if he can smell the hope and regret seeping off Jack.

Bunnys ears give a weak perk, before they flop back down. he turns back to his egg, but Jack recognises the expression on his face. he's attempting to force himself to talk again.

"yy... y-y..." Bunny murmurs. Jack stays quiet, watching him. "y-y-you-you..." Bunny manages after a moment. he goes quiet again, frowning.

"me?" Jack ask. Bunny clears his throat slightly, trying to force his body and mouth to cooperate with him. he slowly turns his head towards Jack, but he's staring at the ground.

"t-tr-tr-trus... mmm.... m-m-me?" Bunny mutters. Jack nods immediately.

"yeah... I don't deserve your trust, but you never did anything to break mine... Pitch tricked me. made me think you did. turns out I'm a really good pawn for him." Jack mumbles. Jack reaches out and rests his hand on Bunnys knee. the Pooka jerks away from the gentle touch and Jack frowns. "Bunny... you don't have any reason to trust me, you really don't... but I really do want to make things better.... Sandy and I came up with a way to try... would you be willing?" Jack asks. Bunny opens and closes his mouth a couple times. he can't seem to make words, so he simply nods. "alright so you're okay with me bringing Sandy over then?" Jack ask. Bunny nods again.

this new quieter side of Bunny made Jacks heart hurt and he idly wondered what caused the lack of being able to speak. he couldn't see any scars on Bunnys throat, but he couldn't get close enough to actually see through his fur either.

"Bunny... how come... how come you can't speak right anymore?" Jack asks. Bunny shrugs slightly, picking up an egg to start painting again. its clear Bunny knows why, just by his posture. he won't be saying, clearly. "Bunny... I'm sorry... I know that will neer fix anything. I know sorry doesn't do anything, but I am sorry. I know you better than that. this was all my fault." Jack mumbles. the guilt is eating him alive, but like he assumes it had Bunny. "you didn't hurt me." Jack says. Bunny stiffens.

he stays frozen like that for a few minutes, mind arguing that Jack is lying. he's trying to move past whatever Bunny did. he wants to trust Bunny again, but Bunny can't trust himself. his mind is still supplying a million different things he could have done to Jack. be he still isn't sure what he did.

"are you okay?" Jack asks softly. Bunny shrugs slightly and goes back to painting again. its quiet for a few minutes, but Jack can see Bunny desperately trying to use his mouth.

"y-y-y-y... d-d-don'... y-y...." Bunny trails. he shakes his head and turns back to the eggs. Jack sighs softly and paints his own egg. suddenly Bunny shoves his egg at Jack, not allowing the younger to touch him.

you don't have to lie, just tell me what I did. I can't remember.

Jack heaves a small sigh.

"you didn't do anything." Jack says. Bunny looks frustrated. Jack leans over the ground, picking up a stick. he hands it over to Bunny, who looks utterly confused. "use it to write in the dirt. won't hurt the Warren and you don't have to try and hurt yourself to speak." Jack explains. Bunny takes the stick and quickly scratches his words into the dirt.

just tell me what I did.

"Bunny you didn't-" Jack tries. the stick snaps in Bunnys paw. Bunny jerks, looking down at the stick. he jerks away from Jack, terrified he's going to hurt Jack again. he scrambles up to his feet. "no! wait! wait! please!" Jack begs. Bunny freezes, staring at the ground. "Bunny its okay. I promise. being angry or annoyed at me is okay. don't run. please." Jack begs. Bunny shakes his head.

"d-d-d-don' wa-aa-wan... h-h-hu-hur-h-hurt y-y-y-y-you..." Bunny manages.

"you won't. its okay." Jack assures. Bunny shakes his head, backing away from Jack. he's trembling again, chest heaving. "breathe Aster, hey, just breathe. its okay." Jack murmurs. Bunny back away from him nervously. "just relax, okay? deep breath in, hold, no hold it." Jack says. Bunny does as Jack says, holding his deep breath in. "now let it out slowly. alright?" Jack asks. Bunny does as Jack says again. "don't run from me, please." Jack soothes.

Bunny backs up slightly, looking somewhere between nervous, guilty, and terrified.

"hey, I think you're having a panic attack, I've dealt with those before. just, have a seat okay? don't run off. stay here." Jack says gently. "I-I'll go get Sandy. its time for you to see the truth, alright?" Jack asks. Bunny slowly sits back down.

the truth.

Jack was finally going to tell Bunny what exactly he did.

Bunny nods slightly, hugging his knees to his chest.

Jacks gone and back in a flash.

he and Sandy carefully lead Bunny back to his nest, Jack laying on the floor to keep Bunny from panicking.

"first we're gonna see you okay? we're gonna see what you were dreaming about, what you were doing... then we'll see mine." Jack explains. "Sandy says you should be able to talk in this." Jack adds.

Bunny doesn't answer and Sandy knocks them out.

~

Bunny jerks up, rubbing his head. he looks around.

"woah... where are we?" Jack asks. a genuine smile is on Bunnys face. he looks around.

"h... ho-home." Bunny murmurs, resting his paw on a nearby tree. Jack looks confused, until two small Pooka run past. Bunny grins and drops down, chasing after them. Jack easily keeps up thanks to Sandy.

"ma! Evergreen won't give me my book back!"

Bunny grins, coming to a stop at the same time the smaller Pooka do.

"all ye do is read." Bunny murmurs at the same time as the second smaller Pooka. "why won' ya play with me, Amaryllis." Bunny murmurs. Jack watches him a moment.

"I don't want to play! give me my book back!"

"Bunny is that you?" Jack asks after a moment. Bunny nods, looking almost close to tears.

"me an Amaryllis." Bunny murmurs.

"a friend?" Jack asks.

"me sister." Bunny murmurs, reaching for the memory of his older sister. his face falls when his paw goes right through her. he sighs. "Sandy gives me this dream so I don' have t' see her die in me arms over an over an over again." Bunny murmurs. Jack swallows hard.

"w-we can stay here for a little bit, if you want..." Jack offers. Bunny shakes his head, smiling at Amaryllis.

"I'll see her again t'night." Bunny assures. he swallows and looks at Jack. his eyes take on the lost look again. "show me what I did." Bunny says.

"this is what you did. you were asleep... so was I." Jack says softly. the world around them changes.

they're suddenly in Pitches lair. there's blood everywhere. Jack is screaming. he turns away. he doesn't want to see this, but Bunny can't take his eyes away.

the creature. the creature looks like him. no wonder Jack had been so scared, but it wasn't him.

"its eyes are red." Bunny says.

"yeah... thats how they managed to convince me it wasn't you." Jack chokes. "I didn't notice." Jack says softly.

this nightmare version of Bunny is relentless. beating and torturing Jack. hurting him in ways Bunny could never imagine actually doing to anyone, let alone Jack. Bunny jerks back watching Jacks body go flying.

"Bunny stop! I'm begging you! please!"

Bunny watches until he can't anymore, turning to look at Jack. his ears are drooped, his lip is quivering, there are tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Jack looks no better.

"you were never hear. you... you never did anything... b-but... I-I couldn't tell the difference between that nightmare and you." Jack says, shakily. Bunny turns back to the gorey scene behind him.

"I never hurt ya." Bunny says softly.

"no..." Jack chokes. "I'm so sorry." Jack manages, before he breaks into sobs. "I'm so sorry!" Jack cries.

Bunny looks at the scene around him. thisthing had hurt Jack, not him.

"it looks like me." Bunny says.

"yeah, another of Pitches tricks..." Jack sniffles. Bunny reaches out before he can stop himself, towards the injured version of Jack. to both of their surprise, he catches the injured Jack. "how'd you do that...?" Jack asks.

"Sandy." Bunny murmurs to himself. the injured Jack looks up at him terrified, breath shaky.

"B-Bunny...?"" he asks tearfully.

"I can fix it." Bunny murmurs. the injured Jack looks confused. "I can fix this." Bunny murmurs to himself.

"Bunny wh-what are you doing?" Jack asks, looking at the bloody version of himself in the Pookas arms.

Bunny ignores him, hefting the injured Frost Guardian into his arms.

"I can fix it." Bunny murmurs again.

"b-but... but if you... then... then whose..." Jack looks over at the nightmare. Bunny carefully sets him aside and lunges at the nightmare version of himself. he's screaming obscenities and beating this fake version of himself.

he beats the best until it stops moving, then turns to look at both Jacks. the injured Jack can't see the real Jack apparently.

"B-Bunny?" Jack sobs softly. Bunny drops down beside the injured Jack and holds him tightly to his chest.

~

Bunny gasps, jerking straight up into a sitting positon, looking around. he swallows hard. Jack groans, sitting up on the floor.

"woah, Sandy, what was that?" Jack asks. Sandy flashes a few images at Jack.

Bunny needed that.

Jack looks over at Bunny, who is staring at him.

"do you hate me?" Jack ask. Bunny jumps from his nest, slamming himself against Jack, yanking the smaller to his chest and letting out a shaky breath. Sandy quickly vanishes to give them time.

Bunny chokes on a sob, clinging to Jack. Jack shakily wraps his arms around him.

"Bunny...?" Jack ask.

"I-I-I-I can-ca-c-can f-f-fi-fix thisssss." Bunny says, shakily.

"you didn't do anything wrong." Jack says. Bunny shakes his head and holds Jack tighter. the smaller has no idea whats going on, but whatever it is has Bunny holding him again. has Bunny touching him.

they could get past this. together. Jack knew they could.