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The Blue Angel stared down at the child in the bed. The eight year old was fighting painstakingly for his life, but it was really only the machines that kept him alive any longer. With gasping breath, the Angel had heard the call from the child and had flown as fast as he could to his side. His heart broke, seeing a child like this.
This wasn't the part he hated about his job, despite what it may seem. It broke his heart to see children so young give up, but he found it was the least he could do for them when he would see the reason behind his call. No, the part he hated was when the other spirits accused him of liking this, of persecuting him before he could speak. His fear of their anger was what made him cry at the sight of anyone other than Death.
Leaning forward, he offered a soft smile to the child when they looked up at him with blurry, pain filled eyes. His hood was lowered so he would not frighten them, one of the very few times he shows his identity to another being.
"…Please…" The soft, broken plea came from the child, a whimper coming after it. Blinking tears away, the Angel nodded and let one of his hands drift through the child's hair while the other formed a sparkling blue snowflake and let it drop onto the child's nose. It burst on contact and the child smiled, thoughts of joy running through his mind. The Angel then let the hand that hovered in the air drop to the boy's chest.
He waited for the boy's eyes to close before breathing in and letting cold seep into the body beneath him. It wasn't long before the child turned pale, skin chilled with a smile upon his frozen lips. A tear, frozen from the soft cold that came from the spirit, dropped onto the body. The hospital room's door slammed open as doctors rushed to try and help the child. Despite being invisible, the Angel was quick to pull up his hood, and take off out the window.
He didn't get far before, he was suddenly tackled out of the air and slammed into a building wall. With a gasp, he let his eyes look up at the one who attacked him and swallowed in fear.
"What the hell did you do?!" The Easter Bunny growled above him, rage falling from his form like waves in a storm.
The Angel didn't answer, but he whimpered and tears filled his eyes as they clenched shut. In his mind, he was whispering over and over that he was sorry, that he couldn't help what he caused. Of course, the rabbit couldn't hear any of his thoughts and instead growled at him once more.
"You think that's funny?! The kid finally got some hope and you just decide to take his life like that?!" The Angel didn't dare try to tell him that the kid started hoping when he arrived. A comment like that would just bring more pain. His wings ached from the position on the wall they were forced into when he was tackled, the icy feather's digging into his back.
"Rabbit, I'd advise you to let go of my Angel if I were you." The Angel whimpered when Bunny's growl deepened and his claws dug into his arms before loosening and letting go. The Angel quickly scrambled away from the Guardian, who was glaring at him before turning to face his master. Death gave a nod to the Angel who swallowed before nodding back and taking off. With a quick glance behind him, he saw the other Guardian's arriving to aid and he quickly picked up speed, and flew away as fast as possible.
It was ironic that it was that memory that came to mind as he stared down at the still form on the bed. There was a multitude of other times similar things had happened, yet it was that memory that came to mind when he had taken the life of this child.
The first one he had taken since becoming a Guardian.
He hadn't planned for this, not in the slightest. He would admit it was nice not having calls for his help ringing in his ears. But, when he had seen the child, he knew nothing the Guardians tried to do would help. He had stayed in the shadows as the other's attempted to bring hope and dreams to the child. To help him remember the joy of his life and to look forward to the wonder of the world. Jack could see none of it was working.
The only think the child wanted was relief.
So, when the others had decided to leave the child for a bit, Jack stepped out from the shadows and approached the bed. The child's eyes had lit up at the sight of him and he knew it wouldn't be long before the other's returned. With a smile, he promised the child he would take away his pain. Once he was positive the child wanted nothing more to do with life, he let his powers go to work and it wasn't long before his watery eyes were staring down at the still form.
He heard the others return, their gasps at the sight that greeted them. He knew if he looked they would have wide eyes filled with anger and sorrow.
"Jack…what-why…" Tooth was unable to speak and Jack could hear the tenseness in her voice.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, trembling as he tightened his grip on his staff, holding it close to himself. "I-he didn't…I'm sorry but he…" He was cut off by the sound of the door opening and those caring for the child came rushing in.
"We'll talk about this after we get out of here." Came North's thick voice. Jack could hear him reach into his coat and whisper into most likely a snowglobe. The sound of it breaking on the ground made him tremble even more and the sudden hand wrapped around his arm didn't help.
"Come on." He heard Bunny's gruff voice. Anger was tainting it and Jack dare not lift his eyes from the floor, even as he was pushed through the portal and stumbled out of it. He lost his balance when the portal spitted him out, and he collapsed onto his knees on the wooden floor, most likely in the Pole. He didn't even reach for his staff when he heard it fall with a clatter beside him, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around his arms.
He didn't want to move, didn't want to face their anger and the pain that was soon to come. He hasn't been a Guardian for as long as them, they can easily kick him out. It wasn't his fault, he just wanted to help! Oh why couldn't he do anything right it seemed?
He felt the wind rushing by him and through his hair, whispering words of comfort to him. Apparently they left a window open for him. Odd. When he didn't reply, the wind only seemed to grow even more worried and was quick to take out through the window.
"Jack?" He flinched at Tooth's soft voice, his trembling becoming even worse. "Why…why did you…do that?"
Instantly he started pleading with them, saying how he was so sorry and that the child asked him to. He had just wanted to help!
"We were helping!" Bunny growled out making Jack give a soft cry of fear. "You didn't need to kill him!"
"Bunny!" North spoke, quieting the other before looking back at the child curled up on the floor. It was clear Jack was afraid of them at this moment. It was also obvious that they needed to do something quickly.
"Jack?" the boy flinched away, trying to curl up even more and vanish into the floor. "Jack, why did you do that?"
"H-He was suffering and he wanted it to stop!" Jack cried out, his trembling only seeming to continually get worse. "I-I wanted to help! Nothing else made him happy…and-and he just wanted to go peacefully! He wanted to go away from the pain and I wanted to help!" He started to sob. "I-I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! I-I'll leave…o-or disappear! Just…please don't hurt me!"
The Guardians stared sadly down at the sobbing child, even Bunny lost his anger at the sight.
"Oh, Jack…" Tooth move forward and knelt before the sobbing child. "Oh Sweet Tooth, we would never hurt you." She pulled him into her arms and Jack tensed before struggling to get away, sobbing and pleading with her. She tried to calm him down but he just didn't seem to hear her. Just then the wind ripped through the room once more, but this time it was joined by the arrival of four spirits.
Jack was ripped from Tooth's arms by Ian, who then placed him within Megan's arms. They had learned long ago that only Megan could calm Jack down while in such a state. Sometimes Mother Nature could but it was usually Megan who chose only to use her voice to whisper the mystery words to the youngest.
She gave a nod to her brother before sitting down with Jack in her arms, whispering softly to him. The other's then turned to the Guardians, anger dancing in there eyes.
"What did you do to him!?" Cecilia cried, summoning her spear and pointing it at the Guardians.
"Cecilia." Mother Nature spoke up, and the girl frowned before letting her spear disappear and turned away from them to go sit beside Megan, who was slowly calming Jack down.
"I would have let her hurt them." Ian growled, glaring at the group before him, flames flickering upon his skin and in his eyes.
Mother Nature ignored him in favor of addressing the Guardians. "What happened?" Her words were spoken slowly and carefully, the edge to them enough to cause physical wounds should they be real.
"There was a child." North spoke up when none of the other's did. "He was sick, given up hope on life. We were trying to help him, but nothing was working. Then, when we left the child for a bit, Jack had stayed and…and…" He didn't know how to continue.
"He took the ankle biter's life." Bunny growled. "Just as he had done while working for the monster, Death."
Ian's eyes hardened even more. "And you decided to yell at him?"
"Well-"
"What was his reasons?" Mother Nature asked cutting the Easter spirit off. "Did you even take the time to listen to him?"
"He said that the child asked him to." Tooth said. "That they wanted the pain to stop, so Jack decided to help. When he told us, he said he was sorry." Her eyes drifted to look at Jack, who was slowly being rocked to sleep by his sisters, Cecilia humming a soft song to him.
Sandy saw this and began to weave dream sand towards the boy. Everyone watched as Jack slipped into slumber as the sand brushed his eyes. A dream of his family, the Guardians and the Seasonals, all being there for him.
"Perhaps," They looked back to Mother Nature, who kept her soft gaze on her child. "He knows when to give mercy to those who need it. Rather than force the child to risk continued suffering, he took pity and answered the child's prayer. It is natural for Seasonals to cause death within the seasons, but it is never intentional, unless they were attacked. Jack had been placed in a situation to take the lives of those who asked him, who wanted to leave. There was no doubt in her mind that he saw this as a merciful act and it was in a way. Sometimes, that seems to be the only choice.
"It seems that he truly did help the child and I would not punish him for it." She continued, turning to look at the Guardians. "Now, I don't expect you all to instantly accept this but sometimes, mercy is the best option when there are no other choices."
She walked over to her children, all knelt on the floor around her youngest, and gently took Jack into her arms.
"I will take him home for now, but you will make it up to him when he awakens." With that, she and her children took their leave, but not after Ian shot a glare over his shoulder and warmed the air threateningly around them.
When they saw Jack next, he was with Megan, no doubt there in case something happened. The winter spirit hid behind the fall spirit, taking quick glances at them before returning them to the floor. Megan smiled at them all, specifically to Sandy, before reaching out to push Jack in front of her.
Jack shot her a look of fear before returning his gaze to the floor and muttering a soft. "I'm sorry."
The Guardians frowned as North spoke. "No, Jack. We are sorry. We should not have yelled at you or accused you of terrible things."
"I-I was just helping." He muttered, still refusing to look at them.
"We know that now." Tooth spoke up. "Because sometimes, mercy is the only option that can be chosen."
"Look Frostbite," Bunny spoke up, using the nickname to show no hard feelings. "We aren't mad at you. We know you'd never hurt anything unless you had no other choice or a very good reason. So, we're sorry."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked, wringing his hands around his staff nervously. "I mean-" He was cut off by hands on his shoulders. Looking up, he found Sandy smiling at his and showing pictures over his head. One was of the Guardians and the other was of Jack. The Jack picture used his powers and looked to the floor while the Guardians came over and embraced him in a hug. The words were obvious.
"We will always love and accept you, despite what may happen."
Tears formed in Jack's eyes and he was soon being held by the Guardians. They may not accept the fact the child had to die, but they did understand the concept of offering mercy. They just needed to accept that this was a part of Jack, it will always be.
But they would still keep him in their family, no matter what.