Rise of the Guardians One-Shots pt.2

Gift

Emily on the other hand seemed to have no filter. 

She heard a door open on the other side to find the winter boy they were just talking about. He looked worn out. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and she kept quiet, she knew that he knew she was there. Jack had that sixth sense. His eyes opened to meet hers as he just stared at her. A strange look crossed his face. 

"What's wrong, Jackie?" He looked at her with no words before seeming to shake a thought from his head. He pushed off the wall to walk up to her, sitting down beside her. He leaned against her shoulder as they both sighed. 

"What about a new coffee mug? I may have broke his..." She couldn't help but laugh at the blush on Jack's cheeks. Neither of them knew how Sam's cup was broken in the sink the other day but at least she now had an idea for a gift. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders before rubbing her fingers on his temple. 

"Do you need to talk or do you need to rest?" He didn't respond which made her look down at him. He was asleep. It was her chance to just look at him. Jack was stuck at the age of 17, just on the edge of an adult but not close enough to be considered one. He was wise beyond even his immortal years and more powerful than many of those around him. It wasn't any of these reasons that she looked at him. He was still just a little boy who had been through everything you could think of. 

"If you keep staring at him like that, he will wake up." She leaned back into the hand in her hair. Sam looked down with a soft smile as her eyes slowly shut from him now running his fingers through her hair. He noticed how tense her body was when he first walked in and knew she hadn't sat down once. Her stubbornness matched her brother who was in the Globe room now arguing with Aster and Lily about Jack. 

He looked to the boy leaning against her with his smile getting just a little bigger. It was good to see him sleeping. He had gotten information from Pitch that even though Jack was sleeping, he wasn't resting. He didn't sit down and let himself relax since a few days ago. He was having more days in the field with the weather acting up which he knew was wearing the boy down. 

A larger weight leaned on him, Natasha was asleep. He sighed before bringing the other chair closer to them. He let the weight of both of them lean against him as he just used one hand to play with her hair while the other laid on Jack's hand who immediately took it like a stuffed animal. 

His two favorite people leaning against him made everything in his life feel whole. It was everything he ever wanted. He knew both of them would be getting him something for his birthday on Thursday. He wished they knew that he had it all right here. 

"You are whipped." He rolled his eyes at Roy's voice. 

"Go away, Roy. No one was talking to you." He heard the laugh of the old one. Something came to his mind as he frowned. 

"Why have you been so active lately? You've been on edge." 

"Just watching to make sure everyone is protected. I seem to actually care for the lot of you." Sam smiled before looking back down at the two. Yeah, they both had a way with making even the most evilest of people melt for them. 

They were his gifts, he didn't need anything else.

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Tuesday

"Natasha, this is more than a headache. You're having a migraine." She groaned before shoving the pillow over her face. Eleanor's voice was to loud. Her head was pounding from overworking yesterday. After she woke up from the short nap with Sam and Jack, she immediately went to help North with more jobs.