Author's Note: Ok, so I knooow I have a bunch of stories to work on already but this idea absolutely refused to stop bothering me. I had read a novelization of the movie WALL-E where all the robots had been turned human. I really liked it, but it was incredibly violent at the end and Wally's age in it didn't seem quite right to me. WALL-E is so innocent in the movie that I thought he'd be better suited to be a kid. And if he was a child, then of course the Guardians should be there too.

Unfortunately, if you decide to turn all the robots human, this makes WALL-E's world much darker. So I'm sorry to say that this fic will be very angst filled. This is going to be my version of the whole "all the robots are human" thing in WALL-E with the Guardians (and Pitch!) all thrown in there just because. This story is obviously AU from WALL-E and AU from the Guardians. It has absolutely nothing to do with any of my other stories that involve the Guardians, although there might be a couple references if you squint. Pitch in this hasn't been redeemed. ROTG happened like it did in the movie, but since WALL-E takes place so long after the ROTG events, I'm going to assume Pitch had gathered up enough of his powers to be able to resume spreading his nightmares, but this time more normally and not as a megalomaniac trying to take over the world.

In this, since Wally is a child, he's one of the last lights on the globe of believers. Jack Frost is the other last light, since he died when he wasn't quite an adult. For now, we can assume that WALL-E will follow some loose form of the movie and we'll see in the future how the Guardians change things. For those who love Hal, I'm really sorry.

I also need to add that there will be no pairings since Wally is a kid in this! He and Eve will only have friendship! And since I consider the Guardians to be one big happy family, they won't have any pairings either.

I think I covered everything, so if you still want to read this here you go!

Chapter One: The Last Light

The Earth used to be a beautiful place, once seen from space as a wonderful planet full of blues and greens with the occasional white cloud cover. But as centuries passed, the white clouds took on a dirty tinge and the blue and green began to fade and eventually, all was covered as more and more junk satellites began to surround the Earth.

Now there was a brown haze over the planet that was once so full of life and all the green had faded to a dead brown. The weather, which was always a little unpredictable anyway (no matter how much science advanced, it seemed like the weatherman couldn't get his predictions right), became even more so.

Now wild and unpredictable storms ravaged the Earth although hardly any humans remained to deal with it. In fact, only one human remained - a lone human boy, who was currently fulfilling his directive - to collect garbage and compact it. He was wearing a dark yellow coverall that had BnL across the back of it and on the front was the name "Wally" embroidered in blue surrounded by a red background. The once pristine coverall was incredibly filthy, covered in who-knows-what from day after day of dealing with garbage.

Wally paused to look at the sky overhead as he gauged the time of day. He guessed it was around midday by the position of the sun. He sighed, he still had hours left to go before he was done. His green eyes were hidden behind an old pair of wraparound sunglasses, that blocked out the harsh rays of the sun. They reflected a rainbow of colors as they covered Wally's eyes in a continuous line and would look nicely hi-tech if it weren't for the crack that had slowly made its way across the lens from the lower right corner.

His feet were protected by heavy steel-toed work boots that were a little too big for him. They made him clumsy and were very worn, as though he'd been wearing them for a long, long time. Around his waist was a toolbelt that held various little pockets that held small gadgets that were in various degrees of workability, that would help him out in his neverending trash duty.

Strapped to his back was a small pack that contained whatever he happened to find interesting amongst the garbage. As he surveyed his surroundings, a small chirp in his ear alerted him to his one companion - a small hummingbird-like creature that sat on his shoulder, with blue-green feathers and big, amethyst eyes.

Wally glanced at her and gave her a small smile. He remembered how she had found him years ago when he was younger and so very lost and alone. He had been completely alone for a few years by then, and the constant solitude had finally worn him down. His directive had been drilled constantly into his head, but even that had seemed pointless without anyone to do his directive for.

He had been curled up by a pile of trash, his legs pulled up to his chest as he cried out all his pain and frustration. He realized that there would be no comforting words, nobody to help him - ever. He couldn't help but think of all the pain and terror he had been through those short few years ago when the last of humanity, save for himself, had died.

Then she had shown up, when the last of his hope had been about to fade, the very last vestiges of his belief in much of anything was about to die. Her chirp had caused him to jerk his head up sharply and his green eyes to widen behind his protective glasses. She looked at him anxiously as he removed his glasses and blinked at the harsh light as he continued to stare at her.

Just as Wally had decided that she must be a figment of his imagination, she flew straight at him and snuggled in the crook of his shoulder near his neck, giving him all the love and comfort that she could with her small size. Wally had flinched violently at the touch, not having felt anything for a few years, and even then it hadn't been loving.

He supposed his parents must have once held him close and said nice things to him, but he could barely remember them, time having made their images fuzzy and indistinguishable. Wally had sniffled and started to cry again, but this time was from relief.

He wasn't so alone after all.

Ever since then, the little creature had remained at his side. She only ever left him once every two months or so and even then it was only for a few days. He never knew where she went nor did she ever try to convey to him what she was up to. It was enough that she was there.

Wally wiped sweat from his forehead, unknowingly spreading dirt from his sleeve across it as he shook his head to banish such sad memories away. He had protective brown work gloves on his hands and carried a shovel over his left shoulder, as on his right the little creature was perched. Even though she was perfectly capable of flying, she was more than content to get a free ride on his shoulder.

She chirped inquisitively as Wally spotted something in the junk that looked to be of interest to himself. The harsh sunlight glinted off of it enticingly and he grabbed a hold of it and tugged. It was buried in all the trash and he had to pull hard to get it out. As he gave a particularly hard yank, it popped free and he fell over backward from the force.

The little creature chirped in alarm and worriedly hovered near Wally's face, having taken flight before she could be squished from his falling over. Wally sat up and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he began to cough. As he drew in a ragged breath after his coughing fit, the little creature could hear Wally's terrible wheezing as he struggled to breathe.

Wally couldn't seem to stop coughing and his face was turning red from his efforts to struggle to breathe. He frantically grabbed at a pouch on his belt, but couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. The creature seemed to know what he was after though and hastily flew to the proper pouch, opening it with practiced ease and darting inside. Soon she flew out from the pouch, struggling with an ancient inhaler that was about the same size as she was.

Wally's hand managed to grab the inhaler from her and as he drew in as deep a breath he could manage, he hastily shook the inhaler and then inserted it in his mouth and pressed down on the top. He held his breath as he let the medicine work, but soon he was coughing again. He took another hit from the inhaler and after what felt like forever, his breathing settled down into something more normal again.

Wally took in the large, worried amethyst eyes that were looking so concerned for him and he gave her a small smile.

"Th-thank you," he said to her, his voice rough from all the coughing and from disuse.

The little creature chirped in relief and snuggled into the crook of Wally's shoulder and neck. Wally flinched a little from the sudden contact and just sat there for a moment as he breathed. He looked down at the inhaler and shook it a little, listening to it rattle. He had several others at his home, but he knew they wouldn't last forever. Eventually, he would run out, and then...

His expression grew somber as he tried very hard not to think of what came after "and then." He looked over at what had practically killed him to extract from the trash and saw a dirty hubcap. A smile grew on his face as he looked at it. He lifted it up and held it above his head at an angle as if he were holding a hat. He glanced at the creature as if he wanted to ask what she thought, but she was too busy snuggling him for reassurance.

His look softened and he picked his shovel back up that he had dropped and continued on his way. He compacted a few more small cubes of trash as he lugged a compact trash compacter along via a small, rusty red wagon. The compacter, thankfully, was made out of very advanced metals that made it not too heavy or difficult to manage. It was the same dirty, dark yellow as Wally's work clothes and it too, looked like it had seen better days.

Some hours later, Wally decided to head home. His little red wagon also held the shovel now as well as the hubcap as he slowly lugged it along. He made sure to walk at a steady pace, to make sure that it wouldn't upset his breathing. He had learned early on that moving too fast aggravated it and would send him into a coughing fit. Sometimes his emotions would set it off as well, as crying seemed to trigger it too.

The little creature chirped at him inquisitively and Wally glanced at her. She had been especially clingy after his latest coughing fit as if she were afraid he would disappear if she dared to move any farther away from him. She looked anxious, but she also had that antsy look she sometimes got, right before she left him alone for a few days. He never said anything, but those days were the worst for him. They reminded him of those terribly lonely years when he had no one.

Wally's face fell, but he tried to perk up for her.

"Go," he told her simply, his voice quiet in the neverending silence that was their world.

She looked so worried, but Wally smiled and tried to let her know without words that he would be alright. She hesitated another minute before she gave him a small peck on the cheek and zipped off into the air.

He watched her fly off, a blue-green blur in their world of brown, and then she was gone. Wally's face fell and he looked down at the ground, his sun-bleached blond hair falling into his eyes.

He hated it when she left.

Baby Tooth flew as fast she could, knowing she had a long distance to travel and knowing that the journey would be very hazardous. The weather was so unpredictable and the air was so dirty and polluted.

But after several hours of uneventful traveling, she wound up in a very cold, desolate place and soon found herself at a workshop that hadn't changed in several centuries. She hastily zipped in through a window that had carelessly been cracked open and went straight to the globe room.

There sat the solemn figures of the Guardians. Tooth, who normally couldn't sit still was slumped in a chair, her bright colors had faded and her face set in a worried frown. North was also sitting in a chair as he munched on a Christmas cookie. Sandy was sitting next to Tooth on a couch as he sipped a mug of eggnog and Bunny sat next to him as a small pooka kit. His green eyes were fixed upon the globe of believers, which only had two lights on it. One was a regular light, set fixedly in New York while the other was a blue light that was at the North Pole, zipping around every which way.

"Baby Tooth!" Tooth suddenly exclaimed as she caught sight of her fairy.

Baby Tooth zoomed up to Tooth and began to chirp excitedly as she relayed the last few months to Tooth.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down!" Tooth said with a small laugh. She was always the happiest when Baby Tooth was around.

Sandy formed a few golden images above his head with dreamsand as he too, asked Baby Tooth what was happening.

"What's she sayin'?" Bunny asked impatiently.

"Oh," Tooth said as her face fell. "Wally's asthma was acting up again."

"Is he alright?" North asked, his voice full of concern.

Tooth listened as Baby Tooth chirped some more and nodded.

"Baby helped him get to his inhaler in time and he seems to be alright," she replied.

"Is he still goin' out and compactin' that trash?" Bunny scoffed. "Ya know that air's what's hurtin' him! He oughtta stay in where he'd be safe."

Baby Tooth glanced sadly at Bunny and Tooth picked up on it.

"It's all he knows," Tooth said sadly. "What else would he do? He's the last human left on the planet, as far as we know. Without his compacting, he has no purpose."

"He's a kid!" Bunny roared in frustration, his whole body quivering in fury. "This is.. it's.. insane! What gumby ups and leaves a bunch of people on a dyin' planet ta go off on a cruise?!"

"I know," Tooth sighed sadly. "And it seems that all those people that have left have forgotten all about us. We're lucky that Wally still believes."

The Guardians all shared a somber look, as they remembered years ago when the last human light on the globe had begun to flicker and grow very dim. Baby Tooth had squeaked in alarm and before anyone could stop her, had zipped right off to the last light.

Jack had tried to go too but returned a few hours later to say that the weather was too hot for him and he couldn't get very far beyond the North Pole. If it wasn't for his powers, even the North Pole might have melted and become a desert wasteland too.

They had all watched and waited with bated breath, but after a few days, the light on the globe had stopped flickering and then grew stronger. Now it shone brightly on the globe as little Wally had still believed very much in all the Guardians.

"Ah," North sighed miserably, "If only my snow globes still worked! Wally could come stay with us and be very happy."

"All our powers are kaput, 'cept for Sandy's dreamsand," Bunny said glumly. "My poor googies! Left all alone fer years."

Sandy made a few dreamsand symbols above his head saying that at least sometimes he could give Wally good dreams.

Baby Tooth chirped in agreement and then perked up as she looked over at the window.

Bunny, who had noticed this, looked over at the window too.

"What is it?" he asked. "Is it - "

But he was cut off by a chilly winter wind as the window blew open and a snowball flew right in his face.

"FROST!" Bunny roared as he wiped the snow off his face with his tiny paws.

"Sorry, it slipped!" Jack said with laughter in his voice as he used his Wind to fly into the room via one of the upper windows.

"How is weather outside?" North asked Jack with amusement. "Nice and snowy?"

"Here at least," Jack replied as his smile faded. "But out there.."

Baby Tooth flew up from where she had been sitting on Tooth's shoulder and zoomed over to Jack, snuggling into his hoodie affectionately.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack said happily as he perked up at the sight of her. "I missed you."

"She missed you too, Jack," Tooth said fondly to him.

"How's Wally?" Jack asked curiously.

"His asthma's actin' up," Bunny grumbled. "If the gumby'd only stay inside.."

"What fun is that?" Jack responded as he twirled his staff.

"The kind that keeps ya alive," Bunny snapped. "Yer the only believer on the globe 'sides Wally. What do ya think's going ta happen if he stops believin' in us or dies?"

Jack grew solemn as he took that in and he looked over at the globe, to the last two lights present on it.

The Guardians all exchanged worried glances when the blue light dimmed a little.

"Do you think we're all going to die?" Jack asked, as his expression grew unreadable.

Baby Tooth shook her head vehemently and glared at Bunny from her spot in Jack's hoodie.

Bunny looked taken aback at the question and noticed that everyone besides Jack was suddenly glaring at him. He remembered that even after all these years, Jack still had bouts of doubt and often needed to be reassured. He was, after all, their immortal child. Not quite an adult, but not quite a little kid either. He would forever be stuck in between.

"'Course not," Bunny said with a frown. "If I believed that, there'd be no hope left."

Jack looked confused at that.

"But you just said - "

"I say a lotta things," Bunny grumbled. "Doesn't mean it's true. I'm just upset that Wally's all by himself with no one ta look after him."

Baby Tooth chirped indignantly from her spot in Jack's hoodie as she shook a wing at him.

"Besides Baby Tooth," Bunny quickly amended.

"At least Baby Tooth can take back a few trinkets for him," Tooth said with a smile at her fairy.

Sandy nodded and held up a small bag of dreamsand triumphantly.

Jack smiled at Sandy and the blue light on the globe brightened.

"He'll have nothing but good dreams for awhile," Jack said.

Jack held out his hand and a small ice figurine of all the Guardians appeared in it with a swirl of ice blue winter magic.

"He can have this too," Jack said as he brought it over to Sandy, so it could go with the dreamsand. "Then he'll know that we're always thinking of him."

Bunny looked a little wistful when he saw that Jack had them all as they were when they had their powers. He really missed being his full size and being able to create his tunnels.

"We should see if we can fit a little food in there too," Tooth said fretfully. "And water!"

Jack glanced at Baby Tooth.

"Think you can carry all that?" he asked her.

Baby Tooth nodded in determination.

It wasn't much longer before she was carrying a small bag that contained the bag of dreamsand, Jack's ice figurine of the Guardians, and a small stack of sandwiches with a bottle of water. There was also a note signed by all the Guardians.

It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

Wally trudged home all by himself, the journey seemed so much longer due to the fact that he was all alone. When he finally made it to the BnL truck that he called home, his feet felt like they were ready to fall off.

He pulled a lever on his truck and the large back door of the truck opened to reveal the small interior. He glanced behind himself, but of course, there was no blue-green blur that would be flying in behind him. With a sigh, he pulled the lever that would close the door behind him. After hearing it clank shut, he groped around in the dark until he was able to turn on his white Christmas lights.

He parked his red wagon over in a corner of the truck where he kicked off his boots and gloves and left them near the wagon. Likewise, his coverall was unzipped and pulled off to reveal a very skinny boy in a tattered blue BnL t-shirt and jeans with bare feet.

He hung the coverall on a hook that had been welded on and then opened up his pack, which he had also taken off. In it were a variety of things that he had found throughout the day. He carried the pack over to a collection of rotating shelves, that housed everything he had collected over the years.

He pulled out a Rubix cube and stared at all the pretty colors. He smiled at it happily before placing it on a shelf. Next, he pulled out a spork and looked at it, confused. He pressed a button and the shelves rotated around until they revealed Wally's collection of silverware, which had a cup of spoons, a cup of forks and a cup of knives. He held the spork out to the spoons and then the forks and looked even more confused than before. With a shrug, he gently set the spork down in the middle and decided he'd figure it out later.

As he emptied his pack of a few more trinkets, he pulled out a book he had found, which by now was quite old. It was leatherbound and very, very worn. His eyes lit up when he recognized it. Didn't he have a copy of this same book? What were the odds that he'd find it again? He pressed the button for his shelves until it rotated around to reveal his collection of books that was slowly taking over everything. He had all sorts of books: fiction, non-fiction, children's books.. Every book imaginable. Wally sorted through the books until he came up with a familiar leatherbound book. He smiled since the very last sections of this book had been missing.

He opened up the new book and was delighted to find that this one was intact! He eagerly turned the pages to the last sections to see that the parts he had been missing were there. He reverently touched the page, as he read the words: Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter.

He had heard of Jack of course, from the other Guardians, and had sworn that when he was much younger he had even seen Jack once. But that was so long ago. He closed the book and hugged it to his chest and then carefully set it on his shelves with his other books. He put his other trinkets away and then rotated the shelves around to his collection of wraparound shades, that all looked very similar to the ones he had on. He pulled them off and carefully set them on the shelf. Even though they had a crack in them, they could still be useful.

He pressed the button again and rotated the shelves around to his very meager medical supplies. He had learned long ago to try and disinfect any wounds he had, lest he get a bad infection and die. A lot of his fellow workers had gone out that way when the rioting had gotten bad and the medical supplies were at an all-time low.

Wally shivered and tried to banish the thoughts away as he coughed. He paused, as if trying to see if this would bring on another coughing fit, but after a few more coughs he settled down. Breathing a sigh of relief, he set his inhaler down on the shelf with the other inhalers and scant few bandages he had managed to scrounge up.

Wally looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes. Other than feeling sore and tired, they seemed to be alright. He looked over at his boots by his wagon and made a face. They were getting incredibly worn and the soles were starting to separate from the rest of the boot. He'd have to go and scavenge some more tomorrow.

Having his possessions settled, he grabbed the hubcap and turned on his makeshift iPod, which was jury-rigged to an old VCR. A tape was sticking out of the VCR and he pushed it in and it automatically began to play. The tape had been labeled "Hello Dolly" and it began to play at an upbeat part with a lot of dancing and singing.

Wally guided a magnifier he had managed to jury-rig together that was attached to the wall, out in front of the small iPod screen to enlarge the picture. He giggled and held the hubcap over his head at an angle like the gentleman was doing with his hat as he tried to clumsily copy the dance steps. He wound up tripping over his feet and falling over, but he had a huge grin on his face.

After that, he sat up on the floor and settled down to just watch the movie play out. He loved this movie for the colorful costumes and the way that everyone was so clean and happy. He wished that he could have what they have, and it was this movie that inspired him to keep compacting his trash. He knew that if he kept it up, his world could be just as wonderful as this too.

It wasn't long before a more romantic scene came up on the iPod, where the man and woman were holding hands as they sang to each other. Wally looked wistfully at the hands. He often wished he had a friend he could hold hands with. To him, holding hands meant that you had a good friend to be with. Sadly, he couldn't ever remember holding hands with someone that way. He supposed he must have at some point, but he must have been very young and he couldn't remember back that far.

Looking a little melancholy after the scene, Wally stood back up and stopped playing the tape. He carefully rewound it and then popped the tape back out. He went back to his rotating shelves and rotated it around to his book section, which had a side dedicated to other media as well. He carefully set "Hello Dolly" down and picked up another tape that was simply labeled "Holiday Specials."

He carried it over to his VCR and it started up on his very favorite special, a stop-motion animation called "The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town." It reminded him of when he was small and he used to find colorful Easter eggs sometimes when he was out compacting the garbage. He'd tuck the eggs into his pockets and share them with his fellow workers. He had tried to explain that the Easter Bunny had left them, but his fellow workers didn't care where the eggs had come from, it was food.

He remembered one time he had been out in the city and had spotted a colorful egg. He had eagerly run over to it, only to spot a blue-gray paw touching the egg. He had looked up to see the impossibly tall (to him, anyway) form of the Easter Bunny.

"Can ya see me?" Bunny had asked in disbelief. There weren't a lot of children left, and in the bleak living conditions, not a lot of them still believed.

Wally silently nodded, his green eyes wide and Bunny couldn't help but remember another child with blond hair and green eyes from so very long ago.

"Bunny! Hop hop hop!"

It hurt his heart to remember, but he mustered up a smile for the kid all the same.

"What's yer name, kid?" he asked Wally gently.

"..W.. w.. " Wally had started to reply when a sharp shout caused him to flinch.

"Wally!" a man's angry shout sounded. "What are you doing?! Get to work!"

"Sorry," Wally whispered to the Easter Bunny, his green eyes turning downcast. He pulled a child's pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on, having forgotten to do so earlier.

"Here," Bunny said as he placed the colorful egg into Wally's hand. "Happy Easter, Wally."

Wally held the egg to his chest like it was his most precious treasure and Bunny tried not to notice how Wally's lower lip trembled and a tear coursed down his cheek, leaving a clean trail through the dirt smudged on his cheeks.

Wally had wanted to ask the Easter Bunny so many things, but another sharp shout caused Wally to hastily stuff the egg into his pocket and scurry away towards his little wagon that held his trash compactor. Without a backward glance, he had gone on to do his directive.

Bunny had made sure to visit Wally every chance he got, even though it wasn't Easter because it was rare to find a kid that still believed and he knew it was only a matter of time before all their powers went kaput. Jack seemed to be the only one unaffected, but then again, Jack had survived centuries with no believers. It was different for the Seasonals.

It was only a few short years after that, that Wally found himself all alone. Wally blinked as his small reverie was cut short by the happy songs of the Easter special. He watched as it got to the part about the young prince, who was terribly lonely. The prince was even blond, like himself. Wally liked to think of himself like the prince, lost in a land of adults (who left him all alone) and banished to his truck like the prince had been sent to his room without dinner.

About halfway through the special, Wally found his eyes getting heavy as the hard day's labor took its toll on him. He crawled over to the thin mattress that was his bed and dragged it over so that it lay in front of the magnified screen of the iPod. He lay down on it and closed his eyes as the special continued to play in the background.

Hours later, there was a wail as Wally sat bolt upright, the iPod screen blank as the tape had run itself out and stopped playing. He looked around his truck fearfully, his green eyes wide as he pulled his legs up to his chest. He looked around for his little companion before he remembered that she would be gone for a few days.

He sniffled and buried his face in his knees, but a soft chuckle caused him to flinch and jerk his head up. He looked over at a dark corner and saw a pair of golden eyes glinting at him from out of the darkness.

"I hardly need to give you any nightmares, when you're so good at making up your own," a deep voice drawled.

Wally shivered and looked away from the eyes.

The Boogeyman.

Wally mustered up his courage and looked back at the eyes, intending to speak, but coughing soon overtook him and wracked his small frame.

Pitch watched in mild concern as one of the last lights seemed to struggle to breathe. His concern grew as the coughing intensified and the boy's wheezing grew raspier as his cheeks turned red. Pitch had seen him like this before, but the boy always had that device with him, that he would pop into his mouth and soon his breathing would be easier.

But now as he watched, the boy seemed to be clutching at his chest and was most certainly not getting the device out. The golden eyes looked about the small interior of the truck and Pitch cursed himself again for not having enough power to leave the shadows and travel as he used to. The most he could do now was spy on people from the shadows. As there were only the Guardians trapped in the North Pole and this boy, his spying options were a little limited.

His eyes fell on the shelves and he knew he had seen the boy rotate them around. The golden eyes left the shadow in the corner for a moment to reappear in a shadow near the shelves. After a few frantic moments of searching, he found what he was looking for and a single golden eye reappeared in a very small shadow near the medical supplies.

He summoned every last ounce of his strength and the golden eye was replaced by gray fingers that reached out from the shadow. They managed to grab the edge of an inhaler and were just barely able to topple the inhaler over into the shadow.

The next thing Wally knew, his inhaler had come sailing out of the dark shadows in the corner of the truck and bounced right off his forehead. He was so startled that he stared at it a moment, stopping in mid-cough with his cheeks red from the exertion of trying to breathe as his airways felt tight and constricted.

Then another series of coughs wracked his frame and he scrambled to pull the cap off the inhaler as he shook it hard and soon he had triggered it in his mouth. It took him several minutes to calm down from this episode and he sat there breathing as he massaged his chest. Even though the medicine was working to open his airways back up, he still sounded raspy and had an occasional cough.

It took him a minute to realize that the Boogeyman had just saved his life. He had carelessly put his inhaler away when he came back in and was too tired when he went to sleep to remember to grab it, in case he needed it in the night.

It was a careless mistake that could have killed him. He looked over at the golden eyes that were still watching him, his own green eyes uncertain.

"Contrary to popular belief," the voice drawled, and Wally thought he could hear the voice tremble slightly. But that was just his imagination, right? "I do not want children to die."

Wally opened his mouth and then closed it. He didn't know what to say, so instead, he just nodded awkwardly, his blond locks falling into his eyes.

"That nightmare you had was not one of mine," the voice continued, the tone turning strange.

Wally clutched his inhaler to himself as he recalled the horrible nightmare. It had taken place not long before he was left all alone. Those few weeks before he was by himself were some of his worst memories ever. He tried very hard not to think of them.

He glanced over to see that the golden eyes seemed to be on the verge of going away. He felt a little panicked at the thought of being left all alone to his terrible memories.

"Will you stay?" Wally rasped out, his voice soft in the dark. Only now could he hear a sandstorm raging all around them, the howling wind making everything seem that much darker and frightening.

Pitch had been about to leave, satisfied that the boy would live, at least for a little while longer. Then a small voice called out, full of desperation. It was the pleading voice of an abandoned child. A child who had no one else to turn to.

The golden eyes had frozen as Pitch stared at the boy, who was looking at him with haunted eyes. Pitch wasn't sure how old Wally was exactly, but he knew that malnutrition had stunted the boy's growth and made him seem that much younger than he was. If he had to make a guess, he'd say that the boy was maybe around eleven or so, but he couldn't be sure.

Pitch swallowed as he stared at the boy from the shadows. Comforting children wasn't exactly his territory, but now with the Guardians trapped at the North Pole, he supposed it must come down to him. He scowled at the thought. Where were dreams, hope, and wonder when you needed them?

"I.. suppose, I would be amenable," the deep voice replied, rumbling out of the shadow.

Wally sighed in relief, and after a moment he crawled over to the VHS player and rewound his tape. They spent the rest of the night in silence, one pair of emerald eyes and one golden, both watching the holiday specials of centuries past.

Author's Note: Fun Fact: The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town is an actual stop-motion special that I had taped on a VHS tape forever ago and used to watch over and over. I figured if WALL-E can have Hello Dolly! then he can have that too. In fact, if you want to see it for yourself, it's up on youtube. It's from 1977 and pops up as the first result with a picture of the Easter Bunny standing on top of a yellow train.

Instead of giving Wally some form of prosthetic or pacemaker or something that needs to be charged, I gave him asthma. I figure with all the dust, dirt and pollution around, it would be a believable ailment for him to have that would hinder him. If anyone is interested in this, I'll continue to post for this story. I figure I can rotate it around with my other stories I'm writing for and whichever one my muse is in the mood for is the one that will get updated. :)

As for Wally's lack of a cassette player, I haven't forgotten about it! It'll pop up in the next chapter. He was just distracted by Baby Tooth and his asthma. As always, if you have any ideas/feedback please let me know! However, please be kind in your criticism.

Edit: Also, I decided that with both Jack and Wally on the globe, there would be juuust enough belief left for Baby Tooth and her sisters to fly, but not enough for Tooth to fly, in case you were wondering. This is AU after all.