Okay, long delay, but It's up now... Please don't mob me with pitchforks? *peeks out from behind Evil Authoress Chair with a sheepish grin, waving lollipops* Here! I hav lollipops! That makes everything better, right? *throws them all over to you guys*
Oh, and I changed Jack's sister's name from Pippa to Emma, which is the proper name for her (took them long enough to release that little piece of info, eh?)
Hope you enjoy!


All four were thrashing to escape the black nightmare cocoons, half focusing on that, half focusing on keeping Pitch's eyes away from Jack.
It seemed Pitch had a plan of his own though, and as their hopes faltered, they figured out what it was. Pitch smirked as he saw the dawning realisation.
"Yes... First, you get rid of he, then you get rid of wonder... Then you destroy any dreams and finally, destroy memories... Or corrupt them. Either way, as your centres finally crumble, as will the belief of children all over the world... And where will that leave them? Defenceless against the nightmares and fears I will release to run rampant through the world..."

Jack had reached a point where the pain meant nothing now. Nothing, and yet everything.
He had almost forgotten why it was so important to reach the corner, and it was only when his hand closed on a small orb that it cam to him.
Now all he had to do was crush it.
But he found himself halting.
His little sister... He couldn't-
The mocking voice fought against his own memories, as twisted and tainted as they were.
In life, so full of happiness... smiling... energetic... innocent...
Now full of pan and misery... haunting...
It wasn't her... It wasn't his Emma...
But he was going to lose her anyway.
Everything seemed to freeze for him as he crushed the fragile glass between his fingers, an explosion of black tendrils escaping from the depths of it, and he met the Shade's eyes...
But they were brown now. Brown, and full of an achingly familiar mischievousness.
"Jackie..."
The faint whisper met his ears even as the shade exploded into a mess of black sand, before finally collapsing in on itself, and he found himself smiling, ever so faintly...
One word, but it said so much.
It said thank you... It promised that everything was okay... It told him that she loved him... And it said goodbye. Something he had always wished he could have said to her.
"Bye Em..."
He blearily took in how Pitch's hold on the guardians weakened and they broke free, destroying the remaining nightmares. He took in how Pitch vanished, with hi usual threats of retaliation and revenge. He took in the suddenness of the other four suddenly turning and racing towards him.
Then he decided to Moon with it, and let the darkness take him.
_

Bunny was the first to reach him, and spoke up, letting his take charge side take over.
"He's unconscious. I'll get him back to the Pole. Sandy?"
Sandy nodded, as Bunny gently lifted Jack up and tapped a tunnel, before grabbing the Pooka's shoulder as he leapt through leaving Tooth and North to rush back to the sleigh.
It was mere minutes before Jack was lying in the medical dorm being bandaged up.
Sandy was weaving pure dreamsand into a 24 hour dream cycle, which would mean Jack would be asleep for quite some time, in order to combat the after effects of the nightmare sand, and Bunny was working on the various cuts and grazes.
He had bandaged Jack's chest, where he had found three fractured ribs, as well as his wrist, which was also fractured, and was now working on the shallower cuts, the deeper ones having already been bandaged.
He had just finished tying the last one when Tooth flew in, shortly followed by North, both frantic.
In fact, it was a further hour before they were all, minus Bunny who had stayed in the room with Jack, sitting around the table in a room across the hall.
Tooth was red eyed from crying, and looking more frazzled than the others knew how to deal with, and North was busy pacing and quietly cursing in Russian behind the sofa, a clear testament to his worry, as North hardly ever paced...

They had every intention of staying like that till Jack woke up, but Sandy knew they too were suffering from exposure to the nightmare sand and managed to, subtly, coat them in it so they fell asleep.
Then, he went to try the same thing with Bunny, only to be met with a glare which had him hastily backtracking, though he got permission to put him into a light sleep for a couple of hours to get rid of the nightmare sand's effects.
Sandy perched himself on the end of Jack's bed, until Bunny woke up, and sent a couple of dream sand streams into his dreams, to combat the-strangely ferocious-nightmare sand. He also found himself swept into small snippets of the dreams, and smiled to himself.
It seemed Jack was finally starting to overcome his memories...
But Sandy also knew he would have to keep a constant dream sand stream for the young guardian as he slept, for the next few weeks at least, to help overcome the nightmares caused by what had happened to him the last few days. As it was, he couldn't help but see scenes and snippets of his memories from then, and found himself, for the first time in a long time, actually wanting to completely and utterly destroy something. Preferably Pitch...
He kept up the dream sand work even as Bunny woke up, and found himself unwilling to show Bunny what Jack had been through.
That was Jack's story to tell when he was ready... Or his secret to keep.

It was a few hours later that a very irritated Tooth and a glaring North dragged Sandy off to lecture him about not doing that, and to remind him of the many times they had told him not to.
Before North joined Bunny, leaving Sandy and Tooth to go sort out everything they needed to, before Tooth took over North and, a few hours later, Sandy took over Tooth, giving her and North a chance to sleep properly.
Bunny couldn't help dozing of again, and Sandy himself gave a yawn. He might not need to sleep often, but he couldn't last indefinitely...
But he would for now. For as long as it took for Jack to wake up.
_

Jack groaned, mentally, as he felt himself waking up.
Sure, he had faced his fears and demons and nightmares over the last few hours, his subconscious warring with everything to the point where he knew he would never again be defenceless against a few nightmares about his past, but now he was waking up.
And by Moon, did his chest hurt. And his wrist.
And damn it, he had one hell of a headache.
He finally managed to open his eyes, only to find a grinning and relieved and 'I know more than you think I know' Sandy, staring at him. With a groan, he spoke up.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be sleeping a lot over the next few days?"
Sandy shook his head, gesturing upwards.
"Weeks?"
The golden guardian shook his head, grinning.
"... Months?"
Sandy nodded, and Jack groaned again, waking Bunny up.
"Bloody... Over protective... Old... Oh don't deny it, you're old. Ridiculously old."
"Oi, careful with the older generation jokes Frostbite... I'm part of it."
"And don't we all know it."
Bunny matched Jacks grin, then sighed.
"How ya feelin?"
"Good."
Bunny raised an eyebrow, and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so I have a headache... And I think it's pretty clear that I've fractured some ribs and... Huh, my wrist too I'm assuming... But apart from that, I'm fine. Me and my subconscious had a chat."
"... What?"
"My thoughts exactly."
Bunny shook his head, getting a shrug from Sandy. Then he blinked as a rant started building itself up inside his head.
Jack and Sandy exchanged looks as Bunny's ears flattened, and Sandy winced sympathetically, slowly sidling out of the room, much to Jack's annoyance.
"Err... Bunny?"
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? JUMPING IN FRONT OF HIM? ARE YOU INSANE!? DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!"
"Can't make any promises."
"I DON'T EVEN- Wait... What?"
"I said I can't make any promises. What was I going to do? Stand aside and watch?"
"... Yes."
"Err, how about no? Moon, do you know me at all? I'd do it again if I had to. Pitch and all."
Bunny was floundering, looking as though he had no idea what to say, but Jack decided to simply smile and let him flounder. He could help him out, of course, but where was the fun in that?
"You- You just... I- Don't even... But... I... Gah! Damn it Jack, you are the most frustrating-"
"Hey! You said my name!"
Bunny simply shook his head at the wide grin on the winter spirit's face, and slumped into his chair.
"Moon, so this is what it's like to have a younger brother, eh?"
"Younger-What?"
"Yeah, you're like the annoying little brother I never had. Irritating... frustrating... Annoyingly correct a lot of the time... Moon, you worry me half to death sometimes-"

He cut off as he noticed the shocked look Jack was giving him, and rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, don't get all sappy on me Frostbite- YOW!" This was as a snowball hit him in the face, and he glared at Jack, who was grinning widely.
"Oops? Hey! Does this make Tooth the mother figure, North the father figure and Sandy the embarrassing yet sometimes ridiculously funny uncle?"
Bunny couldn't help bursting out into laughter, and North, Tooth and Sandy, as they came in, stopped at the sight, before simply shaking it of and turning to the grinning Jack.

Tooth immediately flew forwards, pulling him into a hug, but zipping back when Jack ended up yelping, her having forgotten that his ribs were still healing.
"Sorry!"
"It's fine... Had worse."
He was still catching his breath when North pulled him into a hug which, though nowhere near as tightly as he could have done, still left him slightly out of breath.
He held up a hand to ward off Sandy, creating a snowball, throwing it in the air and catching it with one hand, almost absent mindedly, and glaring at him.
"Try it. I dare you."
Sandy shook his head, holding his hands up in surrender, and Jack grinned.
But the grin quickly morphed to a sigh and an internal groan as the questions started.
_

A few hours later, they were done with their questions-Jack having had Tooth show them everything to avoid all the ridiculous questions-, he had pretty much had shouting match as he told them he was okay, and he was feeling tired again.
Bunny caught sight of the stifled yawn, and gestured to Sandy. In a few minutes, Jack was asleep again, and they ll head to the living room across the hall.
"He is not getting away with this."
This was Bunny, who was in full on 'I want to strangle something' Mode. The others nodded, likewise enraged, but North spoke up.
"We do not start these things, Bunny. And Jack would not want this. Pitch will try again. And we will be ready when he does."
They all nodded, no words needed for them to share what they were feeling.
No-one attacked one of their own. No-one.
For a few minutes, none of them made a sound, then Tooth spoke up again.
"Anyway, Sandy? Before you knock him out next time, can we please get some food into him first? It might only take him a few days to heal his injuries properly, but he still needs to eat properly. Which he never does anyway."
Bunny muttered something that sounded like 'Total mother figure', before he grinned and nodded.
"Looks like we'll be annoying Jack for the next few days by fawning over him then."
The other shared looks, and looked to him, nodding.
"Da."
"Of course."
A shrug from Sandy, as if to say 'Yes... And...?'
"Good. Just checking."


So, just an epilogue to go now. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter? Please review and let me know!