Jamie's eyes flickered open and his widened more and more as he took in his surroundings. Glancing up at his bound hands, he shook his chains and pulled and tugged.

"What the hell," he muttered, looking around.

"Welcome to the darkness, Jamie," said a voice that sent a chill down the boy's spine. A shadow formed on the wall and Jamie shrank back as much as he possibly could, so as to avoid any part of it touching him.

"W-what do you want," he fought to keep the tremble from his voice but even years after he had fought and defeated this dark force, he still had nightmares.

"Believe it or not, your help. And I think you'll be more willing this time around."

"I'm not afraid of you," Jamie said, his eyes narrowing. The shadow on the wall threw back his head and laughed.

"Of course you are but that doesn't matter right now. You used to be the one light that remained, Jamie. Now your light has gone out."

"Gone out? I didn't…I mean, I haven't stopped…"

"You stopped believing and thus destroyed the one Guardian you promised to remain loyal to." Jamie gasped and felt a pain in his heart.

"No."

"Your disbelief killed him, Jamie. YOU killed him. Your friend. And the others did nothing to stop it. They watched him die."

"No," Jamie said again, more forcefully. The shadow disappeared and a black figure formed in front of Jamie. The boy shrank back against the wall and shook his head.

"Don't come near me."

"Help me, Jamie. Help me destroy them all."

"No. Go away. Leave me ALONE!"

"You've been alone long enough, don't you think?" Pitch's voice echoed off the walls. His gaze held Jamie's and his eyes were deep and sympathetic.

"What did they do for you, Jamie? They left you. Abandoned you. Forgot you. Even your friend, Jack Frost. He never came back to see you, did he? He promised he would always be there."

"He's…he's always been there for me. Even if I couldn't see him…I know he was there." Pitch let out a derisive snort.

"What a load of sentimental rubbish. You can lie to yourself, Jamie, but you can't lie to me. And you don't need to. I know how painful it is, to be forgotten. To become invisible. The Guardians owed you their lives and how did they thank you? By throwing you in the gutter, that's how. Now your family fears you, you have no friends, you are all alone. What kind of life is that to live, Jamie? One that the Guardians sentenced you to." Jamie looked up at him, his gaze hard. His eyes were narrowed with hatred as he spoke slowly.

"I don't believe you. You're a trickster, a master of disguise and deceit. You're lying to me." Pitch did not move save for a single eyebrow. He gave a deep sigh and shook his head, as he waved his hand and an image appeared. Jamie stared at himself with wide eyes. He watched himself jumping up and down like a maniac as he screamed to the air. Off to the side, five figures were watching the boy and one of them started to tremble. His staff went crashing to the floor and he soon followed, falling to his knees and panting heavily. Jamie's eyes filled with tears as he saw his friend reach out toward him with shaking hands, then fell to the floor, his arms spread out and his head turned away. He shook for just a moment and then he was still. The other Guardians hadn't even moved. They simply looked over at him and looked at each other.

"JACK!" Jamie's voice was wrought with pain and guilt. Pitch waved his hand and the picture disappeared. Jamie squeezed his eyes shut, blinking back tears as he hung his head low.

"You see? They didn't even try to help him. One of their own, cast aside. You're partly to blame, Jamie, I won't lie to you but the Guardians have magic. They could have saved him. Jack Frost is gone forever."

Jamie attempted to block out the words. He sniffled and felt tears stream down his cheeks. The horrorstruck look on Jack's face was imprinted on his mind and shook in his chains. Pitch shook his head sadly.

"I don't want to keep you prisoner, Jamie. I just need your help. The Guardians' time is up. Will you help me?" Jamie refused to look at the dark figure for the longest time. Finally, he lifted his chin, his eyes flashing with hatred.

"What do you want me to do?"


Jack refused to admit it but he still felt a little weak. He held onto his staff for support, his knuckles white and his heart racing painfully. He'd heard the anger in Jamie's voice, seen the rage in his young face, and he did not blame him in the slightest.

After little Jamie Bennett had helped them and had watched Jack become a Guardian, they had said goodbye to the boy and gone back to their own separate worlds of magic. One of the Tooth Fairy's own little helpers had become attached to Jack and refused to leave him, so Tooth allowed her to venture into the frozen wild with him. Jack had decided Antarctica, the very place where he had lost his powers, regained his memories, and ultimately discovered who he was, was the place to settle. However, unlike the other Guardians, Jack did not like to stay in one place for long. The Guardians had convinced him to set up a palace and a way to keep an eye on the world so that he would not have to keep leaving it. But Jack loved to travel the world and remained true to his mischievous ways. North told him time and time again that as a Guardian, he just couldn't be on the naughty list anymore. Jack brushed it aside. He was the Guardian of Fun and he was determined to have a lot of it.

He stayed near Jamie too. He felt drawn to the boy who believed so strongly in him and he made sure to stay by his side, whether he knew it or not. He left little signs so that Jamie would know he was nearby. He wished he could go in and talk to the boy, play in the snow with him, be a friend. But the Guardians had explicitly forbidden contact with the children. And even though Jack usually disregarded most rules, that was one rule he agreed to obey. He watched Jamie grow up from afar and never spoke a word to him but he hoped his cold frosty air let Jamie know that he was still with him.

After several years had passed, Jack could tell that Jamie was having a difficult time with adapting to society's expectations. Always to be a child at heart, Jack couldn't understand when people used the words 'grow up'. Adults didn't know how to have fun. Their problems and worries weighed too heavily on their shoulders. Children believed. Jamie did too, no matter how old he got. Jack knew he would always believe. On his more recent visits, Jack had noticed that Jamie was growing thin and pale, looking more and more stressed and anxious. He liked to visit the boy in his sleep, because he finally looked at peace when he was sleeping. Jack stood by Jamie's bed and longed to reach out and smooth back the dark tresses that settled in his eyes. But Tooth or Bunny would always hiss from the corner and tell him he had better get back to his palace. Jack knew North had told them to keep an eye on him. Jack still felt frustrated that he was not allowed to talk to his friend and now, he felt it was his fault that someone had captured him. If anything happened to Jamie…Jack impatiently brushed his hand against his eyes and started walking over the snow-capped mountains. He took a moment to admire his home, which had expanded and looked more like a replica of a theme park covered in snow. He grinned to himself and leaped into the air, resting on his staff as he soared against the wind. His bare feet crunched the snow as he entered his ice castle and glanced around, his hands buried in the pocket of his blue jacket. He sighed deeply and wondered where Baby Tooth had gone to; he was feeling rather lonely. It was strange. For many years, he had been alone and had liked it that way. But now that he had friends…more like a family, he didn't really like to be alone too much. Still, he isolated himself more often than not. He supposed old habits die hard. He was grateful that Baby Tooth had come with him but she was always traveling back to the Tooth Palace and he couldn't blame her; Tooth Fairy was like a mother to her fairies. Jack pushed open the door and found Baby Tooth buzzing in his face.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Baby Tooth! What's happened?" She looked distraught and zoomed around his head while he whirled around, trying to follow her.

"Tooth! Calm down. What is happening?" He listened intently (still not 100% accurate at interpreting the fairy's little chirps and sounds) and he frowned.

"The tooth palace is in trouble? Are the other Guardians there?" He felt something tighten around his waist and he looked down to see a golden lasso tugging him back. He whirled around and saw the Sandman waving frantically at him.

"Sandy! Is Tooth ok?"

"Come on mate, we need your help," he heard Bunny say as he saw a flash of grey. Jack nodded to Baby Tooth and leaped into the air, following his friends to the Tooth Palace.