A/N: This is one of those things where I got an epic idea and I was like "this is going to be the best one-shot ever!"...then I wrote it and I was like "WHAT. THE HELL. IS THIS CRAP."

...So I put it here.

If you're one of those readers who like to listen to music while they're reading (and even if you aren't), go look for the song "The Devil Within" by Digital Daggers. Trust me, it fits.

Disclaimer: ::sings:: You'll never know what hit you...won't see the truth coming...I'm gonna make you suffer...I DON'T OWN ROTG!

I will keep quiet
You won't even know I'm here
You won't suspect a thing
You won't see me in the mirror
But I crept into your heart
You can't make me disappear
Til I make you

I made myself at home
In the cobwebs and the lies
I'm learning all your tricks
I can hurt you from inside
I made myself a promise
You would never see me cry
Til I make you

You'll never know what hit you
Won't see me closing in
I'm gonna make you suffer
This hell you put me in
I'm underneath your skin
The devil within
You'll never know what hit you-"The Devil Within", by Digital Daggers

They never knew. Too happy to include him in their group, too delighted to give him a home, too glad to try to fix something that was merely powdered glass.

They never knew he hated them.

They never knew his plan.

They should have known better. Three hundred years of abuse and neglect do not just vanish like a shadow simply because you shine a keychain flashlight onto it. A few well-meant words, a hug or two, a few brief moments of acceptance cannot wash away three centuries of isolation and rejection.

But the Guardians were always narrow-minded, foolish spirits. Same as they didn't notice when he was alone and suffering, so they didn't notice when he was surrounded by others and plotting. None of them noticed the intricate blueprints and maps concealed in his room at the Pole that detailed each of their strengths and weaknesses. None of them noticed the weapons their youngest hid under his bed, each attuned to bring them down one by one. None of them noticed his dark smiles and his overcast eyes.

And so, quietly, persistently, they dug their own graves.

For powdered glass may be broken, but it was deadly all the same.

Jack hated looking at himself in the mirror.

It was just a quirk, born from centuries of being alone.

Centuries that the Guardians had caused.

He tightened his grasp on his staff, watching passively in the mirror as his bright blue eyes darkened. Those foolish Guardians. Had they learned nothing from Pitch? Didn't they know that it was dangerous to leave one of their own kind to fend for themself, alone and hated by all?

And now, after three hundred years of isolation, of rejection, of silence, now they were flocking to him like a pack of over-possessive wolves, trying to slap band-aids and slave onto the stump of a missing limb.

How dare they.

How dare they!

With a yell, he smashed the end of his staff right through the center of the mirror, the harsh sound of shattered glass reaching his ears as a cobweb of cracks grew from the point of impact, before the shards collapsed to the ground in a jangling heap. His breathing came quick and fast as he glared in utter hatred at the pile of broken pieces. He was not worried about anyone coming to ask questions about the noise. No one had ever asked him anything. No one ever would.

He laughed, a raw, wild sound, as he remembered a conversation from long ago.

"What make you think I want to be a Guardian?"

"Of course you want to be a Guardian!"

As it was before, so it was then. No one had asked his opinion, or bothered to see if he even wanted to be a Guardian. They simply shoved him in a place he had no wish to be, and made him help them. Nothing ever changed. Nothing ever would.

Well, they wanted a new Guardian, now they had a new Guardian. Time for them to pay the price.

The plan itself had been simple. Infiltrate them. Make them trust him. Then kill them.

They trusted him already. His fake smiles and coaxing words had been more than enough to convince the morons that he was trustworthy. And while things might have been a bit rocky during the Easter fiasco (and boy, hadn't that nearly wreaked his plans), the conflict was shortly smoothed out, and they soon began treating him like one of their own.

This was how to destroy the Guardians. Not a frontal assault that could be spotted from miles away, but a trick to beguile them into trusting a traitor with their lives. Now they were at his mercy.

He twirled the staff between his fingers. He was ready.

With a small, self-satisfied smile, he left the room and made his way through the corridors of the Pole to the Globe Room, where the Guardian meeting was currently in session.

And as he gently pushed the door to the Globe Room open, a sudden thought had him grinning widely:

They'll never know what hit them.

A/N: Yes. I know 'tis crappy. That's why it's here and not in "Shards of Ice"

So yeah. This is some weird AU thing where Jack is evil. Yay.

...Thoughts?

P.S. Guys. There's a poll on my frikken profile. I need votes. Go vote. Shoo. ::shoos all of you away::

Also, please review, for MiM's sake. I keep on seeing my view counter go up but there aren't any reviews. Go review. The same goes for "Shards of Ice". I have only like three reviews on the last installment and it's driving me ballistic. GO REVIEW.

Even if it's a criticism or a flame. Even if you have bad grammar, or your review makes no sense at all. JUST GO REVIEW ALREADY-