Disclaimer: All I own is Ava. Thanks and enjoy Battling Fear.

Battling Fear

Pitch Black was finally ready. He had turned thousands of dreams into Nightmares, all willing and able to be his army against the Guardians. He knew every weakness and every possible way to hurt the four spirits. There was just one thing he was still trying to figure out: What to do with Ava.

There was only one thing he could do, really. Pitch had to somehow convince the girl to stay out of the way without telling her what he was doing. No matter what he had tried over the last decade, Ava actually cared about the Guardians and was on good terms with each of them –well, Tooth and her fairies not so much, but still.

Now how was he going to go about confining her? Well, he only had one idea, so it had to work.

"Ava?" Pitch called a few days before Easter. "Would you come here a minute?"

Ava swooped into the kitchen just a minute or so later, a slightly confused look on her face. "Is it just me, or are there a lot more Nightmares lurking around here?"

"It's just you," Pitch lied. "Sit down. There's something we have to discuss."

Ava rolled her eyes as she plopped down on the counter. "I know," she sighed. "Bunny's coming soon, so you want us to bunker down and hide, right?"

That wasn't at all what Pitch had in mind, but it was as good an excuse as any, he supposed. "Well, yes."

"No way!" Ava snapped. "Bunny's my friend! I'm not missing Easter!"

Pitch sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Ava, just this once, that's all I'm asking. Stay inside for the next few days, just until I say it's okay to leave."

Ava saw the look on his face and knew he was serious. Pitch rarely requested anything serious of her. Maybe this was important. So she agreed to stay home for the next few days, provided Pitch went out and got her a dark purple Easter egg, purple being her current favorite color. Pitch lied and said he would, thankful that Ava was being agreeable for once.

So Ava spent about an hour gathering a few things she thought she may need before hiding out in her room, just as she had been told.

This was going to be a long few days.

Pitch had so much fun terrorizing North into bringing the Guardians together. With a simple manipulation of nightmare sand, he had been able to make it seem like he was actually in the room, a dark silhouette across the globe. It worked just as he planned. The Guardians gathered together and rushed to the Tooth Palace just as the Nightmares were finishing up stealing all the tooth boxes and mini-fairies.

The only bump in the plan was Jack Frost.

Of all the spirits in the known and unknown world, why did Jack Frost have to interfere? It seemed as though every single spirit that the blonde fallen angel was on good terms with were his mortal enemies. Why couldn't it have been Cupid who had been chosen? Ava and Cupid had gotten into a huge argument decades ago, and the angel of love threatened to destroy any love life the fallen angel of choice ever had.

Ava would have been thrilled if Pitch had destroyed Cupid.

But since it was Jack Frost, Ava's frienemy since the Industrial Revolution, he felt a tinge of annoyance. They weren't going to make this easy on him once it was over, was he? Ava would be infuriated to find out Pitch was going to kill all of her friends. But it was for the best. Once the Guardians were out of the way, Pitch would have enough power to completely block out the Man in the Moon's goodness and light. After he managed that, he would permanently turn Ava's nature dark. Then she wouldn't be as upset as if she was good.

All in all, it was a fairly good plan. Or so Pitch thought. Unbeknownst to him, Ava was getting suspicious. When Ava got suspicious, she investigated. And when she investigated, she got answers.

It all started when Ava heard the tweeting of a million birds. She lived underground, where there were no animals other than the occasional mouse or bat (Nightmares didn't count; they technically weren't animals) so to hear birds was strange. What was even stranger was that it actually sounded like they were crying for help.

Ava decided to leave her room and find out what was making that noise. Her search led her to the Room of Cages, as she liked to call it. Dozens of cages hung from the ceiling at different heights, and normally they were empty. Ava had always assumed they were for creepy decoration. But today, she found each and every one of them filled with tiny bird-like creatures. Ava gasped. Mini-fairies! Pitch had kidnapped mini-fairies! Then she noticed the golden glow of a billion tooth boxes. Something big was going on, and she was determined to find out what.

A day and a half passed as Ava tried to talk to the mini-fairies. But they didn't trust her; how could they after Ava had kidnapped their sister? And they wouldn't even fly out of the cages when she opened the door. They thought she was just trying to trick them into thinking they were free before hurting them.

Ava wanted to help, but she couldn't, especially when she heard Pitch come back. But then she heard Jack's voice. Why was he here? The fallen angel snuck around the corner, listening intently for the two familiar voices. What she heard surprised her. Jack was a Guardian! How come Manny had chosen him? There were plenty of responsible spirits out there. How could Jack protect children? All he did was create snow!

But then she paid attention to what Pitch was saying. He was taunting Jack, trying to convince the wintery teen that he was worthless to the rest of the Guardians. That was harsh, Ava thought sadly. Then she heard Pitch say one last thing.

"Happy Easter, Jack."

What had he done?

Pitch knew that once the Guardians rejected Jack for losing that annoying fairy and gaining his tooth box, the now-dejected Guardian would be in the coldest, loneliest place on earth. Obviously, that would be Antarctica. So Pitch followed the hint of fear he felt radiating from the icy continent and headed to convince Jack to join his side.

What he didn't know was that Ava was following him.

Ava knew something was off. This wasn't the Pitch Black she knew, that she had lived with for the last decade. So she followed him to Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth. And there she watched an aggressive battle resulting in an unusual black and blue spiny sculpture. But Ava listened to their conversation as they fought, and she felt her heart drop.

"I don't know what it's like to not be believed in, to long for a family?"

Long for a family? What was Ava then? She thought he considered her family! She thought of him as at least an uncle, if not more. But it seemed as though she was mistaken.

Ava flew off, not even caring that Jack's staff was broken and he was thrown into a deep chasm. She was too hurt to care.

When Pitch got back to Burgess, planning on dealing the final strike soon, he was greeted by a very angry fallen angel.

"What am I then?" she snapped.

Pitch was admittedly confused. "Excuse me?"

Ava's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she said "I heard what you told Jack. You long for a family? What the heck am I then? I trusted you!"

And then she slapped him across the face.

Pitch hadn't been physically hit in a very long time, so to be slapped, even if by a young teenage girl, caught him off guard and actually hurt a bit. Before he could say anything, anything at all, Ava stormed off. She didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Pitch ran from the Guardians. For once in his life, he actually felt fear. What was wrong with him? How had his plan failed so utterly? Ah, now he remembered. That insolent little boy, no more than ten years of age, refused to believe. It was infuriating. And now Pitch was running for his life because the Guardians were all on full strength and he was unprepared.

But the most humiliating part was when his own Nightmares dragged him back to his lair and sealed the entrance. He could feel them feasting on his fear –fear of the Guardians, fear of dying, even fear of what Ava might do once she knew the complete truth –but he tried to hold it together. Translation: Pitch was literally curled up in a ball, hiding in a small, dark corner of his home.

Ava had known the instant Pitch was dragged back inside. The terrified screams of the boogeyman helped a bit. She dashed to where the sound came from and saw him, surrounded by Nightmares. And suddenly she didn't care that he had tried to kill her friends. She didn't care about what she had heard in Antarctica. She didn't care about anything other than trying to help him as best she could.

Ava shooed a few of the Nightmares away and crouched down beside Pitch. She wrapped her tattered grey wings around the boogeyman, trying her best to comfort him.

"It'll be alright," she assured him quietly. When the Nightmares came a bit closer, she glared at them until they shuffled back. And shuffle back they did. Ava actually scared the Nightmares.

After comforting Pitch for about a minute, Ava told him she'd be back soon. She flew out of the lair, heading toward Burgess. The girl arrived just in time to see the Guardians fly off in North's sleigh. Seven children still stood on the frozen lake, watching them go. As a curious girl, Ava went to find out more about them.

"So that's it?" a girl in a knitted hat asked. "We help them save the day and they leave?"

"They'll be back," a brunette boy assured her. "Jack promised."

Jack? Jack Frost? They could see him? Jack had believers? Well, that explained how he was a Guardian and still alive. Ava stuck around for another few minutes, just until the children decided it was time to leave. Then she headed back down to her home to comfort her housemate.

It took two days, but Pitch was finally able to stand his own terror and pain. Nightmares still followed him, but now he could force them away if he wished. Ava –Doctor Ava, as Pitch had started thinking of her in jest –decided to visit the Guardians and give them a piece of her mind. But first, it was Pitch's turn.

"You are never to even think about hurting them again, do you understand?" she demanded. "You won't have to worry about them doing anything, because I will hurt you if you do."

"Fine," Pitch sighed.

"Good. Now I'm going to go apologize to them for you, and I'm going to see if they won't try to forgive you."

"Good luck with that."

Ava arrived at the pole without a second to spare. Four of the Guardians were about to leave to go back to their homes, so she arrived just in time.

"Hey," she greeted shyly.

The reaction was instant. Each Guardian whipped out their weapons and rushed toward her. But they weren't expecting her response. As they were about to hit her –she had to be continuing Pitch's plan to wipe them out –Ava held her hands up in surrender.

Wait, what?

"Well, this is awkward," Jack commented lightly, setting the end of his staff on the ground.

"Wha are ya talking about, ya gumby?" Bunny snarled. "She's working with Pitch!"

"In a sense, I am," Ava interrupted softly. "But not in the way you guys think."

"Explain," North requested.

Ava sighed. "Pitch promised me he won't try to attack you guys again. Well, I told him that he wouldn't have to worry about you guys hurting him if he tried again because I'd kick his ass first."

Jack laughed at that one, fully convinced of her innocence, but the others weren't as sure. This might be a trap. Ava could see their doubt in their eyes, so she did the only thing she could think of. Her pitchfork clattered to the ground, skidding across the tile as she kicked it over to the Guardians.

"I'm powerless now," she admitted. "I literally can't do anything but fly. So if I was going to try something, would I give you that power over me?"

She made a valid point. So valid, in fact, that even Bunny had a hard time doubting her. The Guardians, hoping that she was telling the truth, stashed their weapons and sat down to have a long chat with the fallen angel.

Ava explained to them that she had no part in Pitch's plan –she'd even been looking forward to seeing Bunny on Easter –but once she found out, she was ticked beyond belief. She even tried to release the fairies, but they thought she was trying to trick them. And Ava admitted she had heard Pitch taunting Jack at their house, as well as overhearing them in Antarctica.

Jack flushed pale pink at that, remembering how close he came to actually believing the boogeyman's words. None of the others seemed to notice his reaction, though, for which the winter sprite was grateful.

As they all talked, the Guardians sort of forgave Pitch for what he had done. Sure, he tried to kill them, but Ava explained that he had just wanted some recognition, for the children to believe in him as they believed in them. It didn't help when he was the one spirit that parents told their children not to believe in.

Eventually they let Ava go with the promise that she would bring Pitch by soon to apologize for himself. She said her goodbyes and dove out the window, waving cheerfully. Things weren't perfect, but they were going to get better.

As she flew home, Ava realized something important. She left her pitchfork. Crap! Now she had to go back.

I apologize if this wasn't up to par. Originally it was going to follow the movie exactly, sneaking Ava into a few scenes, but then I thought about it and decided to do this. So if it sucked, I'm sorry. Thanks for reading!

~C