I apologize, I was trying to get this done earlier... however when I waswriting about Jack's experiences with penguins, I was looking up what sounds they made on Youtube... which led me to watching comical videos of penguins... and then seals... and then baby elephants... and animals and general... and you get what watching adorable animals doing adorable things on Youtube can do to you... so yeah. I'm sorry.

But OH MY GOD I came up with some amazing things to happen later, when I was at the bus stop today on my way to University. It won't happen for a while but you know.

Once again. Sorry. Blame the penguins.

~Jack~

The black and white flightless bird waddled towards the ice spiral that Jack had created. Jack used his staff and glided on the air to create a slick path. The penguin slipped and slid on his butt, gaining momentum towards the spiral. He flapped his little wings in a panic and Jack stood at the end of the curved chute. The penguin flipped upside down in the chute and launched high into the air. Jack shot up towards the penguin and caught him, sailing back down to the ground.

"Did you really think I would let you fall, little guy?" he laughed and then set down the chubby bird. It teetered and then toppled over. Jack winced before helping it sit up. "Okay, so I forgot about the dizziness." The penguin didn't seem to want anything to do with him. Jack shrugged and whistled a cheerful tune as he walked along, searching for more penguins to play with, or seals if they were in for feeding.

He stared up at the white overcast of sky and let out a loud cry of frustration. Penguins were fun, but after several months of doing nothing but forcing unsuspecting penguins into snowball fights and making them slide on his ice slides, he missed being able to enjoy that kind of fun with people who could actually talk to him and fought back. Was it September yet? Of course not... it seemed to have been August forever.

A group of penguins became to quickly scurry towards him, holding their little flippers out as they waddled hurriedly. It was adorably hilarious the way they walked, but Jack knew something had startled them and was sending them to run. He caught himself in an updraft and floated in the opposite directions the penguins were running. He couldn't figure out what they were running from, until he spotted three towering creatures with mangy greyish white fur.

"Rerghif yerk irtyc!" One growled happily one seeing Jack.

"You guys are... like on the opposite end of the world. Literally," he said with his eyes narrowing in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Airytl dirkug yuorrl qwerdir uss!" Said the smaller of the three. The Aurora doesn't extend this far, she said.

"Wait, why did North launch the Aurora?"

"Tilrky garesshu urhguqw," added Phil. You're needed at the Pole right away.

"But it's August! What could possibly happen in August?" he protested.

"Rada merkim arkk ttil mam rainrrerma!" said the little one again. Pitch never takes a holiday. Jack's vibrant eyes of frozen blue topaz expanded at the mention of their greatest enemy.

"Pitch is back?! How, we sent him away! He shouldn't have come back for a long time yet! It's only been a few years!"

"Werka?" said the one in the middle. His voice was a lot lower. He had no idea.

"Why can't he just leave us alone? Why can't he just leave the kids alone?" he demanded, slamming his staff onto the ground. One of the Yetis gestured towards Jack. The other one shook its head no. The small one stomped its foot and split the ice below it a little. Their blubbering of arguments grew. Jack listened hard and caught snippets of their arguing.

"Wait, hang on!" he yelled. "What is it that you wanted to wait to tell me at Pole?" Phil struck the middle one with his paw and began yelling at him. The female Yeti slapped her face and rolled her eyes.

"Yurda ilk mackanog ishin. Nergaa isha." Not kids. A kid.

"So he's targeting just one this time?" Jack asked. "Are you telling me he's after Jamie again?" Jack gripped his stick and charged toward the empty space between them. His brow was not crinkled with the rage that could have melted him completely. Phil panicked and patted himself down. He retrieved a glass bowl and chucked it into the open air. The horizon opened up and through a circle they saw gizmos flying past and Yetis wandering around. A car or too zoomed past and a miniature hat conquered by its red cone hat dawdled past. Jack jumped into the portal and the Yetis pushed him out of the way when they walked into the Workshop. The Portal closed and Jack rubbed his head, having been stepped on briefly.

"Jack! You have good trip in Antarctica?" North greeted with a smile seen between his mustache and ivory beard. Jack shifted his eyes around the glorious workshop and saw the tufts of grey fur from Bunny staring at him. The emerald blue beauty of Tooth was flitting about, but she slowed herself down to smile goofily to Jack. Sandman formed a hat of golden sand and tipped it to him. They were acting unusually polite to him, and he did not like to think of what that could mean.

"It was fine, now what's Pitch doing with Jamie?" he growled, charging towards the globe that was dotted with hundreds of bright lights.

"Jamie?" North laughed surprisingly. "Ha! Pitch has not touched Jamie."

"There's no use in lying, North," Jack said, glancing over the area of Pennsylvania to see any signs of disbelief, but it looked as it should. "You came to get me and the Yetis told me Pitch was back."

"Back, Pitch most certainly is," North declared. "But it is not for Jamie."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell him!" Tooth quickly said. "We can fight this on our own! If Jack is involved, maybe his emotions will get in the way-" She was darting about, her anxiety making her ore fidgety than normal. Baby Tooth squeaked in agreement on her shoulder.

"No, he has to know!" Bunny shouted as he stepped forward. Jack's staff appeared above Sandy's head, and then an image of Jack, and then Pitch with eyes crossed out. "Sandy's right, we need Jack's staff."

"What is going on?!" Jack said in a tone that was ready to lose its patience.

"It's Morgan, Jack," Bunny mumbled in a solemn voice. Jack's eyebrows went up with unexpected fury. His mouth was half open and the staff was being crushed under the coiling of his fingers. "Pitch has appeared to Morgan."

"I won't let him take her dreams away!" Jack said loudly.

"Wait, Jack, there is more to story!" North said. "Problem is, Pitch is not touching her dreams."

"What?" Sandy nodded. He made a gesture that told them Morgan was sleeping soundly.

"It's something much more diabolical than that!" Tooth squealed, shifting around the Workshop.

"Morgan has become very close to Pitch," Bunny finally said, having had enough of the treading on eggshells act.

"They are like friends, two pods in a pea, and Pitch has been there to listen to her problems and have fun with her!" North added with extreme emphasis.

"They are behaving just like the two of you did!" Tooth said, clenching her hands. "It's like they became... instant best friends."

"Pitch doesn't make real friends, mate, he manipulates. Whatever he has under that coat of his isn't good, and we need to find out what's up," Bunny continued "Somehow, Pitch has tricked her into believing he's a good person, or that he's honorable, or somethin'. Morgan does not just let people in like that!"

"I know, I know..." Jack said, and turned back towards the globe as Pennsylvania made its way around again. "Oh Morgan... what is he doing to you?"

~Morgan~

"Pitch, you could be learning a lot from this guy," Morgan said to the dark specter near her. She popped more kernels of popcorn into her mouth. "This man is considered to be the most compassionate man throughout all history. He is definitely not a bad man to use as a role model."

"Morgan, when does your pill start working?" Tristan sighed.

"It doesn't, they don't work," she stated, and popped a couple more pieces of popcorn into her mouth. She passed the bowl over to Pitch who simply waved a "no thanks".

"Maybe the dosage isn't high enough," Tristan said. He pulled a rectangular device from under him and began to tap his fingers across the screen.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling your mother they're not working." Morgan flung herself on top of Tristan ad wrestled the phone away from him, holding it high above his head.

"You could learn a lot from Gandhi too."

"Gandhi would want you to get better!" he argued and swiped the air to retrieve his phone back.

"I already have to see that woman twice a week, I couldn't stand to see her more!"

"I thought you said she was nice."

"She is, but I'm not crazy!"

"For the last time, Morgan, I don't... think you're... crazy!" Tristan jerked the phone away from her and stuck his tongue out at her playfully. She giggled and tackled him. The two of them landed with a painful thunk into the carpet. They both groaned, but then chuckled quietly. Morgan brushed her lips against Tristan's mouth so lightly he could barely feel her kiss, but he was leaning forwards to beg for her kisses. Pitch rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He snapped his fingers and immediately after, Morgan groped Tristan's t-shirt and wailed sadly into his shoulder.

"Sweetie! Did I do something? Did I hurt you?" he rubbed his hands against her arms, horrified at the thought of having hurt her in some way.

"No!" she sniffled. "You're perfect... this is so perfect..." She paused a moment to gag herself with tears. "But this... this is going to end."

"No, it won't, I'm here for you, Morgan!" He pulled her face up and sighed at the sight of her. Her face had succumbed to a tone of red and was sticky with tears. "I will be here and stay..."

"For now! But you think I'm insane and you're going to leave!"

"Neither one of those things are true!"

"But I'm afraid you're going to leave... either because I'm too crazy or you see some other girl..."

"No, Morgan, no. Are the voices telling you these things?"

"No, Jack isn't here..." she wept. "And Pitch is sweet! He cares about me and wants what's best for me, he would never tell me something like that!"

"Pitch is the dark one right? I'm not so sure that's true..."

"No, Tristan, he's misunderstood! I swear it! He wants to be good..." Morgan looked back to the bed where Pitch was doing his best to appear incredibly concerned for her. "And he's doing so well.

"I think... you do need stronger pills..." he huffed.

"No, Tristan please..." The boy scooted out from under her and picked up the bottle, pushing against the cap to remove the child safety lock. "Tristan, please don't touch those!"

"Morgan. I'm old enough to not accidentally swallow one..." he chuckled, and dumped a couple of the tablets into his hand. He looked at them quizzically. They weren't even tablets. They were small, round pellets and glossed with a shiny coat. He rolled them around between his fingers and inspected the cleanliness of them. He stuck out his tongue and very lightly pressed it to the tip of the tablet. Morgan wrung her hands and gritted her teeth anxiously while she watched them.

"Do they happen to flavor pills with mint, Morgan?"

"Uh... it's a new thing they're trying?"

"That's why they're not working, Morgan!" he shouted at her. "You've replaced them with Tic Tacs! That explains why you won't kiss me for several minutes right after taking them! It has nothing to do due with side effect and feeling nauseous!"

"People keep telling me I need to get better!" she screamed at him, now rising with anger directed towards him. "I don't need to get better! There's nothing wrong with me!"

"That is exactly what crazy people think!" Morgan squeaked when she gasped.

"You do think I'm crazy!"

"No, I didn't say that..."

"You just did! You think I'm crazy!"

"What am I supposed to think when my girlfriend says she can see things and hear things and talks to people who aren't there?!"

"The people who do actually suffer from those disorders would be really hurt to hear you say those things! I would never call someone who actually has schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia insane! I never would!"

"Why can't you come to terms with the fact that you need help?!"

"I don't need it!" Pitch was dangling his narrow feet off the edge of the bed, the popcorn now in his lap. He anxiously nibbled at the kernels. "Pitch, make him see! Make him see you exist!"

"There is nothing in my power that can make someone believe, Morgan..." he whispered in a melancholy melody. He pouted his lip sadly at her.

"Morgan, there is no one there!"

"There is too!"

"God, I am sick of hearing about this!" he screamed.

"Why don't you just leave, like you want to?"

"I will!" Tristan screamed and the door nearly bellowed when he slammed it behind him. Morgan yelled to the heavens above her and caught her foot against a stuffed animal, kicking it away from her.

"My dear..." Pitch started morosely.

"Shut up!" she screamed. She twisted her hands together. "I just want... I want to strangle him! Never in my life have I been so pissed at him!"

"Remember what you told me about resorting to violence?" he gestured to the film still playing on the TV. "Think about Gandhi, Morgan."

"I don't want to! I want him to jump into a puddle or run into a tree! He's so selfish!" She crawled into Pitch's lap, as she had now become accustomed to doing. She really was getting too big to do that anymore, but it was a comfort to her to be in the arms of someone who cherished her. He rocked her like a small child and she succumbed to her tears, divulging her fears about being left alone in this world and how she was afraid everyone would hate her for seeing him and Jack.

"Now, Morgan, that is one thing I can promise will never happen, love," he told her with velvet lacing his voice again. "I will never leave you. I am always going to be here for you."

"I know," she responded and smile. "You're a man of your word." She looked over at the door and frowned. "Is Tristan going to break up with me?"

"My dear, that's really hard to say," he explained firmly. "On the one hand, you're both inexperienced in relationships and never saw this coming. But on the other, you and Tristan truly do care about you. Also, he;s a boy, they cool down and then they're okay again. I don't think he will, honestly."

"I hope he doesn't... I can't imagine my life without him."

"Even though he thinks you're a lunatic."

"He doesn't think I'm a lunatic!" Morgan defended. "I think he's just scared. The presence of fear in this household is a lot greater than it has ever been."

Pitch pretended to be fascinated with the wall décor to avoid the questioning about his wide-spread grin.

I really hope I am too sick to go to school tomorrow. That would be really nice. I have two papers I need to do tomorrow. Also this room smells like raspberry yogurt. So pretty soon, we're going to be getting some nice face off action. What do you think will happen when Jack confronts Morgan and Pitch?

I have a challenge for you all! It's been pretty popular, so go to Gemvara (customizable jewelry website) and make a ring that you think best fits Morgan and show it to me! :)

Rosie out