Part four of the Insidious Fear arc.


Anger came easily and Jack drew on it to fight off the apathy and terror filling him. He jumped to his feet, spun to face Pitch and channeled all of that anger through the tainted staff. Sharp ice crystals flew at the Nightmare King, accompanied by pure, cold energy. The wave of power kicked freshly fallen snow into the air, obscuring his vision. When it cleared, jagged ice spears dotted the landscape with faint black tendrils running through them. Pitch was nowhere in sight.

"Now, now, Jack," the Boogeyman said from behind him. "Are you sure you want to do this? My offer to join me still stands."

Jack turned around and stared at him in disbelief.

"Join you? Are you kidding me? After what you did to me? What did you do to me?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just planted a little seed of fear in that broken staff of yours. It would have been harmless without fertile ground to grow in. Quite insecure, aren't you?"

Jack stared numbly at the staff, the desire to fight slowly bleeding out of him. This was his fault after all. If he had been stronger...

"The others are not happy with you, Jack. Children in Burgess are afraid, after the blizzard. Many saw you that night. They'll likely not see you again. And what you did to poor Jamie and little Sophie..."

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. The scene replayed in his mind; Sophie's betrayed expression, Jamie's confusion, their screams when he had attacked them... He started trembling. He clutched the staff to his chest, but it brought him no comfort. It was the source of this disaster, after all. No. I'm the source of this disaster. The staff is just a conduit. I let this seed grow inside me. I'm the only one to blame.

"I was... scared."

"Of course you were scared. You are going to remain scared unless you learn to embrace the darkness. It doesn't have to hurt, Jack."

"I'm not going to join you."

His voice shook so much he could barely convince himself. Pitch smiled at him and slowly walked closer. Jack took several panicked steps back.

"And what will you do, then? The Guardians won't have you back. Not after what you did. They're on their way even now to deal with you. You betrayed them, Jack. Again. They're not going to ever trust you again."

"I'll just wait for them here. They can... deal with me."

Pitch kept coming closer. Jack tried to stand his ground.

"You're not going to go down without a fight, even if you want to. You'll attack them. You'll hurt them. Like you hurt Jamie and Sophie. Even if they defeat you, they won't give you the mercy of ending your existence. They're too... good for that. They'll leave you alone and helpless. They might break your precious little staff, too, now that they know that's effective. Don't think it'll help with the darkness and the fear. They're inside you."

Tears fell from his eyes and froze on his cheeks. Pitch placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. Jack didn't have the energy to try to fight him off. He could barely remain standing. He wondered briefly why he was not reacting to Pitch with panic like he had with Jamie. Why he was not instinctively attacking him. Maybe because he genuinely did not think Pitch was here to hurt him. He didn't need to. Jack was doing a good enough job at that on his own.

"W-what... what can I do?"

"Embrace it, Jack. Turn the fear to rage. What do you owe the world? What do you owe the Guardians? They abandoned you for so long, only bothering with you because you could be of use to them. Join me, Jack. You won't be alone. You don't want to be alone."

"No..."

He wasn't sure if he was refusing to help Pitch, or agreeing that he did not want to be alone. The Nightmare King pulled him against his chest, rubbing his back as if he was a frightened child. He was.

"You can't go back to them. It's too late for that. I'm the only one who will still have you."

"I hate you so much..."

He wished he sounded angry instead of terrified. He wanted to push the man away, but his fingers curled up in the black fabric covering his chest instead. He never hated himself more than now, as he found himself sobbing in the Boogeyman's arms. It was pathetic and he couldn't stop. Jack rested his head on Pitch's shoulder as grey fingers stroked his hair until the sobs stopped and he just didn't have the energy to think. For all of two seconds, he wasn't afraid.

"What's going on here?"

Bunny's angry voice ripped him out of his little fantasy world where he was pretending everything was fine. The fear returned with a vengeance. There would be no explaining this one away, in the unlikely event that explanations was what they came here for. He had betrayed them before and now they found him like this? Jack did not dare turn to face them. He did not want to see the look on their face.

"Bunny, calm down."

North sounded like he was barely restraining his anger himself. Pitch tightened his hold on him. Jack did not fool himself into thinking it was a protective gesture. He made an effective shield.

"Jack... what's going on?"

Tooth's voice was filled with confusion. Jack did not know what to answer. He doubted he could put this in words they would understand. Even if he could, they had no reason to believe him.

"Frostbite," Bunny said, a bit more calmly, "when I told you to just ask if you needed a hug, I didn't mean ask Pitch."

The Pooka's use of the nickname almost made him believe for a moment that he didn't hate him. Almost. He turned a little to face them and flinched when he saw they were all obviously ready to fight.

"I don't need to be told to know when our little winter spirit needs comfort, rabbit."

Bunny clenched his boomerang. North raised his swords with a glare and took a threatening step in their direction.

"Let Jack go, Pitch or I swear I'll—"

He didn't have time to finish. Panicking at their reactions, Jack whipped his staff in front of him and let out a wave of raw power. The Guardians' eyes widened as they threw themselves out of the way. Pitch did let go, disappearing from sight. Jack was left alone to face his fellow Guardians as they warily got back to their feet, staring at him. The storm around them increased in intensity. He raised his corrupted staff defensively in front of him.

"Go away! Leave me alone."

His voice was steady for once as he felt a new wave of power rise in him. Pitch was right, he wasn't going to go down without a fight even if he wanted to. He wasn't sure he wanted to.