Disclaimer: Trollhunters is owned by Guillermo del Toro.

Jim realized that his plan might be solidly in the middle of crazy town. And it could be wearing banana pants, though that was neither here nor there.

He was hidden in a corner of Toby's backyard, debating whether he should he hide in his room or try and signal him otherwise. He had been crouching there for a couple hours now, the debate still raging. He didn't want to alert his Nana, and he didn't want to give his best friend a heart attack.

He finally decided that the heart attack was a risk that Toby would probably find acceptable. Knowing Toby, they would be laughing about it as soon as he was over his shock. Jim's mind made up, he grabbed the key from under the mat and crept inside, making sure to stay out of Nana's sight. For now, she seemed to be watching one of her crime shows, her cats curled up around her. The half-troll made his way up to Toby's room silently, settling behind the open door to wait.

One of the benefits of being a troll is that he no longer felt the need to fidget, which allowed him to stand completely still. It only took another hour before Toby returned home, ignoring his Nana's call of greeting. Jim heard the way his feet dragged across the floor, and his heart ached for him. He knew that his partner was probably going to be very angry with him once he realized who it was.

Toby trailed into his bedroom, his face downcast. His dejection at Jim's disappearance was palpable. He kicked the door closed with the heel of his foot, not even bothering to look around the room before dropping on his bed and staring at the ceiling. At that point, Jim decided that it was time to get a move on.

He moved to the middle of the room, letting his boots thud against the ground. In a display of forethought, he had already removed the bandages from around his face and had put down his hoodie, so that his face was fully visible.

Not that it helped Toby too much.

Toby glanced over, muttering, "Not now Nan – HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU?!" He tried to launch off his bed, only succeeding in tangling his foot in a blanket and falling to the ground. Jim started laughing.

At first it was a little chuckle, but it evolved into a full-on belly laugh, where he was clutching his stomach from the ache of his mirth. 'I can still laugh hard enough to hurt.'

It felt good to know that.

Toby, meanwhile, was looking at him in wonder. When Jim finally stopped long enough to breathe, he was nearly tackled by Toby. "Jimbo! It's you! How did you manage to make that costume? Do you have any idea how scared we all were? You went missing! I thought that you were kidnapped, or you died, or…" He trailed off, tears in his eyes as he looked up at Jim.

The half-troll sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Toby, there are some things you need to know." He shifted uncomfortably. "You might want to be sitting down for this."

Toby obediently sat on his bed, his face overexcited. His braces were in full view from his wide grin. Jim sighed. "First thing's first. This isn't a costume, it's-"

Toby interrupted him, pulling back the sleeves of his hoodie. "Whaaaat? Jimbo, is this armor? What do you need armor for? Ohmygosh, are you a superhero? Do you have to go fight crime now? Is that why you couldn't tell us?"

Toby found himself being lifted as if he were a toddler and was placed back on the bed. He whispered a quiet "Whaaaaat…? You have super strength! Dude, that's so awesome!"

"Tobes! Do you want to hear everything or not?"

"Sorry, I'll be quiet now."

"Thank you. Anyways, I'm not human anymore. I'm a half-troll. And before you can start, yes trolls exist. So does magic. Which is why I'm here and I'm not human anymore."

Jim launched into a long-winded explanation of trolls, their society, and the Trollhunter, at which point he took off the hoodie and sweat pants.

"Now normally, this armor would be silver and blue, but since we got all the triumbric stones, I have the Eclipse armor instead of Daylight."

Toby crossed his arms, making an 'x' over his chest. "Wait wait wait. Stop the train for a moment. We?"

Jim winced. "That's where it gets complicated." He sat leaned against the table with Toby's magic hat, his hands supporting his weight. "I'm from the future."

Toby nodded. "That actually makes sense. Most of the stuff you were talking about, you couldn't have learned that in one night. And these triumbric stones – that sounds like epic quest type stuff. And I went on that quest with you?"

Jim grinned at him. "Why wouldn't you have?" He leaned slightly back, closing his eyes. "You're my best friend, my partner. There's no way I would have made it without you."

A small oof came out of him when Toby collided with his midsection. "I'm your best friend? Really? Ohmygosh, this takes our relationship to a whole new level!"

Laughing, Jim pulled Toby off him and hugged him for real. "You were always there, Tobes. Every adventure, you were right there with me. Well, except for the Darklands…"

"Hold on just a second. Didn't you say that was basically hell? Where the really scary dude Gunmar was? The gigantic troll who ate people? Called the Skullcrusher?" Toby squinted up at him.

Jim awkwardly shifted his weight. "Well…" He coughed slightly.

"…Don't tell me you went in there alone."

"…Well…"

"Jim, you're a fucking idiot," he deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's about what you said in the future too."

"We'll talk more about this later. Your idiocy notwithstanding, continue."

Jim told the stories of their adventures. How they found the amulet, their battles against Bular and the changelings, where Toby interjected.

"I knew Strickler wasn't human! It's like he never sleeps, handing out doom the day after our tests!"

"Yeah, but he's eventually on our side. He's not such a bad guy, and he looks after my mom."

Toby cringed. "That's not part of the story that I need to be hearing."

Jim gave his best friend an exasperated, yet fond look. "Then let me get on with the rest of it."

He reached the part about Claire joining them in their adventures, and Toby elbowed him and wiggled his eyebrows. Jim simply rolled his eyes and kept going. He dropped the bomb that he and Darci managed to get together, which was when Toby interrupted again.

"No way! I managed to score with one of the most popular girls in school? Yes!" He did a little happy dance, which Jim chuckled at.

"Do yourself a favor this time and don't ask every girl in school before you ask her this time. She actually does appreciate you seeing her for her, not her popularity."

Toby nodded, his face scrunching together with determination. "I will be everything that she deserves." He sighed. "Hopefully."

The half-troll proceeded with his story. When Toby heard about Angor Rot killing AAARRRGGHH!, he gasped.

"But you said he was my wingman! You said that he was roommate, he gave up living out the rest of his life to live with us! He couldn't die like that! I get that Angor got smashed, but we got him back somehow right?"

Jim started rubbing the back of his head nervously again. "Uh, you guys got him back. Found the cure for creeper's sun, or so you told me."

"What do you mean, you guys? Didn't you help out?"

"…Remember when I said that I went into the Darklands alone?"

"You did that… after we had just lost a family member? Damn, future you can be a real piece of shit."

"Hey! I didn't want to lose anyone else! And I am not having this argument again, I've already had it once. I know how selfish it was. But you guys got AAARRRGGH! cured, which allowed Kanjigar to use his body to open the gate. You told me that Kanjigaaarrrgghh was pretty cool."

"Alright. I'm assuming the future us beat it into you enough. Continue."

He was able to continue until he said that Toby got a war hammer, and Toby freaked out over it.

"Ohmygosh, a war hammer? That's so awesome! Was it cool! You said I could fly with it? So, I was basically a fire Thor? Oh, that's so awesome! Forget you kicking Steve's butt, I can do it myself now!"

"Tobes, Steve actually became a good friend and ally too. If you'll stop interrupting, I can get to that part."

"All I'm saying is, a war hammer is the coolest weapon." He muttered another bit, but Jim's troll ears were able to pick it up easily. "Sure beats some stupid staff."

"I'm not going to have another sidekick competition between you two," Jim said, rolling his eyes.

"Keep going, this is getting really interesting now."

Jim recounted Trollmarket's takeover by Gunmar, and Claire's sacrifice, along with the help of Steve and Eli.

"Seriously? Steve? With Eli? Wow, I didn't see that one coming. What's next, Gunmar invades the surface in the day? Merlin comes back or something?"

Jim blinked. "You have an uncanny ability to predict things."

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was. I really do. But, well, Merlin's not actually the legendary savior we all thought he was. You'll understand in a bit."

He told Toby about Claire being possessed, their quest to find the staff of Avalon, and how they found Merlin at the end of it.

"Turns out he had just been sleeping the whole time. Something about having to recover from the loss of his magic in Morgana's prison or something."

"Well damn. He fixed the amulet though, right?"

"Oh yeah, even used one of Claire's hair clips as a replacement piece. We got out pretty handily after that."

Then he told him about gathering the materials for the spell, and how he got his own armor. But he also told him how Merlin stopped him from saving his own mother and then emotionally manipulated him into becoming what he currently was.

Toby hugged him again when he got to that part. "He couldn't change all of you though. You know how I recognized you when you gave me a heart attack?"

Jim shook his head.

"Your laugh. You laughed in the exact same way, and that's unmistakable."

He couldn't help but smile widely at that. "Thanks, Tobes."

He told him that he took on Gunmar and Angor Rot at the same time.

"Both of our biggest bads at once? And you won?"

Jim grinned.

Toby just shook his head, looking at the ceiling, as if exasperated. "You have to admit that would have been a lot harder as a human. And dude. Throwing Gunmar into a building? That's pretty badass."

Jim just looked down at his hands, clenching the one with four fingers. "Anyways, we all started to fight Morgana, because Merlin was worthless without his magic, and she stole it while she was imprisoned. We put up a pretty good fight at first, but she was able to pin you guys down. But Angor Rot showed up, on our side. He held her down long enough for me to get free and stab her, even though he got stabbed with her. But somehow, she was immune to Eclipse, and she shattered it. Then she cast some death magic spell, and I couldn't let you guys die…" He trailed off.

Toby was full of hugs today. His face was full of awe as he gazed up at Jim. "You died to save us?"

"No. The collision of the magic with my amulet was what brought me back. I don't know why, though."

"Didn't you say that you had an anti-dark magic stone from Angor's eye? Whose magic was given to him by Morgana? That probably had something to do with it."

"Yeah, but there had to be something else. Or else I would've been transported back with every one of Angor's shots."

Toby shrugged. "Well, you're here now. No need to worry about it. So, tell me what was so important that you couldn't talk to me and Dr. L this morning and had to scare the shit out of us instead?"

"The amulet. I needed to see if it had been replaced too."

"And?"

"It wasn't." This was where he made his way to the door, putting his hoodie, sweat pants and bandages back on. It was dusk outside now, but he didn't want to take any chances. "And I need your advice on how to keep going. I have a vague idea, but you have a way of helping me with plans." He glanced back at his short friend. "You coming or not?"

Toby immediately ran out the door and down the stairs. "I'm going out, Nana! I'll be back before curfew."

"Oh, that's fine Toby-Pie! And who were you talking to upstairs all this time? Was it Jim?"

Jim was able to get down the stairs silently. "Uh, no Nana, it was another friend. I do have more than one!"

"No you don't."

To save Toby from further embarrassment, he stepped into the backyard, Toby quickly following. Toby closed and locked the door, turning to Jim after. "So where are we going?"

Jim warily eyed the patches of sun between the trees, an arm further shading his head. "I buried the amulet next to a tree. I didn't want anyone to hear it calling as they stumbled past it." He kneeled on the ground. "Get on."

Toby excitedly climbed up on his back. "Who is it calling to? Also, how the heck are you so quiet?"

"The armor only makes noise when I want it to. Or at least, that's what it's been doing since I got turned." Securing toby to his back, he stood up. "Who it's calling to is what I need your help with."

He crouched down and leaped over the fence after making sure no one could see them. He started jumping through the trees as fast as he could, and he could distinctly hear Toby nearly screaming "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" He grinned under the wrapping on his face.

He slowed down once they neared the trees that he had buried the amulet between. He dropped to the ground, where he transferred Toby to his arms, putting him on the ground. He grinned wider as Toby stumbled around, looking a bit green. Quietly, to the point where he almost missed it, came the muffled call of the amulet. "Claire… Nuñez…"

He glared at the slightly raised mound. Toby looked around, frowning slightly. "So where is it?"

Jim shoved his hand through the earth that he had packed over the amulet and pull it out. He shook off all the dirt and handed it to Toby. He looked at it, fascinated by the glow. "Okay, but who is it calling-"

He was cut off as it called again. "Claire… Nuñez…"

The amulet practically flew out of Toby's hands as he shouted. He had thrown it into the air out of the shock it had given him, Jim managing to grab it before it could manage to get anywhere. Toby panted, his eyes wide with the sudden adrenaline. "Jesus Christ, I wasn't expecting that. Ho-lee shit, I think I need a second to breathe." He leaned against his knees as he tried to get his breath back under control.

As Toby tried to quell his fight-or-flight response, Jim shoved the amulet back in the hole and re-packed the dirt around it, making sure that no one would hear it. He frowned, a sudden thought coming to him. 'Can Blinky track the amulet?' Now that would be an extremely awkward conversation. He resolved to try and get Toby out of there as soon as possible so that he could get the amulet somewhere that he knew the trolls couldn't get to, even in nighttime.

Toby, finally breathing normally again, grabbed his arm. "Claire is the new Trollhunter?!"

"Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise for me too. It actually called my name first, but then changed in the middle of it to call to Claire instead."

"It must've sensed that you were already taken or something. How does that work if there aren't any other amulets?"

"I don't know. Right now, the more pressing question is how do I give this to Claire? I could just leave it somewhere that she would be sure to find it, or I could give her the full explanation."

"Which would you have preferred if it was you, not knowing anything about this whole hidden world?"

Jim had to admit that his partner had a valid point. He would have preferred a full explanation. His train of thought broke off as he heard the amulet faintly call again. Glaring at it again, he moved further away, while still debating with himself as to whether he had enough courage to face a Claire that wouldn't even know his name.

He looked at Toby, shook his head, and sighed. "Why do you always have to force me to do the right thing?"

Toby's grin was infectious. "Who else is going to tell you what to do?"

"My mom."

"Ah. Fair point." Toby looked like he had an uncomfortable thought, as he started shifting his weight on his feet and looked away from him. Thankfully, he spoke of his own accord. "Are you gonna tell her about it?"

Now it was Jim's turn to be uncomfortable. "I don't know. I'm going to make sure that she knows I'm alive either way, but I don't want to drag her into all of this again. At the same time, I don't want to hurt her like my dad did." He shook it off. "Claire, though, Tobes. We're talking about Claire right now, one that doesn't know me and that hasn't ever seen anything extraordinary."

"Oh no, she definitely knows your name."

"What are you talking about? The second time I talked to her, which would be a couple days from now, she called me Tim."

"Once she heard about you going missing, she was actually crying. Don't know why, because like you said, you've never even talked before, but she was."

Jim ran his human hand through his hair. "That complicates things. I don't know what -" He stopped in the middle of his sentence. Then he jumped over to the amulet, ripped it out of the ground, and grabbed Toby and swung him onto his back. "Someone's here and I don't think they're friendly. I'm getting you out of here."

Jim propelled the two of them into the trees, just as he heard a roar that sounded like AAARRRGGHH!, and he almost stopped. He wanted so badly to go back to them, all his instincts telling him that these were his packmates, people that he should trust and confide in. He knew, however, that AAARRRGGHH! and Blinky did not have the same instincts and would not hesitate to try and pulverize him. He had, after all, stolen their most powerful artifact, and the only thing that was keeping Gunmar locked away.

A quick glance back revealed that AAARRRGGHH! was most definitely serious, his outlines carving glowing the poisonous green that they did when he needed to fight. He couldn't spot Blinky, but he knew that wherever the mossy giant was, Blinky wasn't far behind.

He quickly returned Toby to his house. "Just get inside and go to sleep. They won't come near your house, it might reveal them to humans. I made sure that they didn't see you, but if you ever get close to them, they'll be able to match your scent to the one in the clearing."

Toby nodded frantically, already jumping inside his house and locking the door behind him. Jim heard Toby tell his Nana to keep the cats inside tonight, and then continued with his original plan. Which was hiding in the basement of his mom's house again. What he told Toby was fairly accurate, they wouldn't invade the homes of a human that they didn't know. They only got near him throughout the day because he held the amulet, and this time around he made sure to stay outside, where they wouldn't be able to follow him until the sun went down.

He had also covered his own scent earlier, finding a patch of flowers and rubbing them on the inside of his clothes. Making a small detour, Jim went to find a small river in the forest that he could soak himself in to cleanse himself of the flower smell, which would make it even harder to track him.

Looking around to the front of the house, he noticed that his mother's car was nowhere to be found. The garage was closed, but she never parked in there. Just to make absolutely certain, though, he peeked in all the windows of the house to make sure that she wasn't in it. This was consistent with his first time living this day, since the trolls had been able to get in his basement without any trouble, and he had been knocked out until the next morning.

He found the key and opened the door cautiously, straining to hear any heartbeats that could be in the house. When he heard none, Jim quickly closed and re-locked the door, making his way to the basement as soon as he could. He jumped into the rafters again, just in case the trolls managed to find him anyway.

Settling into the ceiling, he noticed how tired he was. The exhaustion of constantly jumping around in the tress between talking and planning was getting to him. 'I don't know whether to be happy that I can still sleep and dream or be annoyed that I still get tired. The other trolls never seem to sleep.' Checking how well he was hidden and finding it acceptable, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

He seemed to be dreaming. At least, he knew that he was asleep, so he assumed that it was a dream. He didn't know another situation in which he would be calmly staring down Morgana.

"So, the mutt lives. And I am somehow imprisoned once more. Would you care to explain how that is?" She talked very casually, and he got the sense that she would be examining her nails if she wasn't currently facing him. Then what she said processed in his head.

"Wait, you came back too?" His mind was reeling from that discovery. He knew as soon as she started talking that this definitely wasn't a normal dream. Too much magical energy swirling around him.

"Came back? From what? And 'too,' hm. What have you and I come back from?"

"How are you even talking to me if you're just an ornament again?" Jim felt a painful sensation from within himself, as if his soul had been doused in liquid nitrogen. He resolutely ignored the pain, refusing to give Morgana the satisfaction.

"You can't expect to just absorb someone's magic and not gain a connection with them. I do seem to have lost my bridge with your little mate. A pity, she had such potential. But you, on the other hand…"

"Leave Claire out of this. You won't be getting your hands on her again."

"I don't think I'll need to. I won't need some pathetic human. Not with you. Even without you, I can feel my champion, still resting in my temple… Ah! That's what we've come back from isn't it? Time! Oh, this will be such fun."

He snarled at her, the pain finally dissipating. "Which one of us is imprisoned again?"

"A minor setback, one that will be fixed now that I know the happenings of the world. The Janus Order will be all too happy to infiltrate Merlin's tomb, and they will easily be able to get into Trollmarket, what with all the fools refusing to acknowledge the threats around them. And you… Well, now that I can see your potential, things are going to be a bit different."

"What potential?"

She threw back her head and laughed. "You don't even know! No wonder you put up such a miserable fight!" Her laughter subsiding, she smirked at him. "You know, the Eternal Night is for all trolls who cannot walk in the light of day… If you joined me, do you know how easy this will be? I can make you stronger than you ever were before; I can train in the ways of the darkness."

Jim summoned eclipse to his hand. "I don't think so." He threw the sword at her with as much force as he could muster.

As soon as the sword collided, he shot up into wakefulness. And then fell out of his perch in the ceiling. Groaning, he got up and brushed himself off. Anger was coursing through him, overwhelming his thoughts. Jim roared, slamming his fists into the ground and walls. After the knuckles on his uncovered hand had begun to slightly bleed, he actively tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths. In his mind, one thought kept repeating itself.

Morgana will die.