Day 1, 7:52am

Pitch had an expression of steel as his troop surrounded him. Everything was supposed to go perfect on the mission. It was just going to be a simple get in, get out, thing but Jack Frost once again managed to screw everything up. Pitch wasn't even sure how Jack had known they were attacking, they hadn't made a sound once they entered his ice cave. Feeling the rage build up inside of him his roughly handed Jack over to Thomas who was at the edge of the group.

"You are to watch over Jack until he wakes up. The second he wakes up bring him to my office." Pitch stood at about 6,4 and so Thomas was only to his chin. His height was one of the thing that made Pitch so intimidating. Pitch didn't even wait for Thomas to nod before he shadow hopped to a YMCA. He needed to wash all this blood off and then try and catch up on sleep before Jack woke up, that way he could figure out what he was going to do with this whole situation.

Thomas looked down at the boy in his arms. Thomas, as a shadow being was millions of years old and this little spirit they had gone after could only be a few hundred. Even in human terms this 'Jack Frost' would be considered a youth, Thomas shook his head and readjusted his hold on the child. Jack had blood and bruises covering his entire body. If anyone else saw him they would have believed he had been ran over by a train, but Thomas knew that this is what they did. Not that Thomas regretted it much, Pitch's word is law and he treated them well enough that he would never think of betraying him. Still when Pitch had said they were going to kill someone he didn't think it would be someone so young. Instead of heading straight to the barracks where he could keep an eye on him, Thomas veered left down a smaller path where one of the other soldiers had discovered a small stream that pooled in an area deep enough for them to wash off in. The others were making their way back to the barracks and only paused for a moment when Thomas changed directions. none of them wanted to go against Pitch's wishes so they left Thomas to keep a watch over Jack.

Thomas took Jack's sweatshirt off and tried to get some of the blood off of him. If Pitch needed Jack alive for some reason then the best way to keep him alive would be to make sure all the wounds he got didn't get infected. On Jack's back were several cuts, all varying in sizes that were surrounded by bruising. Thomas cleaned those first. Jack moved uncomfortably in his sleep as Thomas prodded at the wounds, but thankfully did not wake. Thomas hoped that he would stay asleep longer, just so General Pitch could get some sleep too. Thomas was the only one who saw him when he wasn't in battle mode and knew just how exhausted he really was.

Thomas made bandages from the shadows and wrapped them around Jack's back and torso, keeping them tight enough to stop the bleeding. Soon he had Jack cleaned off and just as he was about to pick him up and escort him to the barracks, Thomas saw his reflection. His eyebrows had fully formed now and were shaped like fine lines. His mouth was still small, but it was gaining more definition and the most prominent change was that he had formed eyes now. They were a dark black, but not soulless. They held a spark of light in them which was rather odd for a creature made from shadows, but then again Thomas wasn't ever really normal. He was the most advanced nightmare man of all of Pitch's creations, most of the others were still working on forming eyebrows but Thomas had almost developed his whole face. He smiled at his reflection and went to pick up Jack.

Jack let out a groan in pain as Thomas picked him back up, and Thomas nearly dropped him in shock. A quick look at Jack showed that he was till asleep, just coming into awareness now, Which was good as it meant there was no brain damage from getting beat about the head. Picking up Jack was like picking up air, Thomas decided as he made his way to the barracks. The boy barely weighed anything and now that he thought about it he was kinda short too. Almost like a little kid, but he must have done something horrible to warrant Pitch's wrath. Pitch usually had more self control than that, but as he could see from Jack's broken body, Pitch had absolutely lost it. Jack seemed to have several broken bones as they had already started swelling, His right arm, left leg and ribs seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage though.

Thomas laid Jack down on the floor and sat down next to him, watching the other shadows cautiously. One of the shadows began to approach him. He quickly stood and moved into defensive mode.

"Calm down toots, I'm not here to hurt cha'. Yeh jus didn't lay Em down right." The shadow reassured him in a light feminine tone. She kept talking as she began to form shadow pillows to prop up Jack's arm and leg.

"The name's Jude, but you can call me Jay if ya' like. Sounds cooler, I think." She looked like all of the other shadows, unformed and practically just moving shadows except all she had formed at the moment was a mouth. It wasn't small like his or big like some of the humans he had seen, it was just the right size and fit her perfectly. She smiled and sat down against the dirt wall next to him.

"So...you gotta name?" she tried to casually slip in the question but it just seemed to add an even more awkward feeling to the already tense air. He looked at her, surprised that she was even talking to him. All of the other nightmare men seemed like the only thing they could do was insult him and make jokes about him behind his back.

"M-my name's Tuh-tuh-Thomas." He told her, inwardly wincing every time he stammered. Her smile didn't drop though, it even brightened when she realized he was answering her.

"Thomas eh? Tha's a nice name. So yer the boy's watch dog?" Thomas frowned at the term but nodded.

"I-I guess yuh-you could say t-that." He gave Jack a glance to make sure he was still asleep, and was a relieved to see that he was. A drop of sweat was making it's way down his face, which Thomas brushed off because it was hot where they were anyway. They were just lucky that shadows couldn't feel temperatures. Jude went on to talk about whatever would come to her mind as they waited for Jack to wake up.

After taking a shower and getting all the blood off of him, he fell asleep at his desk. He awoke a just a few hours later, still tired but not nearly as tired as before. Still he had to figure out what to do about this whole hostage situation. What would he do if the guardians agreed? Why would they agree in the first place, they don't like Jack enough to give up the war against the dark for him. Pitch could only hope that he would be strong enough by the end of the month to face the rest of the guardians. He would need to make many more Nightmares and Nightmare men to send out and scare children, that way he could build up believers without putting himself in danger. The more believers he had, the more power he would gain.

Pitch used his shadows to take him to the barracks, he would need Thomas to help him figure out where to send the nightmares. The moment he entered the barracks the entire room went silent, except for a heavily accented voice in the front of the room. He turned to see who was talking and saw that it was a shadow talking to Thomas.

"And en' I said, uff wif er ead!" Thomas and the girl laughed before they realized that the room had gone silent. They searched out the reason for the silence and gasped when they finally saw Pitch.

"General P-pitch, w-we're so sorry! I-I didn't know you had e-entered the room Sir!" Thomas apologized, standing up and saluting Pitch.

"Stand down Thomas, I'll let it slide this one time. But only because I need your help. Come with me." Demanded Pitch, who then held out his hand. As Thomas fast walked towards him, Pitch couldn't help but notice Jack on the floor. Jack was cleaned of blood and Pitch wasn't sure what he thought about that. He really hated Jack for messing up his plans, not once but twice. But he really did think that Jack could have been great to join up with. Jack was a frozen beauty, he never changed and he didn't care what people thought of him, or at least he didn't care before the guardians came along. Jack would just use his powers to use them, doing what he wanted, when he wanted. Pitch admired that about Jack, now however Jack was left bleeding on the floor because he made the wrong choice. He had chosen the guardians over him, the only person who actually understood what Jack had been going through all those years. The loneliness, the sensation of someone walking through you, the feeling that no one might ever see you. Pitch scowled and grabbed Thomas' hand. Throwing one last look at the pitiful creature, Jack Frost, before Shadowporting to his office.

'Yes,' thought Pitch darkly, his golden eyes swirling, 'He made a very wrong choice.'

AN- Sorry that took so long to get out, I was spending all today planning out the next couple of chapters. I really need you all to tell me what I'm doing wrong and where the story is lacking. PLEASE REVIEW! Also would you believe that only 279 people have read this story? Only 36 people read the last chapter (That's also partly because Fanfiction didn't put it on ROTG's just in page)

Some stories are a hit but I'm going to have to say this one is a miss. Thanks to insaneshadowfangirl, and gothgal00 for reviewing!