I'm not entirely sure if I liked this or not. Reveiw please!

Chapter Seven- Lair

Jaime didn't think that he'd ever been in a place so dark as Pitch's lair. That thought alone made him grin into the darkness, though the grin was slightly hollower than usual. He had never been in a bad guy's lair before, and admittedly didn't want to be until their was an epic fight. Then again, he thought, the epic fight would almost certainly come later.

The cave was a place that sunlight had never seen, that light had never ventured into. It was cold, very cold, but that didn't bother Jaime- he was best friends with the Spirit of Winter after all! The huge cages that had been dangling down from the ceiling in the other room hadn't bothered him either, because he could easily imagine it to be one great big spooky pet shop. Though technically, that would make him a pet, Jaime mused, as the cage he was trapped in swung slightly. But the dark did bother him, as did the quiet.

Jaime may have only been nine, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that it was no coincident that it was him who Pitch had kidnapped. Since he didn't actually have powers, the only thing he was useful for was to be an item for negotiation. More specifically, negotiation with Jack, his best friend. He knew Jack would come for him, he just knew it. Jack was his best friend, and had promised to keep him safe.

Surprisingly enough, all Jaime had seen of Pitch was when he welcomed him to his lair in a typical bad guy fashion (a disappointing lack of mwa-haa-haa's though), shoved him in a cage and then skulked off. He hadn't even told him his stupid plan, like the bad guys in the movies did. He was probably scared, Jaime decided, of Jack, because he was going to come and teach him a lesson.

Jaime was doing his very best not to be scared, because he knew that Pitch liked people being scared, and he didn't want to make Pitch of all people happy. But he was little bit nervous.

...

Two amber orbs loomed out of the darkness, and Jaime knew that Pitch had arrived. He shifted around for a bit so that he could look at Pitch without his back hurting. Neither spoke.

"Well boy. I imagine that you'll have some questions." He sneered at Jaime, his voice coated in disdain. Surprisingly enough, there was a question that he had been wanting the answer to ever since he had first met Pitch.

"Yeah actually... where are your eyebrows?" Jaime asked innocently. Pitch spluttered incoherently for a few seconds before regaining his composure.

"How is that relevant?" Jaime had found something that irked the man, and he couldn't have been happier about it.

"Maybe, having no eyebrows makes you evil. Maybe you should grow some, and then your face won't look so funny-" Jaime's head snapped round to the side as Pitch struck him. He smiled through the pain, and reprimanded him.

"You really shouldn't damage goods you know." He quipped. "I'm a bargaining chip aren't I?" Jaime didn't know what a bargaining chip was exactly, but he'd heard it in a movie, and it fit with the context.

"Yes. But I can assure you boy, if they don't take the deal I offer them, I'll be sure to kill you slowly, and painfully."

Jaime gulped.

"Good. Now be a good little prisoner and-" A soft glow began to enter the room. "Why they're here already. Now play nicely."

...

Jack had wasted no time leading the way to the hole underneath the now thoroughly broken bed frame. He, Adrianne and Tooth lead the way down the hole, and Sandy transported Bunny and North down on a dreamsand cloud. When nobody came to meet them, they crept further into the cavern, weapons raised at the ready. It was dark, and grew darker still as they moved away from the sunlight that peered in from the entrance. The only light was the soft glow that Sandy emitted, which was hardly enough to search with. Something about the place had stopped Sandy sending out his dream strands to have a closer look.

Jack caught sight of Adrianne glaring at her once flammable fingers, before she jumped back and let out a muffled squeak as her fingers set on fire, the soft glow illuminating the room, sending long shadows of cages across the wall. Jack put as much distance between himself and her fingers as she could.

Bunny's ears shot up, as he heard some distant noises. He tapped North on the shoulder, and pointed in the direction of the sound, before gesturing to Jack and Adrianne's flammable fingers to lead.

Jack strode purposefully through the dark rooms. The shadows brushed against his mind, and he knew that as the fevered mutterings grew louder, they were getting closer to Pitch. Closer to Jaime. A sharp tug on his arm yanked him backwards. Adrianne nodded to the door in front, and then nodded to North, who nodded to everyone else. This was it.

Adrianne darted in front, and pushed the door open. The room was completely dark. Jack glanced at Adrianne, who gestured for him to stay put, and then rubbed her hands together. Her whole body started to glow, and without warning she expelled five little balls of fire, which bobbed around the walls of the room. She took his hand.

Pitch was standing by a large iron cage suspended from the ceiling. In the cage was Jaime. His brown eyes were wide and full of relief, wonder and admiration. But Jack was distracted by the grey hand that was cruelly gripping Jaime's chin. He was also distracted by the side of Jaime's face which was red. He'd been hit. Hard.

Jack was furious. What possible threat did a boy in a cage pose? None. Pitch had done it for fun.

"We were wondering when you'd arrive." Pitch began, bored. "Weren't we Jaime?" He spoke in a ridiculing tone. Jaime twisted his head and bit his hand. Pitch let out a snarl, and the guardians chuckled at Jaime's spirit. Pitch drew back his hand to hit him again, but before Jack could even raise his staff Pitch's hand was encased in ice. Pitch growled, and gave Adrianne a murderous look.

An amused glint entered her eyes as she gave him a little mock bow.

"You really shouldn't hit children." She scolded. Behind her Tooth nodded. Pitch let out a short burst of laughter. It wasn't a happy sound. He picked up something behind him, and gloated it in front of them.

Jack's staff.

Jack instinctively moved forward, but North grabbed his shoulders before Jack remembered himself.

"Do you want it Jack? Do you want it?" He taunted, watching as Jack's face darkened. The anger rolling off him was delicious.

"Well of course he wants it. What kind of a stupid question is that?" Bunnymund retorted freeing a boomerang.

...

The fear in the atmosphere was disappointing to say the least, the most afraid person was probably Toothiana. But the anger, the fury, the sheer loathing was more than enough to make up for it. The fear could come later. Growing bored of flaunting the flimsy piece of wood, he clenched his fist and freed his hand from the ice. Jack Frost grew closer, aggressive energy bounding off him. The girl, the girl that he oh so wanted, was holding his hand, and was only a step behind. While she held his hand, she wasn't afraid for herself. She's a conduit, he realised. How clever.

The frost child raised his staff, fully prepared to ice Pitch where he stood, his eyes unreadable. Before he could though, Pitch lazily drew out a black dagger and held it to Jaime's throat.

Everybody froze.

And there was the fear that Pitch had been longing for, the beautiful, beautiful fear. He could revel in it, drink it up forever, but he had to concentrate on the matters at hand.

"Give me the girl, and I'll give you Jaime and the staff." He paused. "Unharmed. Or give me Jack. I'm not fussy." He added as an oh-so-generous after thought.

"If not...I'll kill him."

The girl and Jack stopped, and stared at each other. They weren't that surprised, they'd expected something like this, Pitch realised. Shame.

"No." The word was no more than a squeak, and came from the troublesome boy beside him. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Don't do it." The girl looked stricken. She tapped Jack Frost's hand, and he released hers. Pitch was stunned- was that it? That was the mighty stand of the guardians? Pathetic.

"The staff first. Or the boy. We're not fussy." He leered at her- did she honestly think it was going to be that easy?

"No. You first." She shook her head.

"I don't think so. There is absolutely no way that you'll keep your word. This way, we get the boy, or Jack get's his powers. Either way we can ice you if you refuse."

He pouted theatrically. "So what are you going to do about it? If I refuse?"

North stepped forward. "Fight. And win."

"What are you going to do? Start an earthquake? Send a sonic blast? There's nothing you can do! Either the boy dies, or you make the deal."

...

There was nothing, Adrianne thought, nothing that could be done. If they attacked, Jaime would die. If they refused the deal, Jaime would die. If she or Jack started a blizzard, they would all die. Adrianne knew that the guardians were family, so she should be the one to give herself up. And she wouldn't subject Jack to the lunatic in front of them. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. Pitch had won.

She stepped forward again.

"You've got yourself a deal."

"No!"

"Frostbite-"

"You shouldn't"

"Ree if you dare-" Jack sounded as close to tears as she was.

The guardians shouts of protest warmed her heart in a bittersweet way as she took another step forward. Pitch's eyes shone with glee. The guardians made to follow her. But Pitch threw up his spare hand in a halt motion, and stroked Jaime's chocolate brown hair. Jaime shuddered.

After he had delivered the blatantly obvious message, he pulled out some black manacles, and beckoned to Adrianne with one skeletal finger. She took the final step, and he swooped down on her, closing the shackles around her slender wrists. Adrianne's arms were twisted round behind her back as she was turned to face the guardians.

"Well done Adrianne." He whispered in her ear. The very sound had her skin crawling in repulsion.

Pitch open the door of the cage, and Jaime scampered wide eyed past Adrianne who was doing her best to keep a stony face. Jaime barged into Jack's arms, who hugged him fiercely. Next the Nightmare king tossed Jack's staff, which was caught deftly with one hand.

Jack pushed Jaime behind him and continued to stare at Pitch with as much ice as he could muster. He felt renewed with his staff in his hand, his connection to the winds restored.

"We will get her back." He vowed. Adrianne felt a tear drop at the promise he gave. Pitch scoffed. I'm going to murder you, she thought viciously.

"Maybe the others Jack. But not you." The nightmare king drew her closer to him, and smiled as the dagger which had been hidden in his sleeve left his hand and flew through the air.

Jack's eyes widened as it buried itself in his chest.