I am so sorry with not posting earlier... I just caught up a little in life.

I know that some people think Adrianne is overpowered, and that's true, she is. BUT there will be a catch, and she is over powered for a reason. All will be revealed... eventually.

Chapter Twelve- Shadow

North didn't think the situation could get any worse. Here they all were, alive and whole, even after all they had been through, and it was down to him to break the news. But of all people... shouldn't Jack have a chance of normality, of happiness? And here he was, life on the line once again.

Misfortune followed him round like a angry inky black thundercloud.

It had been a few days since Jack had been injured. The wound should have been fatal , but impossibly, against all the odds, he had survived. Somehow North didn't think that was luck anymore.

North was a very busy man. He had a workshop to run, elves to keep a hold on, yetis to direct, and on the rare days when Jack did turn up, making sure he didn't trash the workshop as well. There weren't very many times of the day when he could just collapse on a plush chair and enjoy the silence. But today... something was wrong. He felt it in his belly. He would make time.

He felt caught in the gazes of the others, all watching him with expectancy and a different kind of fear. Jack looked weary and resolved, as if he knew something was gravely wrong. Which, North thought, he probably did. Tooth's ever present smile faltered and became uncertain, whilst Bunny and Adrianne stared at him with an intensity which made his skin prickle. Sandy looked on solemnly. He had their undivided attention.

"The dagger that Pitch stabbed Jack with was no ordinary blade." Tooth, Bunny and Sandy shared a horror filled glance between them. Adrianne's expression did not change, and Jack looked 300 years old for once. North gulped and continued.

"The dagger was formed by Pitch's own hand in the dark ages."

"Yeah mate, but he made loads of weaponry in the dark ages..." Bunny began weakly.

"Not like this. This is a shadow weapon. I know it." Tooth's plumage rustled in distress.

"But we destroyed all of those! Every last one! There can't be-"

"It is shadow weapon. I am sure of it" Jack raised his hand, having gone unnoticed in his bed

"Is anyone gonna tell me what a shadow weapon is? Seeing as I'm the one affected by it and all?" North exchanged a guilty look with the others. A huge weight pressed down on his shoulders.

"They are formed completely of darkness." North began reluctantly, unwilling to plague Jack with such knowledge. He did not want him to worry, though it was inevitable.

"So what does that mean for me?" Jack spoke cautiously, as if he didn't want to hear the answers. His hand subconsciously inched across to Adrianne's.

"Shadow weaponry leave longer lasting effects from a wound. It will take longer for you to heal. But if the weapon is left in too long, then some of the darkness can be left inside. If it has... we need to remove it." Tooth was silently tearing up in the corner. The temperature of the room began to drop, and drop, and drop...

"And how do you do that?" Adrianne asked. North stared at her with sorrow filled eyes.

"We have to reopen the wound." He began quietly "And draw out the darkness."

"How?" Jack asked, resigned.

"By injecting you with light." North answered simply.

"He means someone has to channel power into you mate."
Jack nodded to show he understood.

"Sounds simple enough." And painful everyone in the room added silently.

"It's not." These were the first words Tooth had spoken in a while, and they were laden with sobs. "Not once before has everyone survived. Someone always dies." The wind began to whistle outside, screeching against the window panes.

"What do you mean?" Adrianne's calm voice was barely masking the panic underneath. She was trying to be strong for Jack, North realised.

"Not one person has enough energy to give, and still live themselves." The Russian said softly. "Either the person infected dies, or someone else is sacrificed to save them."

Jack sat up straighter and nodded.

"Then it's settled. If there is darkness inside of me, then I'll die. I won't let anyone die for me." Every cell in North's body rejected that. Jack was still a boy, it should be someone who had lived longer, who had lived a full life. He was just about to open his mouth to speak when Bunny, Adrianne and Tooth spoke in unison.

"I'll do it." Jack shook his head violently.

"No! I don't want-" His words were cut off by the large Russian.

"Adrianne you cannot, you are too young, as for you Tooth- who will collect teeth?" Tooth looked distraught at the revelation. "And Bunny, who will deliver the eggs?" Bunny glared at him defiantly, but North did not back down.

"I don't want-"

"North, you deliver presents, you can't leave the children! I don't do anything, nobody will miss me, nothing will happen-"

"I'LL MISS YOU!" Jack roared. Adrianne recoiled, flinching, her eyes filled with fear and guilt of making him feel unimportant. "I'LL MISS ALL OF YOU!" He panted, clutching the bed frame for support. Adrianne swooped forward before stopping suddenly. He didn't want her right now, he needed space.

"I can't let you die, I can't, I won't I can't." His voice faded to a broken whisper. Adrianne let out a muffled sniffle. He calmed himself and faced them.

"Look we don't even know if there is any darkness, it could be nothing-"

"But it isn't." Adrianne ventured timidly, but went no-one contradicted her, not even Jack, she went on gaining more confidence. "You know that something is wrong, which is why you're so scared." Jack remained silent.

"We must do it as quickly as possible. Tonight perhaps."

"Tonight?" Jack's voice climbed an octave. "Can't we wait a bit?"

"No mate. We've got to do it as soon as possible."

"I can't let you die. I won't."

"And we can't watch you die either." Tooth said firmly, if a little scratchy.

"Checkmate." Jack muttered, looking extremely dejected. Adrianne wrapped an arm around him. he didn't shrug it off.

"Couldn't we all give a little power?" Adrianne suggested. Jack's head inched up, daring to hope. Sickness writhed in North's stomach.

"No. Would make it unstable." Jack slumped forward again.

"You need rest Jack." Tooth insisted, and fluttered out of the room, beckoning for the others to follow her. They filed out silently. Adrianne planted a soft kiss on his forehead, and reluctantly left the room.

...

Jack was terrified. He was terrified of dying, he was terrified of not dying and someone else dying for him, he was terrified of being weak enough to let them, of hating himself for the rest of his life, or being hated, or both. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and pretend that he was dozing in a snowdrift somewhere, that he hadn't been stabbed by Pitch Black, but most of all that he had never met Adrianne. Because now she was going to die for him. It did make sense. She didn't have a job, a specific purpose that the children of the world would miss. She had been right when she had said that nobody would miss her, no mortals anyway. So for the guardians, it made most sense to sacrifice her, instead of North, or Bunny, or Sandy, or Tooth, whose presences would be missed dearly in the mortal world. And she would do it. Without a doubt.

But to Jack... he could no sooner let Ree go than he could North, or Sandy. If anything, she was more important to him. She had never abandoned him. She hadn't left him alone for 300 years. That wasn't to say that he didn't love the others as family, but old scars would take time to heal. He may never be able to completely forgive and forget his 300 years of solitude.

Jack wasn't one to think. He was more a do-it-on-the-spur-of-the-moment person, he liked to dive straight in (which explained a lot of his less brilliant plans) and hated sitting around. Lying in the infirmary, all day, is near torture for a winter spirit who rides the winds. But if anything, it gave him time to think. Lot and lot of time.

He thought about Pippa, and how he always made her laugh. He thought about the elves, and a dozen new pranks to play on then as soon as he was allowed out of the wretched bed. He thought about Jaime, and Sophie, and then he thought about Ree. How she laughed, and how it made Jack feel warm inside. How she smiled and Jack smiled with her. How whenever she recounted her day there was a mischievous glint in her eyes, which made Jack wish, more than everything, that he could have been with her.

And how she had taken his breath away when she had kissed him, if only for a second.

Was he in love with Adrianne? No. Love was too soon, they hadn't known each other for but a few days, but attraction? Most definitely.

But now he thought about the guardians. He knew that they would be planning somewhere, who would give their life. He also supposed that they would be devising a plan so that he was so doped on drugs that he wouldn't be able to object, to stop them. That made his blood run cold, to think he could go to sleep and find one of them... gone.

He wouldn't allow it.

Leaving was the best way to protect them all. Making his final decision, he rose stiffly out of bed. He had already checked his staff was in the room, they really shouldn't have left it there, and retrieved it. He soundless opened the window, scooped up his knife from Adrianne, and slipped into the night.