Jack cracked his eyes open, the light filtering into them in painful shards. Slowly, the sounds around him grew less foreign as he remembered where he was. For three long seconds, Jack was just content to let the sweet aroma of the grass wash over him with the breeze. He flexed his muscles. They were quite sore, despite his long night of rest.

His eyes flew the rest of the way open. He hadn't had a long night of sleep. Muscles cried in protest as he bolted into sitting position. Neither had Jamie. He looked around, trying to see past the blur of his eyes adjusting.

"Oh, good. You're up." A familiar Aussie voice came from somewhere behind him. He swiveled to face it. "I was wonderin' when Sandy would let ya wake up."

"Sandy's here?"

"Nah. He just dumped some dream sand on ya 'n left."

The pit of Jack's stomach twisted into a lurch. He wasn't sure he was ready to discuss the events of the previous night just yet. He hadn't had time to process it himself. A memory of Jamie's tear stained face rose unbidden to his mind. He shook his head to dispel both the image and his trepidation. The guardians needed to know immediately. He could have quiet think time later. "What about the others?"

"Sandy's still gone. Tooth was here for a while, but after she saw ya were okay, 'n that ya weren't wakin' up, she left. The tooth palace can run itself for a while, but she needed to check up on things there. North is still here though."

Almost as if on cue, a booming voice entered the conversation. "Jack! Finally!" The big man made his way over to the two. "How you feeling? Better, I hope. Bunny filled all of us in, and trust us, Jack." His expression grew a little more serious as he looked at the teen earnestly. "We will do everything in our power as Guardians to get you your memories back. What Pitch did was cruel."

"Thanks." replied Jack, flashing him a grateful smile. It was nice to hear, but Jack had bigger things to worry about. "Listen." he continued. "I need to talk to you all. Where did Sandy go?"

"Out sendin' dreams. He probably shouldn't be too much longer. It's been a while since he's been able to give it his full attention, what with all of the things happenin' around here."

"Its still night?" Jack asked, confusion worrying his dark eyebrows. "I guess it may not have technically been night when we turned in last, huh." he resolved.

"Nah, when we called it a night it was probably past midnight on the surface."

"How long were we asleep then?" A bad feeling was beginning to spread up the walls of his stomach. Much more time than just a couple of hours had passed since he had returned from Pitch's lair.

"Well, I was conked out for about a regular night. When I woke up, ya were still asleep, 'n ya weren't wakin' up. I was gonna wake ya when Sandy, Tooth 'n North got here, but Sandy wasn't havin' it."

"Indeed he was not having it!" Jumped in North, laughing. "I nearly lost finger when I tried to shake shoulder. Sandy said you needed sleep."

"He was right, too." Bunny was beginning to notice the sick expression on Jack's face. "Frostbite, sleep is important. Your not gonna get mad at us for helpin' ya sleep, are ya?"

"Something happened last night." Jack said numbly. "How many nights have passed on the surface?"

"Two since we got to the warren." Bunny replied. Jack's strange behavior was putting him on edge. Bunny's paw itched towards his sheathed boomerangs, and he worked to control it. There was no danger here. But that certainly didn't mean that all was well."Frostbite, what happened last night? Did ya have another nightmare?"

"I didn't. Jamie did. If another night passed on the surface, then that means..." he trailed off, pale fingers curling around his staff a little tighter. Extra frost creeped up it's length at the intensified touch, tiny spikes of ice forming. If a second night had passed, it was likely that Jamie had another night terror. This was not good.

"Jack, why would you think Jamie had nightmare?" Inquired North. "Was probably just nightmare of your own. Jamie wasn't here last night. Even if he had bad dream, how would you know?"

"Unless ya left ta go see him." Bunny looked at Jack, suspicion and hurt warring for dominance in his furry face. "Did ya leave without tellin' me? While I was asleep?"

"I... Yeah. But just for a minute."

"Ya went ta Jamie's house."

"No. I never left the warren!" Said Jack. "That's what's so weird! I just followed this voice, and one minute I was going down one of the tunnels, then I was... I don't really know what happened." He looked at Bunny, then waved a hand helplessly. "I just followed this voice, and the next thing I know, I'm trapped. The way behind me is closed up. The only thing I knew was that I needed to face Pitch, and then I heard this crying-"

"That was the only thing ya knew?" interrupted Bunny. Jack stopped, the rest of his words dying in his throat. He looked up at the Pooka, surprised at his sudden anger. "That ya had ta find Pitch? Ya didn't think ta realize that I was here?!" he continued. One boomerang was out, a neat whooshing sound slicing the air with every irate gesture. Jack stumbled back, a few steps closer to the pond behind them as Bunny advanced. "Sleepin'" another whoosh as the boomerang jabbed in the direction of his sleeping place, "Right over there?"

Jack stopped retreating, deciding to hold his ground. "There wasn't time." he said slowly. That was a mistake. Bunny's eyes narrowed even further at his explanation.

"There wasn't time ta hop over there 'n kick me awake before ya pranced off on yer own little adventure?" Bunny got closer again, and Jack lost a few more feet of ground to him. He didn't mean to back up. It was a reflex. He'd never say it out loud, but Bunny could be quite intimidating when mad. Jack hardened his eyes one more time. "It was do or die." He said, enunciating clearly.

"I went with my gut instinct. So are you gonna listen to me, or will Jamie-"

"I really thought after the talk we had that ya had decided ta trust us." Bunny was not going to let him get a word out. He wasn't ready to listen to him. "Ta trust me. Yer not still under the delusion that I want ta hurt ya, are ya?" He took a half step forward for emphasis, and Jack took a half step back in response. Not much, but enough. Enough to throw off his balance as his left foot stepped backwards, looking for purchase that wasn't there. He cried out, his arms beginning to pinwheel as he fell towards the colored pond.

"Jack!" Bunny yelled. The word overlapped with North's shout of alarm as Bunny tried to grab an arm, a sleeve, anything. Unfortunately, Jacks flailing inadvertently smacked his helping hand away. There was a large, multi colored splash as the teen entered the pool. After only a split second, Jack floundered to the surface. he spluttered for a moment, then began to tread water. A sour look was on his face.

"What is this stuff?" He asked, working his tongue around in his mouth. "It tastes like-"

"Vinegar?" Asked Bunny. The tension had snapped like a violin string. He was obviously trying not to laugh. "That's egg dye, mate. It stinks, it doesn't taste nice, 'n believe me." He scrutinized Jack carefully. "It's not comin' out any time soon." A pointed look led Jacks own gaze to his soaked hoodie. He groaned recently, it had been blue. He liked blue. Jack dog paddled to the bank, then with Bunny's help, hauled himself up. He held his hoodie away from his body to further asses the damage. It was splotched with bright hues of pinks, purples and greens. Choice spots were still the royal blue color he favored, but even those were garish. His pants had fared better, though only slightly. Jack could already tell from his hands that egg dye obviously doubled as skin dye as well."Seriously?" He complained. He looked up at Bunny, glad that he was nearly laughing. Jack was pretty irritated with the present circumstances, but at least Bunny had been distracted from his anger.

"If ya think the hoodies bad," said Bunny with a smirk, "ya should really see your hair." Jack flopped into his back, going cross eyed as he focused on the strands of hair that fell in his face. He was met with an attractive, sparkling yellow. Fabulous. Jack pushed the dripping strands away from his eyes. Maybe now in the lighter atmosphere he could get his story out. The only reason he was not already flying to Jamie was that he didn't remember where lived.

"Pitch had Jamie." He said quickly. He didn't like the amount of time they had already wasted arguing. Once he got the most important words out, he felt a little better. Bunny and North would help. He didn't have to deal with this all on his own.

"Last night?" Asked Bunny, the amused sparkle dropping from his eyes. "Ya mean, Jamie was with Pitch? Why?"

North also had questions. "Was he alright? Did Pitch hurt either of you?" Jack was already shaking his head.

"He didn't hurt us... Physically. But I found Jamie, and he was asleep. Then Pitch showed up, and... Look, I only want to tell this story once. Can we wait until Tooth and Sandy are here? In the meantime, I really want to go check up on Jamie. Can we go see him?"

"Yes. Jack, you 'n I will take the rabbit holes there. North, will ya go pick up Tooth?" Bunny tapped the ground. Jack didn't wait to hear the reply. He threw himself down the hole. Bunny caught up with him a few seconds later.

"Guess we'll finally see who's fastest, eh Frostbite?"

Jack managed a grin. "Good luck." he taunted. "First one to Jamie's wins."

oOo

Sandy began to unravel his dream sand, sending them curling elegantly towards the windows and beds of children. Night was just beginning in Burgess, and Sandy was headed towards Jamie Bennett's house.

While the guardians protected and cared for all children, Jamie and Sophie Bennett were definitely favorites. Though that made Sandy, as well as the others, feel a little guilty from time to time, he couldn't help checking in on the two personally every once in a while.

As he floated lazily past the upstairs window, he noted with surprise that the boy wasn't in bed. He frowned, moving his gaze to other parts of the room. Sandy's eyes widened when he spotted Jamie near the corner of the room with... Jack? And Bunny? What on earth where they doing here? He pushed the window open, the clink of the latch drawing the attention of the three already in the room.

oOo

Jack glanced in the direction of the sound that came from. To his extreme surprise, Sandy was floating into the room. The golden, football shaped guardian smiled brightly and waved a greeting.

"Sandman…" Jamie was the first one to greet Sandy. Jack looked in surprise at the boy, wondering why he caught a distinct hint of… fear in his voice? Jack took in Jamie's wide eyes and forced smile. He had been acting normally until just a second ago.

"Sandy, ya have no idea how fantastic yer timing is." Bunny patted the spiky hair that made up a quarter of the little man's height. Sandy smiled, then walked over to the clock beside Jamie's bed. He pointed at the bright digital ten it showed. A pointed look was given to Jamie.

"Oh, yeah." Jack said, understanding. "It is a little late, but trust us. We wouldn't have kept him up if it wasn't important." Sandy still looked skeptical, pointing a chubby finger at the bed, then crossing his arms. Jack was about to say something else when suddenly Jamie, who had been standing nearly motionless let out a squeak.

"No!" he said forcefully. The loud word in the quiet room caught them all off guard. They looked at Jamie. Jack hadn't had time to explain all of the events of the previous night in detail, so while Sandy and Bunny were taken aback, questions in their eyes, Jack knew exactly what was happening. Jamie took a few steps back, hiding behind Jack's legs. "Please don't make me go to sleep!" he begged.

Sandy let his golden eyebrows beetle together. Children that were reluctant to go to sleep were nothing new to him. Nothing new at all. This, though… this appeared to be something different. Jamie's eyes were large, and Sandy saw what could only be the beginning of tears forming on his thick bottom lashes. What could this be? Was Jamie Bennett… afraid to go to sleep?

Jack reached a hand behind him, touching the younger boy's back. He rubbed it soothingly. Jack tried to look up at Sandy as he asked his next question, but his eyes refused to un-stick from the floor. "Sandy," he began, not a little ashamedly. Pitch was right. This was all his fault. "Do you know what Pavor Nocturnas is?" The reaction was instantaneous.

Sandy's mouth fell open. His eyes dragged to the nearly trembling boy behind the winter sprite. Pavor Nocturnas was a term he was well familiar with. Night Terrors. Nightmares were much more common, but those were easily taken care of. Just a touch from him could turn them back into the sweet dreams he had always intended his sand to bring. Pavor Nocturnas, however… they were different. They were the only type of nightmare that he could do nothing about. In fact, they could even transform him instead of vice versa.

He was momentarily transported to a time almost a year ago. In a split second of lapse in his guard, Pitch had taken an arrow crafted from the demon dreams and shot him with it. There was nothing he could do. Not even the sandman could combat such horrors. Sorrowful golden eyes appraised the youth behind Jack. Was this child suffering that way?

Sandy flew closer to Jamie, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. Jamie shrank further behind Jack. "Please…" he whispered. Small hands gripped the brown pants that clothed Jack's legs. "I'll have a nightmare." he pleaded. "I don't remember a lot, I just know it was a nightmare. I woke up crying. Mom was crying. Sophie was awake, and she was scared, too. Please don't make me go to sleep."

Sandy didn't know how to handle this. He knew that Jamie needed to sleep, but he didn't want to be the one to lead the child into that kind of dream horror. He reached to simply pat Jamie's head as a conceding gesture, but the boy clenched his eyes shut and drew as far back as he could. Sandy let out a silent breath. It was painful, this rejection. Never in his entire existence had he come across a child that truly feared him. He brought his hand back, hugging it to his chest. He looked helplessly up at Jack.

Jack saw the pain in Sandy's eyes. He averted his gaze, hoping to hide the guilt that must have been shining there. He took a moment to wonder where North and Tooth were. Surely they should be soon. They needed to discuss what to do about this. Jack only wondered in passing, though. He looked from the boy behind him, terrified of bedtime to the guardian and the hopeless pain that came from a child fearing the very thing they existed for. He knew what his choice would be. After all, one couldn't really call such a situation a choice anyway.

Jack looked up to ask Bunny question, but the words fell unspoken from his lips as he saw the deep writhing shadows in the ceiling corner behind him. Something was growing there, writhing, becoming three dimensional. Jack gave a shout, pulling Jamie even tighter to him. Bunny and Sandy whipped to face whatever had alarmed Jack.

Pitch stepped calmly from the ceiling. He climbed the shadows like stairs down to their level. It didn't seem to bother him in the slightest that his greeting consisted of all the weapons available being pointed in his direction. "Oh, Jamie. Your still awake, I see." He noted this indifferently. "This is the time I usually drop by. How have you been sleeping?" The question was directed at Jamie, of course, but while he spoke, Pitch locked his eyes on Jack's.

Jack growled. He knew what decision had been made, but he didn't intend to do it happily. Or quietly. Pitch was a demon.

"No one told me that there was a party tonight." Pitch continued. "Its not good for little kids to stay up so late, you know. Don't you think its quite time for bed?" A sand whip stopped him from continuing. Pitch gave a small cry as he dodged it, throwing himself unceremoniously to the side. His amber eyes hardened as he took in Sandy's offensive stance. When the next whip was thrown, Pitch reached out a hand. He caught the whip. Sandy tried to tug it away, then his face was swept with an expression of surprise. He noticed the black, glittering glove on Pitch's right hand. The sand whip he held firmly was slowly becoming tainted.

"Oh. Do you want this back?" Pitch asked, reveling in the shock around him. "What do you think, Sandman? Effective?" he hurled the whip back to Sandy, who hurriedly brushed the corrupted grains away from himself. When he was sure they were all gone, he glared up at Pitch. "Arrows aren't the only thing I know how to craft." Sandy did not react to his words.

"Jack." he was saying. "Have you thought at all about your priorities?"

"And if I have?" Jack challenged.

"Then I want to hear your conclusion!" Excitement colored the silky voice.

"What if I haven't come to a conclusion yet?" This was a bluff. Jack was stalling for time. He wasn't comfortable taking Pitch until all of the guardians were present with their combined power at the ready.

"If that's the case," Pitch let his eyes harden, the resulting expression some unholy matrimony of anger and glee. "I may have to demonstrate my leverage again."

"You think you can get to Jamie with all of us here?"

Bunny decided to join the banter, finally understanding something. "Ya'll never get past us." he promised. "Jamie's gonna be safe from ya tonight, I swear it."

Pitch took in the guardians, forming a protective circle around the child. Jamie was watching events unfold with a slightly confused and affronted gaze. A laugh started in his chest. Pitch cackled good and long, his deep voice bubbling from somewhere deep within him. The amusement nearly bent him backwards. He gave them a truly terrifying look. The shadows swallowed him, and he disappeared. They looked around the room, desperate to locate where he had gone. His voice continued, coming from somewhere unseen.

"Jamie Bennett is not the only child in this house that can get a nightmare."

A/N: So there is Chapter 13! I know it took a long time, but here it is:) I know I left quite the cliffhanger this time, so expect an update soon!

After Edit: I did a read through. Let me apologize to all of you who read this before I fixed all those errors. There were many. O.O Let's take a moment and laugh at how, until recently, Bunny and Jack used the rabbit jokes to get to Jamie's. Thats what happens when I get typing too fast:)

love,

mariah.