"Piiiiiiiiiiiitch!"

The Boogeyman winced as the voice of a familiar winter spirit echoed throughout his lair. Couldn't that ice loving brat leave him alone for ONE day? He ducked into the shadows, and after some slinking around, he found Jack wandering around near the entrance to the lair, staff slung over his shoulders.

'Perhaps if I stay hidden he'll just leave…'

"Heeeey, Pitch, where are ya? I know you're probably watching me; if you don't come out I'm gonna start breakin' stuff!"

'He wouldn't dare…'

Jack approached one of the very few vases Pitch kept in his lair.

"This looks expensive."

He took the staff in both hands, holding it like a bat, and drew back to swing. The staff was suddenly yanked out of his grip, and black sand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him into the air. He was met with an upside down Pitch holding his staff, and even upside down Pitch's frown didn't look like a smile.

"Oh, there you are. Whatcha doin?"

"Catching pests; what are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, just hangin' around."

Pitch's frown deepened, while Jack's face cracked a grin. It vanished when Jack was abruptly dropped to the ground.

"Can't you give me ONE day of peace?" Pitch sighed.

"Of course not, what kind of Guardian of Fun would I be if I didn't try to liven up someone's dull life?"

"And what makes you think my life is dull?"

"You stay here all the time until nightfall. You need to do something besides lurk around here all day."

"I don't need you to find things for me to do, Frost."

"Are you sure? You don't exactly strike me as the fun-loving sort."

"Congratulations, you finally figured that out. Now kindly leave me alone, I have plans to put into action."

"What plans?"

"There's an old rundown psyche ward in Idaho that a group of 'ghost hunters' are checking out."

"…Why?"

"I don't know, they're idiots; anyway, I have scaring to do, now if you'll excuse me."

He handed Jack his staff back, and turned to melt back into the shadows.

"Can I come?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"It doesn't matter how many times you say it or how many pretty's you put in front of it, you're not coming with me! The last time you accompanied me, you made a mockery of fear!"

"Oh, I throw one snowball-"

"And fear does not involve snowballs!"

"I was bored, okay?"

"And you want to come to another one?"

Jack was silent for a few seconds, and looked away. Pitch studied him for a moment, before asking,

"What's the real reason you want to come along?"

Jack met his gaze, before looking away again.

"Everyone's really busy; North's really focused on Christmas this year, Tooth and Sandy have been more busy than usual, and with Easter a week away, Bunny hasn't left the Warren. So…you're the only one with free time."

"What about your little band of children?"

"They're all on Spring break, so they went on a camping trip together and won't be back for a few days."

Pitch was silent for a moment as Jack stared up at him with big pleading eyes. He could tell the boy was afraid he would say no, and that he would be forced to be alone. He was always worried that he was going to be left alone again. After a minute had passed, Pitch let out a sigh.

"Fine, you can come; BUT," he said once Jack's eyes lit up, "If I see one snowball, or hear the smallest hint of laughter, I will take your staff and lock you in one of the closets and see how long it takes until you're driven insane!"

Jack held up a hand.

"Okay, okay, I promise; there will be no fun in the area. Can we go now?"

Pitch nodded, and they were both incased in shadows.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack was perched on a beam in what was presumably the cafeteria of the used to be psyche ward. He was struggling to hold in a laugh as he watched Pitch circling the investigators. The entire building was dark, save for a few lights, allowing Pitch to travel just about anywhere in the building within seconds.

"Is there anyone in the room with us? If so, please speak directly into the microphone!" one of the investigators called.

Jack let out a soft snicker, and Pitch's eyes snapped to him for a moment, slightly annoyed. Jack shrugged, still smirking, but kept quiet. Pitch shook his head, before returning his attention to the group. He summoned a handful of nightmare sand, and tossed it over the group. One of them, a man who looked about twenty years old and seemed to be the youngest, suddenly yelped.

"Did-did you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?" another man asked.

"Did you guys feel that chill just now? I swear I felt something!"

"Don't be such a baby, Hal."

"Didn't you hear what the owner said? There were people that died here-!"

"Duh, that's why we're here. Dead people mean spirits!"

Jack shook his head with a grin, before dropping from the beam and landing beside Pitch.

"Hey, I'm gonna go take a look around the place. Let me know when ya get done!"

"Very well, but do tread carefully. As the jumpy boy said, there are many lost souls around here, and some aren't too friendly." Pitch stated.

"Oh, what's this, the Boogeyman expressing worry over little old me?"

"No, of course not; but if anyone's going to finish you off it's going to be me."

Jack rolled his eyes, and wandered towards the adjoining hallway.

"I'm serious though, there are malevolent spirits around here. This was a psyche ward…"

"I got it, I got it."

Jack quickly flew out of the room, leaving a chill in the air that once again set Hal on edge.

"Tell me you guys felt that!"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack had been to a lot of depressing places, but this building took the cake. There was graffiti on the walls, and most of it Jack knew would get him knocked in the head if he ever said it in front of North or Bunny.

"This place could use some lightening up…" he muttered, wandering into an empty room.

Or at least, he thought it was empty.

In the corner of the room was a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens. She had blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in days, and wore an unkempt white dress.

"Huh, I didn't know there was anyone else here." Jack remarked, watching her.

He was surprised when she turned to face him. Her pale blue eyes stared right at him.

"Hey, can you see me?" he asked.

She nodded slowly, and Jack approached her.

"Well, it's probably not safe for you to be here at night alone. Want me to take you home?"

"I am home…" she hissed.

Her voice sounded like the hiss of steam, and her eyes suddenly turned white. Her mouth opened wide, revealing needle sharp teeth, and let out an unearthly scream. Jack yelped, jumping back, but the girl lunged at him, and everything went white.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Pitch paused for a moment, sensing a sudden spike in fear. It wasn't from any of the ghost hunters in the room; Hal had fled the building ten minutes ago, and Pitch was messing with the shadows and forming images to startle the rest of them. The leader was one tough nut to crack, but Pitch relished a challenge, it made the fear taste better.

Now though, he was sensing new fear; it had a slight chill to it, and it had to be the sweetest fear he'd ever tasted…a Guardian's fear…

'Frost, what did you do…?' he thought with a mental sigh.

Reluctantly, he left the room in search of the winter spirit.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was dark, and there were voices everywhere, shouting, laughing, screaming.

And the pain was unbearable. It felt like he was being stabbed with thousands of needles.

"They did this to me! They messed me up! They said they would make me better!"

There were shadowy people looking down, holding a bunch of sparking cords and syringes. Voices were hissing and laughing, he was squirming in a set of restraints as the cords were lowered towards him-

"JACK WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!"

His eyes snapped open, and he tried to sit up, but something was holding his arms. He kicked out with a yell, and came in contact with something. Whatever it was let out a hiss, before it shook him.

"Will you snap out of it?!"

Everything came into focus, and he found himself looking at Pitch. The Boogeyman was rubbing his jaw, and giving him an irritated, but slightly worried look.

"P-Pitch…?"

"Did I NOT warn you about malevolent spirits?!"

"W-well, yeah, but…she didn't look like a ghost…at first…"

"You imbecile, of course they look innocent, that's how they lure you in! What were you thinking, you could've been put in a coma-!"

Pitch paused, taking in Jack's appearance. He was shaking terribly, and his eyes were wide and he looked ready to burst into tears.

Perhaps shouting wasn't the best way to go about this…

With a sigh, he smoothed back his hair, and looked down at the still shaken guardian, who'd drawn his knees up to his chest.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked.

Jack looked up at him for a moment, before hesitantly nodding. He grabbed his staff, and shakily got to his feet. He stumbled a little, but regained his balance, and he swore that, for a second, Pitch had moved to catch him.

"I-I'm fine…"

Jack gave a small grin.

"I d-didn't know you cared…"

Pitch rolled his eyes.

"I don't, but if something happens to you when I'm around, I doubt the Guardians will believe that a ghost did it."

Jack snickered, before massaging his head.

"Okay, I don't care if you keep up the ghost hunter scaring thing, but can you send me home? I think I'm done for the night…"

Pitch nodded, and with a wave of his hand, Jack was whisked away by a wave of nightmare sand.

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I feel I got a little creepy with this chapter…but I hope you guys liked it!