Disclaimer: See 1st chapter

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Characters: Jack, Pitch and Baby Tooth. Genre: Humor and friendship.

Summary: Pitch is displeased with Jack Frost continually appearing in his home unannounced.

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In retrospect, it probably hadn't been Jack's best idea to intrude upon Pitch's underground home without even letting its owner know about his intentions. Especially now that Jack was currently hanging upside down with black sand tightened around his limbs, holding him in place, and being treated to a glare from a very displeased Pitch. Since the Nightmare King appeared to be considering what to do with him, Jack didn't dare try a cheeky quip about bondage because that probably wouldn't be well received right now, nor appreciated.

And just how had Jack gotten himself into this? It had started a few hours earlier, when the winter spirit had thought, while passing over the forest in Burgess, that it couldn't be very good for someone (Pitch) to be all alone and stinging from defeat, and having your own underlings turn on you. Who knew what kind of dark thoughts would be running through the Nightmare King's head after all that?

So that was when Jack had the brilliant idea to go and see what Pitch was up to these days.

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Jack arrived in the forest where he had found the entrance to Pitch's home before, and snooped around, before he spotted a hole in the ground that hadn't been there a few days earlier. An invitation or a trap? Jack hesitated as he considered the implications of the newly visible entrance. Jack did feel a little bad for Pitch; after all, he was likely to be lonely again, and Jack knew what that felt like. Pitch's offer had sounded interesting, but Jack knew that Pitch had been grasping at straws when he had brought up the offer, and Jack had known without a doubt that he wouldn't have enjoyed being believed in if it were caused through fear. Jack shook his head. In any case, he knew what it felt like to be ignored, and it was a terrible feeling.

Jack, mind made up, was about to drop down into the hole, when a tiny green blur appeared in front of him. Jack blinked in surprise as he realized it was a Baby Tooth, likely the one that had taken to following him around, "Hey, Baby Tooth. Did something happen?"

Baby Tooth shook her tiny head and flew around Jack's head, cheeping in an upset way. Before Jack could say anything else, Baby Tooth gripped his hoodie with dainty hands and tugged it, trying to get him to go in the opposite direction, away from Pitch's lair's entrance.

A brief smile lit Jack's face, "Ah, it's okay Baby Tooth. Pitch can't hurt me in the shape he's in."

Baby Tooth was adamant, as her fluttering increased as she tugged. She chirped several long strings of indecipherable language, clearly not agreeing with Jack's assessment of Pitch's character.

Jack gently freed his hood from Baby Tooth's grasp, his staff resting against his shoulder as he stepped toward the hole.

This upset Baby Tooth even more and she flew around Jack's head in distress, her cheeping increasing in volume.

Jack's hand closed around the tiny fairy lightly, the cold of his touch causing her to cease chirping immediately, and shiver. Jack opened his palm and offered an apologetic smile at the hurt expression on his little friend's face, "Sorry Baby Tooth, but I don't want Pitch to know I'm coming. If there's a problem, I can leave just fine. If visiting Pitch bothers you, maybe you should stay out here." Jack laughed as Baby Tooth puffed up indignantly and plastered herself in the side of Jack's hoodie, giving Jack a single, disapproving peep. Jack smiled a little more, "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Jack dropped down the hole and landed lightly, glancing around the dark lair, his staff held up defensively. When no stray Nightmares or Pitch himself showed, Jack felt a little bolder and went further into the dark cavern underground. It was a little unnerving for it to be so quiet, when last he had been here there had been countless Baby Tooth Fairies fluttering around in cages and cheeping in alarm. Jack felt Baby Tooth huddle down deeper in his hood, and his grip tightened on his staff. Maybe it wasn't the best idea after all to come down here without telling any of the other Guardians of his plans. Though, Jack considered, as he glanced around the gloom, the other Guardians would have likely advised against him doing this.

Jack paused next to the globe that Pitch had apparently decided to keep, and was pleased to see so many lights, proud of the fact that it was belief in him as well as the rest of the Guardians.

Jack heard a faint, distressed peep from Baby Tooth, and that was all the warning he had before a strong hand fisted into the back of his hoodie and yanked him up off his feet. Startled, Jack swung his staff blindly, fear leaping in his throat as the staff stopped short and pulled roughly from his grasp.

Baby Tooth had moved moments earlier from the hood to the pocket at Jack's waist, her muted cheeps of fear sounding constantly now.

"Silence that feathered nuisance before I do." The highly exasperated voice of Pitch sounded from behind.

Jack dropped a hand over the pocket Baby Tooth had secluded herself in, and stroked her head through the fabric, "Shh, Baby Tooth. It's okay."

There was a snort of derision from Pitch, clearly not thinking that was the case. The grasp tightened on his hoodie, and as Jack dangled a few inches from the ground, Pitch growled in a soft whisper, "Is there any particular reason for you to be here? I could have sworn you made it quite clear from your refusal of my offer that we were enemies. Or did I misinterpret things?"

"Well, I figured you were lonely, so I decided to stop by and make sure that you weren't plotting world domination or something like that while I was at it." Jack was taken aback when the hand let go of him, and Jack spun about, lunging for his staff.

Pitch stepped out of reach, and for the next few minutes it was a tense standoff between the two of them. Finally, Pitch spoke, as if he couldn't quite believe what Jack had said, "You intruded upon me in my home because you thought I might be lonely? That I'd want to see you? An enemy who helped bring about my downfall?"

Jack was anxiously watching his staff being waved around by Pitch, and managed to respond, "Well, yeah." Jack took a few steps back when Pitch started to laugh, a rather mocking sound, and tossed the staff to the winter spirit. Jack caught his staff, and the surprise on his face must have shown, because Pitch smiled faintly.

"Now, what was that look for? Did you think that I was going to break your precious staff?" Pitch spread his hands wide, "What's the point of it? It wouldn't do me any good to weaken you when I myself am weak. No, I'll leave it for another time when I can enjoy that fear." Pitch eyed Jack disdainfully, "Consider yourself lucky that you get a warning, Frost. Leave here. Return and I won't be so lenient."

Jack considered the other's words, and then smiled cheekily, "You are lonely, aren't you?" Jack dodged a thrown sand arrow, "Weak my ass, Pitch. You just don't feel up to fighting right now."

"Think what you will." Pitch gave Jack a cold stare, and was rather miffed that it had no effect on Jack. Pitch turned and stalked through a shadow. The Nightmare King felt like he was losing his touch, if he failed to intimidate Jack anymore. Pitch would come back in a few hours, and he would find the pale teen gone with the little fairy that had accompanied him.

Jack relaxed his stance when he realized that Pitch had taken his leave. The pale teen leaned on his staff in thought.

Baby Tooth, sensing that things had calmed down, emerged from Jack's pocket and moved back to his hood, and poked Jack with a tiny hand.

Jack flashed a bright smile at her, "See? Nothing to worry about." The look he received made him add, "At least nothing happened." Jack glanced around the lair, a thought coming to mind, "Hey, Baby Tooth, want to have some fun?"

The despairing cheep, while not in entire agreement, didn't exactly sound like a no.

Jack grinned as he scanned the area. This was going to be fun. Jack couldn't wait to see Pitch's face. It was going to be worth any potential fight his actions might bring in the future.

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If Pitch had been hoping to return to a quiet home, he was sorely mistaken. Before he had even entered the main part of his lair, he could already hear Jack laughing and several excited peeping sounds in response. Dreading what he was going to find, Pitch emerged into the cavern with the globe, and it was all he could do to stop himself from gaping in utter shock. The damned winter spirit had transformed half the cavern into a mini ice theme park for a few Baby Teeth that had joined the single one Jack had brought with him.

There was what looked like a 50 foot ice ramp that allowed the little fairies to slide down at dizzying speeds, where they were then launched into the air. They would then catch themselves in the air and chirp in delight. Pitch's eyes flicked around to look at each of the other small structures. More slides of varying heights. What looked like a mini roller costar slide with loop de loops, and a large patch of ice that a few of the fairies were attempting to skate across. Pitch had seen enough when he spotted a fountain made of ice that actually had water in it for the fairies to drink from.

Jack caught sight of Pitch stalking toward him with murder in his eyes. Jack took a few cautionary steps back, staff clenched tightly in his hands, in case Pitch decided to lash out.

Pitch halted a few feet from Jack, and scowled at him, obviously not the least bit pleased with what the other had done to his home, "What part of 'leave' don't you understand, Frost?"

"I don't know, I just thought it would be fun."

Pitch stared at Jack wordlessly, clenching his hands at his side into fists. "Fun?" He nearly spat, "You thought that it would be fun to do this to my home when I specifically stated that you leave?"

Jack tapped the staff with his fingers, doubt taking place in his mind as he observed Pitch's body language. Perhaps the idea hadn't been one of his best, but Pitch's dumbfounded expression had been worth it. When he had to dodge a few sand projectiles, Jack guessed that Pitch wouldn't hold back retaliation for this. Jack leaned out of range as the projectiles turned into a scythe that Pitch had materialized out of nowhere. Jack narrowly avoided another swing. Okay, he hadn't thought things through this time around.

And just like that, Jack found himself in a pickle, held up by the black sand. His staff was in Pitch's hands again, and there was distressed peeping from the handful of Baby Teeth that were there, having fun forgotten when they saw the perilous position Jack was in. The look in Pitch's eyes caused the cheeping to grow in alarm.

Pitch swung a handful of black sand at the fairies. It missed, but it got the tiny creatures to quiet down a bit, and the Nightmare King turned his attention back to the winter spirit.

Pitch thumped the staff lightly on the ground, considering Jack silently as he decided what to do with him. Then it hit him. Pitch was going to have a little fun.

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Jack avoided Pitch's lair for a few years after that, mainly because he hadn't thought that Pitch could have so much fun scaring the hell out of him. Pitch had tormented Jack by sending the fairies through shadows to different parts of the world, and Jack had had to go recuse a few of them. But first, Jack had had to get into a scuffle with Pitch to reclaim his staff, and that had been difficult due to Pitch's habit of slipping in and out of shadows with ease. Jack really hadn't appreciated having his staff waved at him just out of reach, and Pitch melding into a shadow with an infuriating smile on his lips as Jack would just miss grabbing it.

That, however, hadn't even been the bad part. After rescuing the last Baby Tooth from a sweltering desert, Jack, already weakened from the heat, hadn't seen a shadow growing beneath him until he fell through it. After having a realistic nightmare, that had been enough for Jack for a while. It was only after a couple of years had gone by that Jack had realized that, while the nightmare had been horrible, it hadn't actually happened, and Pitch had made no moves since then to try and cause trouble.

A mischievous smile split Jack's face as he flew off. Time for some payback.

Pitch was not at all happy when he found Jack wandering around his home once more, steadily freezing the place with ice and frost. Really, hadn't that brat learned anything from the last time? A snowball flew by the Nightmare King, missing his head by less than half an inch, which was Jack's way of saying that he could have nailed Pitch in the face if he had wanted to.

Apparently Jack hadn't learned anything from last time, so Pitch was going to have to remedy that.

Pitch slipped through a nearby shadow before he was pelted by a barrage of snowballs, and wondered just how long it would take for him to remove the now-grinning Jack Frost from the premises of his home this time.

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I think I've already mentioned how much I love to write Pitch and Jack. I don't have any more chapters at the moment, but I'll probably try to have the other Guardians show up in some of them when ideas pop into my head.