A.N. WARNING: morbidness in this story, a LOT of it. Pretty much the entire thing, in fact. I apologize, it will get better soon.
And now, on with the story
Was it real? Was I really seeing Jack? I uncurled myself and crawled over to the bars, squeaking when the cage moved. However, I didn't stop. I reached the bars and pushed a hand through, straining to touch his face. To make sure he was real.
He seemed to understand what I wanted and floated forward, a shocked expression on his face.
Suddenly I heard Pitch laugh. I flinched, and Jack's guard flew up.
"Well isn't this touching? The little girl is returned to her prince. That is, if it was her he came for?" Pitch was at Jack's elevation, seemingly standing right outside of the cage. I scrambled to the middle of the cage, shaking while Jack hovered, glaring at Pitch.
"What do you really want, Jack? Do you want your memories? Or do you want the girl? You won't be able to get both you know. You have to decide. Return your memories to me or watch her fall to her death. You know how high up she is right? Not to mention the fact that she's in a steel trap, and once those fall, they flatten. Like bugs." Jack looked at me and then looked at his sweatshirt pocket where I noticed a cylindrical bulge. He hesitated and looked back at me. I could see the indecision in his eyes. He wanted his memories but wanted to save me as well. I made a split-second decision.
"Go, Jack." I said, strongly. He looked at me, dumbfounded.
Pitch laughed, "Oh look at you being all noble. Are you really sure you want to stay longer? Of course, I'd love to have the company, but I think you're close to breaking." He smirked at me, but I didn't see it. I was staring at Jack determinedly while he returned my look with one of shock and indecision.
"Go." I whispered and turned so my back faced him.
"Well now, isn't this priceless. Alright, either way, what have you done to Easter, Jack?" He gasped and I heard as he was sucked through the shadow to wherever Pitch had sent him. Pitch simply chuckled darkly and floated away on his nightmare sand.
I turned, and picked up the rectangle with cords attached. After I had told Jack to leave the second time, there had been a thunk in the cage. It was my iPod. I almost teared up again, but didn't when I saw what song was playing.
It was The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. I smiled and hit 'play'.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping at your nose…
Jack looked around. He was in one of Bunny's tunnels, surrounded by broken eggs.
"No, no, no, NO!" He blew through the tunnels and ended up in a park. The Guardians were all there, but there were no eggs. Bunny walked up to one kid and held out an egg saying, "Here, here's one, take it." Desperately, but the boy walked right through him. Bunny's eyes got wide, and he gasped, breathing heavily. He looked around, and saw Jack. He glared and stomped over.
"You. Where were you when the Nightmares came and destroyed the eggs?! Where were you? Huh?!" Bunny was furious. Jack held up his hands submissively and Bunny's eyes were attracted to the hand not holding Jack's staff. Bunny's eyes got wide again.
"You went…to Pitch?!" Jack looked at his hand, and realized he was holding his tube of teeth.
"No, wait, Bunny I can explain – "
"No. I don't want to hear it." Bunny stormed past him and didn't look back. Jack looked around at Tooth and North, but both of them shook their heads. They followed Bunny and again, didn't look back.
Jack let out a grunt of frustration and blasted off in a tornado of cold air. He flew as far North as he could without reaching the North Pole. Once there, he ran out on a spike of snow-covered ice and attempted to throw his memories away. However, he couldn't let them go. He yelled in frustration and the Baby Tooth fairy he had rescued fluttered restlessly around his head. He turned around and stormed back toward the mountain of ice he was on.
"Hurts, doesn't it, Jack? Do be liked by absolutely no one." Pitch's voice was smug.
Jack roared at him, whirling to face the Boogeyman, "Shut up! Just shut up, Pitch, I don't want to hear it."
"Oh I know you don't, but you need to hear it. Otherwise, how will I get you to join me? Oops, did I say that out loud? Must have slipped my mind." Jack glared at him.
"And while I'm thinking about it, you can have this back." He pulled something, no someone out of a shadow. They were curled up in a ball, seemingly sleeping, but they had ropes around their wrists, waist and elbows, and ankles. Pitch picked the still form up and tossed them toward Jack. Jack bent down, keeping his eyes on Pitch as much as possible, and looked at the prone form at his feet.
"Alana" he gasped. The poor girl had bruises on her cheekbones, and a black eye. Jack looked at Pitch again.
"What did you do to her?" He yelled.
"Well, you didn't want her, so I lowered her cage, thinking she would want to join me, but the door was apparently open and she jumped out oh, about ten feet to the floor. I'm sure she injured an ankle in the process, and then she ran towards the Nightmare pen. She jumped in and tried to tame one, foolish girl. So you see, it wasn't my fault that she got so battered. If I'm being honest Jack, which I always am, I'd say it's your fault she's like this, because you kept your memories and left her behind."
Jack gasped, eyes wide and getting blurry. He threw ice at Pitch who blocked it with sand, and a fight ensued. It ended, with a frightful black ice sculpture that looked like a spiky, dangerous wave.
Pitch sighed, "Ah, look at what we can do Jack, isn't it wonderful? Now, will you join me? You won't hurt another soul, I promise." Pitch grinned at Jack menacingly.
"Join you? Not a chance. Won't hurt anyone? No, but everyone will be afraid of me. That's not what I want. I don't want people's belief in me to be that of fear."
Pitch glared at him, "Well then, Jack. I guess you won't be needing her," He grabbed Baby Tooth and said, "The staff, Jack, you won't be needing that either. You won't be needing to be yourself any more. You can die alone out here. Give me your staff, and I won't squeeze the life out of this fairy."
Baby Tooth squeaked at Jack, shaking her head crazily, trying to tell him not to mind her, but after a moment's hesitation he tossed his staff down at Pitch's feet, holding his hand out for Baby Tooth.
"Now, give her to me."
Pitch looked at him and said in a cold, bored voice, "No." He tossed the fairy behind him and snatched up Jack's staff, tossing it behind Jack into a ravine and blasted nightmare sand at Jack, throwing him into the ravine as well.
On the way down, Jack hit several pieces of ice jutting out, and grunted when he hit the solid bottom. A second later, Alana followed him, but still unconscious. Not wanting her to get hurt, Jack jumped and caught her, landing on his back with a whoosh as the air left his lungs for a second.
Jack heard Pitch's dark laughter as Baby Tooth flew down to check on Jack. Jack had sat up, attempting to untie Alana while tears streaked down his cold cheeks. The knots were really tight and he couldn't see though, so he gave up with a frustrated huff, sobbing and curling into a ball. Baby Tooth saw Jack's state and flitted over to Alana to see if she could do something about the knots. She made quick work of them, and attempted to lay Alana more comfortably on the ground. Alana was a full-size teenager though, and Baby Tooth made quarters look like the suitcases people use when they fly to a different continent for a month.
Jack looked up, his crying having abated some, and assisted in laying Alana out. As he shifted her, a rectangle slid out of her pocket with earbuds attached to it. He unwrapped the earbuds from her iPod, and looked at what song she had been playing. He gave a sad smile at The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, knowing what the second line of the song was. He returned the iPod to her pocket, and pulled his tube of teeth out of his own pocket.
He set it on the ice in front of him, his knees tucked up to his chin, and stared at the golden tube.
He sat there for a long time, just looking and listening to Alana's deep breathing.