For those who wants to know, the second part of my "Jack just wants to help" comic is up. The link is on my profile. I know I said that last time and for some reason it wasn't, but it's true this time. I've added the link to the first part as well. Sorry about that. I must have forgotten to save after adding it.

This is a sequel to Fear and The Boogeyman.


The girl's big brown eyes looked at Pitch, filled with terror. It felt wonderful. Before he found that girl, it had been so long since he hadn't scared someone so directly. Since he hadn't been believed in. He grinned at her. He needed to brush up on his sinister grins. He was still a little rusty. She was getting harder to scare, now, so he would need to step up his game.

"You should know better than to come out alone after dark, little girl."

"I-I was going home. Leave me alone."

"Leave you alone? Now, why would I do that?"

"You already took him!" she shouted, anger momentarily making the fear disappear. "You took my brother instead of me, that day on the ice, and now you want me too?"

It still amused Pitch to no end than she thought he was Death itself, the way he had seemingly just appeared on the frozen lake when her brother died. He certainly wasn't going to correct her.

"It doesn't work that way, girl. You were the one supposed to die. Your dear brother's death was just a waste."

"No! He saved me! He didn't die for nothing! I-I can't die here... I can't... Jack..."

"What's going on here?"

Pitch recognized the voice. Even if he had only spoken with the other spirit once, he had observed him from the shadows since. It had been quite a disappointment. Where he had hoped to find a like-minded spirit, he found instead a mischievous boy who liked to make children laugh even if they could not see him. Maybe in a few centuries he would be more bitter. For now, though, he was unlikely to have much sympathy for Pitch's cause. He certainly didn't look sympathetic now, frowning at him, his hands clutching his thin staff.

The girl clearly couldn't see what had caught his attention, but she did not stick around to find out. She turned away from him and ran as fast as she could for her small wooden house. Pitch sighed when the door slammed shut behind her. It would take a while for her to venture out again. Not that the flimsy walls were a real obstacle for him, but she did not know that yet. She thought herself safe inside. He let her believe that for now. Had let her believe that for the past three years. But it might be time to show her she was wrong. She was not as afraid as she used to be.

"What's going on? Nothing. Merely doing my job as the Boogeyman."

"Leave her alone."

The winter spirit narrowed his eyes. Pitch sneered at him.

"What do you care? What is she to you? She can't even see you."

The boy winced. His entire demeanour changed, from self-assured determination to pained uncertainty. The spirit was still very young. Pitch almost felt bad for his words. He certainly knew what it was like to not be seen. And this Jack Frost had never even known how it felt to be believed in. He had been invisible for all of his short life.

"I just... I don't want to see her scared. Any of them. The children... I want them to be happy."

You're talking like a Guardian, boy. That's when it hit him. The young spirit had seemed vaguely familiar, but now he realized where he had seen him before. On a lake, three years ago. Just before the ice broke. He had been human then. He had just saved his sister. What surprised him was that he did not seem to recognize her, now. Like he did not remember who he used to be. He died. That must have affected his memories.

"You do understand it's my role to scare them, just like it's yours to bring winter? Fear kills far fewer children, Frost."

The young spirit took a step back like he had just been slapped. Pitch took little pleasure in hurting the lonely young spirit. He sighed.

"Very well."

"V-very well?"

"I'll leave her alone."

"You will?"

"You'll never see me scare her again, Frost."

Jack Frost smiled at him, such a child-like, innocent smile that Pitch wanted to shake some sense into him. A small part of him envied the boy. It must feel good, to be so naive. To be able to simply believe that the Boogeyman wasn't lying. Well, that last part had been true enough. He wouldn't let the young winter spirit see him scare the girl who used to be his sister again.

"Thank you. You're not so bad, after all."

That was the closest thing to a compliment he had been paid in a very long time. It felt strangely nice. And it almost made him feel bad for not intending to keep his promise. Maybe he did not have to scare the girl as often. It was more fun when she was younger, anyway. He turned away from the boy, melting into the shadows.

"I'll see you around, Jack Frost. Just try not to interfere with my job too much."


There's two things that came up a lot in recent reviews that I'd like to address here.

First, about Jamie. I get that many of you are reading several different RotG fanfics, so it can be hard to keep track of what happens in which. So, this is just a little reminder for those who forgot. Jamie did start to believe in Jack again, about twenty chapter ago. It was in chapters 64 and 65. The end of chapter 82 was the same as the end of chapter 69, but from Jack's point of view.

Second, about my comment of last chapter not having turned out like I wanted. That chapter was one that I had pretty much written in my head before I ever started typing it. The thing is, I mentally "wrote" it when I was lazing around in bed, not quite awake. It did not have to be too coherent to be amazing. It lost a lot of amazingness when I put it down in actual words, rather than sentence fragments, pictures and feelings. So it's just a case of "It was so much more awesome in my head".

Also, I seem to have forgotten that I'm supposed to be on a hiatus this month. Ah, well.