This chapter is dedicated to my 30th reviewer - Taranodongirl1:)

Chapter 7

The Night of Two Losses

"No" Pitch shook his head "It is not possible, there is no way"

"This is why Jack was chosen by MiM!" North said as he realized it "Because he's the only one to protect us with his belief"

"You think that you can stand against me? Let's see you try. How long can fight fear?" Pitch spoke darkly and his nightmare army rushed at the guardians.

"Pitch please, listen to me…" Jack pleaded again.

"Do not disturb me now" The Nightmare King said coldly and formed a sword from the shadows to fight his enemies.

"Please don't make me stand against you!" The frost sprite yelled after him, but Pitch ignored him. But Jack did not give up, he followed the boogeyman and created an ice barrier as to save Bunnymund from his sword. "Please.."

"What did I told you?" Pitch said through his teeth, Jack knew how angry he was at him, but he didn't really have other choice. "Go home, now"

"No"

"Fine then" The boogeyman called his shadows which wrapped around winter spirit's arms, making him unable to use his powers and interrupt.

"Release the boy!" Bunnymund shouted and threw his boomerangs at Pitch, who quickly avoided.

"Shut up, rabbit" Nightmare King aimed an arrow at Bunny who dodged it and threw a boomerang at nearby nightmare horses.

Jack struggled trying to free himself but there was no point in it, the shadows held him tightly, he couldn't even use his stuff. All he could do was just stand there and see the final fight of the guardians. There was some strength left in them, however they wouldn't be able to resist forever. Sandy was changing the Nightmares into a golden sand, it didn't last long though, as the shadows quickly consumed them. Suddenly, the winter sprite felt a cracking pain in his ribs.

Pitch seeing North busy at fighting the Nightmares, aimed an arrow at him and then released it. Toothiana got there just in time to shield North from the shot, which scratched her stomach. The fairy yelped in pain and fell, holding her bleeding side. Bunnymund immediately got to cover them, while North took her to his sleigh.

"No, Tooth!" He cried.

It was the best time for Pitch to finish them off. He rose his head in pride felling his victory but just when he was about to perform the final assault, he heard coughing. He turned back to see Jack having the attack again. The shadows released the boy and he fell to his knees.

The young spirit rose on his arms and coughed which caused so much pain, especially that he hasn't recovered from the last attack yet. He just closed his eyes wanting for this to end, his chest was burning but then he felt some warm liquid on his hands resting on the ground. Jack opened his eyes which widened with fright as he saw something red and realized he was coughing with blood. Slowly he was losing consciousness as no oxygen could make its way to his lungs. He feared so much, was he dying?

Pitch just stood there as if he was frozen, while Sandy and the Pooka rushed to Jack who rolled onto his back, blood still assisting every cough. No one knew what to do and the boy was slipping off the life. He was even more pale then he normally was, colder. The boogeyman shook off the shock and threw his shadows at two Guardians to cast them away from Jack.

"Pitch, let us help him! Don't kill Jack!" Bunnymund yelled.

"Do not tell me what to do" Pitch told him and picked up the almost lifeless boy. Before shadows wrapped around them he had exchanged looks with Sandy, who showed few signs above his head. Then that darkness surrounded them.

"Bunnymund, compress the wound!" North said as he took the reins "We must quickly transport her to my Workshop to get the medical treatment!"

"She's losing so much blood, hurry!" Bunny spoke trying to stop the bleeding. The russian man took one of his globes as a shortcut to the North Pole. This time the Pooka didn't complain about it "Wait, where's Sandy?"

"Don't have time for that" North stated and landed the sleigh as they got to their destination. Then he picked up Tooth and walked as fast to the Workshop as he could, the Pooka assisting him.

They were greeted by the yetis but their smiles fell when they saw the wooded fairy. North took her to hospital wing, Phil rushed there with bandages and all the necessary things. Toothiana was laid on a soft bed, but she had lost her consciousness, getting weaker and weaker. North cleared the wound on her stomach and bandaged it, fortunately the blood stopped pouring. He now had to plug her to a machine to monitor her hear rate.

"How's she?" Bunny asked.

"I hope stable" He replied but a second later the cardio monitor made an alarming sound. They both looked at it with fear, as the heartrate stopped. "Hand me defibrillator, Phil, now!"

The yeti did what he was asked for and watched with Bunnymund in tension as North tried to make Tooth's heart work again. Was it possible that they could lose two people at one night? Jack and Toothiana? No, it couldn't be happening. After several tense minutes the cardio monitor calmed, and the heart was brought back to work. They all sighed with relief and Bunny realized that he had been gripping his boomerang so tightly that he dug his claws in it.

"I'm afraid that she will need blood transfusion" North stated and then narrowed his eyes "Pitch is gonna pay for that. And I am going to kill him myself"

Jack opened his eyes, his vision was so blurry and it pained. When he tried to move, pain came through his body, starting from his burning chest, ending in his head. He had never felt worse. But then he realized that he couldn't be in Pitch's lair. The air was fresh and climate was different, it was cold and this temperature made him feel better.

He decided to see the place he was in. He opened his eyes and rose a little bit on his pillow. The pain which came after this move made him regret doing that, it caused him to yelp. He calmed himself and blinked, so he could see more clearly. He was in a room made of dark wood, there was furniture and two windows, but he couldn't see the view behind them from his bed. It surely was night. He panicked, afraid that the guardians took him.

"Jack" he heard familiar voice and looked towards the corner where Pitch emerged from shadows. "Please, forgive me"

"There is nothing that you should apologize for" Jack said happy to see his care-taker "I shouldn't have interrupted you"

"It's not your fault boy, I should have… I should have concentrated on you, not the guardians. What happened to you is all my fault"

"Don't blame yourself Pitch, please. Anyway, where are we?"

"Rocky Mountains. I was hiding in dungeons under this mountains for a long time after…"

"After the fearlings had changed you into fear bringer?" Jack finished.

"How did you find out?" The boogeyman asked suspiciously.

"I found an old library in your lair and I read…"

"The library was hid in the forbidden part, Jack"

"But that man showed me the way…"

"Wait, who?"

"The man I met when I was sitting near my lake. He told me that I can find there the answers to my questions"

"What did the men look like?"

"Well, I couldn't see his face. He was wearing a black cape, black shirt and red vest with many pockets. He was also twirling a joker card between his fingers. A hat covered his face"

"He was one of those crazy sprites that like to mess up somebody's life, I guess. It wonders me how did he knew hwo to trick you though… Anyways,

you had questions for me?"

"I… I didn't know Sandy is your brother"

"Ah, Sanderson. There's nothing much to say about that" Pitch simply replied.

"And yet, you wanted to kill him?"

"I wouldn't kill him. My shadows would just trap him in nightmares, that's all"

"But Pitch, why don't you want to side with the guardians? You were one, long time ago"

"I would never ever do that. All they do is bribing children for their belief. They are not even warriors, they won't be able to save them from greater evil" The boogeyman told getting dissatisfied with the questions.

"They are not that bad, they keep kids save. And that's what fear do too. Fear keeps people away from dangers. You can be a guardian. We both can" Jack tried to convince his care-taker but it only angered him.

"Enough of that. I would rather die then join them" Pitch said walking toward a door "You need to rest. There is something I have to do and I will be back"

"Wait, what did you mean by 'greater evil'"?

Jack didn't get an answer the Nightmare King was gone. Now when he was left alone he reminded how terrible he had felt. His health was getting worse and it worried him. So far he had too many thoughts on his mind to care about himself, now he realized that he was close to death. Nothing was fine. Deep inside he wanted to join the guardians, be believed in, be the guardian of fun. And Pitch as well. But it seemed there was nothing he could do to convince the boogeyman. Of course he wouldn't stand against him. As long as Pitch hated the guardians, Jack had to keep away from them.

He thought about the weird man, Pitch said it was just a spirit who liked messing around. However, the frost sprite had a feeling that talking to that man was a horrible mistake which he would soon regret. He brought his hand to aching head and it felt like his bones were cracking. He really wished Pitch was there. But where did he go?

Pitch traveled by his shadows and found himself on a clearing. There was dark but pale moonlight was enough to see anything. He walked toward an edge of a cliff looking up at the sky dotted with stars. A beautiful night. He heard steps behind him, but he didn't even bothered to turn his head as a companion joined him. He knew who it was.

"Moon is shining bright this night, isn't it?" He said and looked at Sandy who showed some marks in reply.

"It Is, brother"

"Do not call me like that" The boogeyman warned.

"why here?" The golden spirit asked.

"Don't you remember? Very long time ago a village was here, the one we lived in"

"I didn't know you are so sentimental" Sandy smiled.

"I am not" Pitch said through his teeth.

"We have spend here the best time. The time when we stuck together, no matter what happened"

"Our family was a disaster"

"What about Katarina? You adored her, our little sister"

"She is dead. Do not recall the painful past"

"That's why you treat Jack like a son? You've always wanted to have a family"

"We all do"

"We still are…"

"I told you Sanderson, do not remind me our brotherhood"

"Why is there so much hate in you?" Sandy saddened.

"I think you perfectly know why"

"I searched for you, after you had become fear bringer. I really did. I wanted to get my brother back"

"It was always Katarina who cared for me. She was the one to show me light in the darkness. Don't try to fool me, I know that when the fearlings changed me you gave up on me"

"I would never ever give up on my own brother"

"What about Petter then?" Pitch asked with venom in his voice. He didn't get a reply.

"We can help you. I can still help you. You and Jack could be the guardians, have your believers"

"I have enough of that 'guardian' thing!" Pitch frustrated "And don't forget that I almost killed that tooth fairy, your dear friend. Do you think I would be welcomed as a 'guardian'? Maybe she won't survive. Anyway, that's not the reason we are here"

"Totthiana is strong" Sandy simply replied "So, what did you do to Jack?"

"He's save, resting. I took him to somewhere colder"

"Do you have any clue what is happening to him?"

"I thought he was just sick but it is killing him from inside, such things doesn't happen to spirits…" Pitch said and saddened "I am really worrying…"

"It will be alright" the gold sprite patted his brother's back in comfort.

"I don't have a clue what to do… If he gets the next attack, he won't survive it.. I can't lose him"

"I will talk to the guardians, we will find a way to heal him"

Normally the Nightmare King would reject any help of the guardians but now the situation was too serious for pride. He didn't have choice, it was about Jack's life and if the guardians could help him then he was ready to withhold the conflict between them. If only it wasn't too late. If the fairy dies, she will be surely avenged and it was the worst moment to start war. Now, when he saw how he failed at taking care of the frost sprite, he regretted everything he had done. As much as it was hard and painful for him, he had to admit that the guardians would have made a better home for the boy.

"I would never let death take my son"

Thank you for the lovely reviews, it inspires me much to write. I hope you liked the chapter and the little brotherhood-reunion. What is actually happening to Jack? Will Toothiana stay alive? You will soon find out ;)