((Author's Note: FlygonWriter64 asked me the question "What if Pitch was standing in the shadows this whole time?!" in relevance to chapter 23 and I may have gotten more than a little bit carried away with the idea...))

The intense, overwhelming fear of losing oneself sinks into my senses and it positively reeks of Jack.

My nightmare, my own fear of Jack being that thing again, of him becoming trapped within his own mind, just as I was...I can't let it happen. He wouldn't be fun anymore. He would no longer be Jack, instead, nothing but a horrid reflection of my most miserable moments, animated into a current reality which I would be forced to either face or run from. I can't. Something awful twists through my stomach at the thought and I am loathe to admit that it's the fear of losing Jack. How could he have slipped past everything I've built and manage to become someone I'm this afraid to lose?

I never meant for this to happen.

I sink through the shadows and toward Jack's fear until I'm hiding in a freezing cave, the darkness of it all surrounding and protecting me from the sight of the frost spirit who stands in one of many light patches where the dark, corrupt ice hasn't covered, allowing bits of sparkle to brighten his face.

But it isn't his face that I notice first. A single strip of black has made itself seen in his hair as the boy watches his own reflection in the ice.

It's real, it's happening. I can't stop it from happening. What could I possibly do to prevent it at this point?

"Hey, Pitch? Little help, here?" Jack asks to the darkness. For the smallest moment I think he knows I'm here, but he doesn't. He looks too hopeless. He's still calling out for me. I need to answer.

Wait. Why do I need to answer? He was the one who got angry and left, just like that time in Antarctica. Why would I answer his loneliness and attempt to sooth him? I wasn't supposed to get attached to him in the first place. If he destroys himself in this way, why should I come to save him? I don't save anyone, I'm the Bogeyman, the darkness, the shadow. It was my fault he became corrupted by the darkness in the first place. He was holding onto me.

He picks up the black ribbon and feels it between his fingers. It's special to him.

He's better off dealing with all this on his own. He's done that his entire life, why not now? I can only make it worse. I should go.

"I'm stuck. Pitch? Hey!"

But I can't. I can't just leave him here.

"...Remember what you said in Antarctica? Back when I hated you and you hated me, and it made sense? ...I could really use that whole 'family' thing right about now. Or, anything. I don't know. Whatever. I guess family doesn't really fit us. Doesn't matter, though. You can't hear me. I know you can't hear me. I can't stop talking to you as though you could, though. Hah, at this point, it's probably better you don't."

That offer has expired. I don't need him for that anymore. I made that offer because I wanted power, and joined the Guardians for that very same reason. Now that I have it, I could...just discard him. I can betray both him and the Guardians now, like I've been waiting to do all this time. This is perfect. This is what I wanted.

This is exactly what I was going to do. I have enough power now to separate myself from him and from the rest of those ridiculous goons. I can just go, and be better off for it.

"I just-...don't know what's happening to me. I'm sorry about before. I'm still angry that you brought me to Jamie." He throws out an empty laugh. "I also justlovedbeing shoved into a dark, endless pit of fear and despair and then ending up in the last place I wanted to be. Just my favorite kind of transportation. Pro tip though- little warning next time."

Just leave. Leave. Why can't I get myself to move?

"Hah, just in case you were wondering, that was sarcasm. North didn't get it last time I tried that on him." Jack waits for me to say something, but I can't. This is my fault. I have to go. I have to... "...But I get it, I think. You were trying to get Jamie to believe in me, weren't you? Trying to be helpful in the darkest, creepiest way that you can, in true Boogeyman fashion. Way to go."

How long must I listen to this? How long until my legs allow me to slip into the darkness and away from him? I have to betray him. I must. I want the entire world to believe in me, and fear me, and I can't have that with the Guardians breathing down my neck. Why can't I just detach? "Tell you what, if you show up here like right now, I swear I won't hit you for being a jerk and not even warning me about where you were taking me. Really. Promise." He laughs an empty laugh and it echoes throughout the icy cave.

"Pitch! Damn it! I just want outta here!" I reach out of the darkness for him as he hits his fists against the dark ice violently, not even making a single crack when he throws his entire weight against it. I need to let him know I'm here, I need to...

No. Blast it, I can't. I retract my hand and return to my corner of shadows, not allowing HIM to notice I'd ever stepped out of the darkness to begin with. Jack turns his back on the ice and slides down to the ground, hugging his knees like a frightened child. "This is your fault, y'know. Not the darkness, that's on me." It isn't, though. The fearlings were brought by me. His voice is so quiet, I have to move to a closer area of shadows just to hear him. "It's your fault I feel so horrible right now. If you hadn't...I don't know." If I hadn't what? What on Earth is he prattling on about?

"Maybe it really is my fault for feeling like this. I'm so tired of being alone, but I don't want to be with the Guardians. They're great and all, but they don't get it. They don't get me, and...you do."

"...At least, I thought you did. I just want you to show up here and- yeah, is that cool? Are we cool?" He begs into the darkness and although this is the most powerful I've been since the Guardians took me down, I feel entirely powerless. I can't move to help him and I can't move to leave. I'm caught in twilight.

Jack suddenly lets out a frightened sob. "Pitch...?"

"Do you care as much as I do? Am I seriously going crazy?"

"Jack." Pitch calls out, his voice broken.