.:|Jack's pov|:. (Sorry if it sucks)

I was crouching in the back of the training room closet with my transmitter, about to give my 'report'.

It crackled and North's voice came through the speaker. "Okay, Jack, what did you find out?"

I sighed. "Not much. He still doesn't trust me. I've been shut up in my room all day, with nothing to do. I do know he has a plan-"

"Jack? Where are you?" Pitch called out.

"He's coming! Shh!" Then the door was flung open with a BANG.

"Jack! What are you doing? What is that?" He demanded angrily.

"Covers been blown-" I whispered into the transmitter before Pitch snatched it out of my hands and started yelling into it.

"So you sent Jack to spy on me, eh? Well, it's a good thing I didn't actually tell him anything! Well, now your newest Guardian is going to pay!" He roared, making me jump a little. He clutched the transmitter tightly. He grabbed me by the arm and I yelled, shooting things with frost to make it seem convincing. I made sure to try not to hit anything important. Pitch threw me in a cage and slammed the door shut, locking it. I gulped, hoping he would actually unlock it when this was over. I shook the bars, making noise, banging on the cage with my staff, and Pitch ripped my staff out of my hands. "Say goodbye to Jack Frost, Guardians. You'll never see him again!" He laughed and crushed the transmitter with his bare hands, and there was a loud CRUNCH of plastic.

Midnight came in silently and picked up every one of the pieces of transmitter. She gathered them into a bag and handed them to the shadows. A few minutes later, she let out a breath. "Okay, all of the pieces are currently sitting in Burgess plaza. We can talk." She spotted me sitting in the cage and came over. "Okay, Dad, I need the key. And give him back his staff."

"No. He will sit in this cage for four hours as punishment for sending even one report, although packed with false information or none at all."

"One hour." Midnight folded her arms and leaned her weight on one leg, her hip sticking out. My stomach fluttered a little but I crushed it immediately.

"Three hours."

"Two. No more, no less. To the minute."

"Deal." Pitch melted into the shadows to sulk about losing an argument to his daughter.

Midnight climbed up the cages, jumping and scrambling for handholds until she was crouching on top of the one next to me. "I can't let you out sooner, that was as little time as he would accept. Sorry about that."

"Nothing to be sorry about." We sat in silence for a while. "So what do we do now?" I asked.

"We could work on your powers. Controlling darkness and sand." She held her hand out, palm side up, and black sand started hovering above it, swirling. Then shadows joined it and they wove in and out of each other, swirling and dancing intricately.

"How do you do that?" I was amazed. Midnight is amazing. She's so nice and pretty and smart- Whoa whoa whoa wait, what am I thinking? We're just friends, and that's all we'll ever be.

"Well, I just tell them, like moving your arm. The shadows are extensions of myself, and like flexing your arm, they just respond to that command. Sand is a little harder, I have to actually think about it moving like this, but by now it's second nature to me. Like your frost, and how you don't even have to think of it. Try the same thing with shadows."

I just thought of it like frost, like I want to tap Midnight's shoulder from behind and shadows formed behind her, tapping her shoulder. She whirled around, and seeing just shadows, she laughed. She has a really pretty laugh.

"You're much more powerful than I expected. Maybe we're bonded more than I thought. But that's really cool! Maybe I can freeze things!" She frowned in concentration and gripped a bar of the cage she was on tightly. Nothing happened.

"Try getting angry," I suggested.

"What?"

"If you tap into your emotions, it becomes more powerful. It's easier for it to flow."

"Hm. I mostly keep my emotions separate, but okay." She took a deep breath and thought of something. I have no idea what it was, but the bar melted at her touch. "Did I just- did I just melt the cage?"

"I think so. Maybe getting angry isn't it. Try sad." Note to self: don't get Midnight angry. Will be melted.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. Her shadow cape fell away from her neck and a tear dripped from her closed eyes. I resisted the urge to wipe it away. Then, suddenly, the tear froze and dropped through the bars, to rest on the floor of the cage. Frost slowly but surely crept along the top of the cage, radiating from her hands.

"Midnight, you did it!"

"I did?" She opened her eyes. "I did! That's so cool! How did I do that?"

I spotted a dark mark on her neck, but with a closer look, it wasn't just a shadow.

It was a bruise.

What could it be from? "Hey Midnight?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you come here for a second?"

"Why?"

"Just come here. I thought I saw something. I could just be a shadow, but I want to be sure."

"O-kaaay." She dragged out the word and climbed down into the cage next to me so we were separated by half a foot of space and two sets of bars.

I looked at her neck more. It was a deep purple mark wrapping around her neck. "What's that on your neck?" I squinted and stretched out a hand to touch it.

"No! Don't touch it!" She yanked back and a scarf of shadows wrapped around her neck hiding it from view almost entirely. It was still just barely there. It almost looked like...

"Why do you have bruises in the shape of hands on your neck?"

"What are you talking about I don't have any bruises," she said much too quickly.

"Yes, you do. Let me see."

"I fell."

"You fell," I deadpanned. "You fell on your neck."

"I'm a really big klutz."

"Then why are they handprints?"

"Who cares, Jack? Nobody cares about me."

"Well I do!" I said fiercely. "Just tell me why they are there. I promise I won't do anything about it. Just tell me. Please."

She whispered something.

"What?"

"My dad," she whispered again, her voice barely audible. She hung her head and sniffled. This time I did wipe away her tears, my fingertips grazing her cheeks as the tears frosted and faded. "Every once in a while he gets possessed by a really bad Fearling and he gets mad at me. I'm used to it, just not talking about it. I get over it though. Usually no one's around to see any marks, so I'm not used to having to hide it."

"Well, if he does it again, just come get me. If he tries to chase you, find me. I'll help you, I'll protect you," I said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She sniffled again and smiled. "Thanks Jack." She placed a hand over mine and I felt my heartbeat speed up. But why? I don't like Midnight- not like that. I think. We stayed like that for a minute until I pulled my hand away slowly. I held out my hand, palm up, and closed my eyes while leaning against the bars of the cage. I thought of Midnight and my feelings for her, whether just as a friend or not, and I felt a slight tingling in my palm. I let a conflicted tear slip out and more tingling. I opened my eyes to see Nightmare sand and ice crystals in a swirling vortex above my palm, and thought about shadows joining in. Soon, I had a very interesting thing going on. Midnight was staring at my palm and prodded it with her finger. The mixture spread up her hand like a virus in seconds and I dispersed everything. The coating on her arm went away. "Sorry."

"It's fine." We sat in silence for a while.

Midnight sighed and pulled her headphones over her ears, I guessed trying to block out the world. I stared straight ahead, contemplating my thoughts. She looked over at me. "Wanna listen to music?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Just as a warning, I listen to alternative and metal music, not those revolting pop tunes on the radio 24/7."

"Like what? Artist-wise."

"Imagine Dragons, My Chemical Romance, Sleeping with Sirens, All Tine Low, Black Veil Brides, Of Monsters and Men." She shrugged. "They're quirky, and not the most upbeat, but they're good."

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, their music actually has meaning, and some songs are kind of inspirational. Like Famous Last Words by MCR." ((I'll be using MCR as an abbreviation for My Chemical Romance, same for the others, like oMaM.))

"You like that kind of stuff?"

"Uh-huh. It's really easy to relate to a lot of it, for me." She climbed out of the cage and a platform of shadows appeared between them. She sat on them and leaned close. My breath quickened slightly, but I slowed it down. She held her headphones out and we listened to the music that was playing. It was Welcome to the Black Parade by MCR.

When I was a young boy,

My father took me into the city

To see a marching band.

He said, "Son when you grow up,

would you be the saviour of the broken,

the beaten and the damned?"

He said "Will you defeat them,

your demons, and all the non-believers,

the plans that they have made?"

"Because one day I'll leave you,

A phantom to lead you in the summer,

To join The Black Parade."

When I was a young boy,

My father took me into the city

To see a marching band.

He said, "Son when you grow up,

would you be the saviour of the broken,

the beaten and the damned?"

Midnight started singing along with it.

"Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me.

And other times I feel like I should go.

And through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets.

And when you're gone we want you all to know.

"We'll carry on,

We'll carry on

And though you're dead and gone believe me

Your memory will carry on

We'll carry on

And in my heart I can't contain it

The anthem won't explain it."

She sang viciously, seemingly forgetting that I was right next to her. She had venom in her voice, giving away that she really connected to this song.

"A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams

Your misery and hate will kill us all.

So paint it black and take it back

Let's shout it loud and clear

Defiant to the end we hear the call

"To carry on

We'll carry on

And though you're dead and gone believe me

Your memory will carry on

We'll carry on

And though you're broken and defeated

Your weary widow marches

"On and on we carry through the fears

Ooh oh ohhhh

Disappointed faces of your peers

Ooh oh ohhhh

Take a look at me cause I could not care at all."

I lightly mouthed the words.

"Do or die, you'll never make me

Because the world will never take my heart

Go and try, you'll never break me

We want it all, we wanna play this part

I won't explain or say I'm sorry

I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar."

I joined in on the next verse.

"Give a cheer for all the broken

Listen here, because it's who we are

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

Just a boy, who had to sing this song

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

I! don't! care!

"We'll carry on

We'll carry on

And though you're dead and gone believe me

Your memory will carry on

We'll carry on

And though you're broken and defeated

Your weary widow marches on

"Do or die, you'll never make me

Because the world will never take my heart

Go and try, you'll never break me

We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on)

"Do or die, you'll never make me (We'll carry on)

Because the world will never take my heart (We'll carry on)

Go and try, you'll never break me (We'll carry)

We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on)"

I sang backup quietly for her as the song finished.

She blushed and wouldn't meet my eyes. "Sorry about that. I probably broke your ears with my singing."

I blinked. "Of course not! You have a great voice. Why do you keep putting yourself down?"

"I'm not that good. I go online all the time, and I hear all these amazing singers, and I can't even compare. I'm just not at the same level."

"Don't compare yourself to them. And when my two hours are up, I want to hear those singers that are supposedly better than you. I doubt they are." I frowned a little. Why does she have such low self-esteem? She's brilliant.

"No, it's alright. I know I'm not good enough, I don't need to be reminded. Lets just listen to music."

I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it and stopped. I nodded and leaned back to listen. Other songs kept playing, but we didn't sing along, and the two hours went by fast, sitting next to Midnight.

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I'm bored so enjoy the updates for my "on hold" stories bc it the last for a long time aka when I get time/summer vacation

-iamanawesometaco