Trigger Warning: Panic attack at start of chapter

17.

Jim flung himself forward. His head was no longer pounding but he couldn't see anything. He hit the ground hard. His teeth clicked together painfully and he tasted blood.

There was no time to worry about that. He had to get away from Gunmar. Jim attempted to get up but his feet were tied. He thrashed desperately only managing to make it worse. His breath was coming in short rapid gasps and he was distantly aware that he was close to passing out.

He made another lunge forward attempting to escape his bonds and his head struck a hard pointed surface. Jim curled into a ball as pain roared through his skull. After it abated a little he looked around to see what he had hit his head on and stilled. That was his dresser. His bed was to his left. He slowly looked down and realized he was tangled in his sheets. He was back in his room! The day had restarted!

Jim stared for a moment longer and then started laughing. It was okay. He was safe from Gunmar. He laughed until his sides hurt. His breath hitched. Draal's eyes had been so empty. He could hardly recognize him. It was like he was dead. It was hard to breathe. He had felt so small before Gunmar. Helpless. Worthless. He had been ready to give up. His chest was being crushed. He couldn't breathe but his heart was racing. He clutched at his body and his fingers encountered metal. When had he donned his armor? He tried to remove the amulet but it wouldn't budge. His blood roared in his ears. It was too hot. He couldn't breathe. His vision was greying at the edges like it did when Bular nearly choked him. He wondered if he was dying. After everything he'd been through his body was finally just giving out on him. He let out a strangled whimper. He wasn't ready to die.

Distantly he heard someone talking to him. A familiar voice. Toby.

"…imbo. Please breathe. I'm here now. You're going to be okay," He was saying.

Jim grabbed at the hand on his shoulder and his eyes met Toby's. In the dim red light he saw that his friend's eyes were wide and teary.

"Hi," Toby said shakily. "Um…. Ah, Right! Try breathing with me Jim."

Toby started taking slow breaths. Jim stared at him not comprehending. Toby repeated himself and this time it registered for Jim. He followed along shakily. His throat hurt.

Toby was rubbing the back of Jim's neck with the hand he wasn't holding. After a few minutes of slow breathing, Toby started to talk. He wasn't talking about anything in particular just rambling. It was nice. It reminded Jim of when they would hang out in the park during the summer. It was too hot to move or run around so they would just talk. Vaguely Jim noted that he was no longer tangled up in his blankets.

His heart rate gradually slowed down and his head cleared somewhat, but not entirely. It was still throbbing a bit. Unwilling to let go of Toby's hand he reached up and prodded at his head with his left. There was a bump. He removed his hand from his head and looked at it.

"Is that blood?" Toby sounded alarmed.

"I think I hit my head on the dresser," Jim mumbled. His voice was hoarse.

"That's not good. Let me look."

Toby tried to tug his hand loose from Jim's, but Jim tightened his grip. Toby stopped, drew in a shaky breath, and used his free hand instead to tilt Jim's head forward. He started gently prodding through his hair. Jim hissed when he touched the injury.

"Yeah, that looks bad. I don't think you need stiches, but we definitely need to get it cleaned up and bandaged."

He paused, searching Jim's face.

"Is it okay for me to call Claire over?"

Jim thought for a second then nodded.

"Okay."

Toby tapped something out on his phone then hit send. After a moment the phone pinged and he glanced down at it.

"She'll be here soon." His gaze shifted back to Jim. "Can I hug you?"

Jim nodded and released the hand he was holding. Toby wrapped both arms firmly around him and pulled him close. Jim took a shuddering breath and pressed his face into his friend's shoulder. The Eclipse Armor disappeared in a flash of red. They stayed like that until there was a knock at the bedroom door.

"Can I come in?" Claire called.

"Yep," Toby responded when Jim nodded.

The door creaked open and Claire's feet thumped softly against the floor. A moment later Jim felt her kneel down at his side. She hesitated and then joined in the hug.

Jim wasn't sure how long they sat there, just holding each other and sharing the same air. Around them the room slowly brightened as the sun crept over the horizon.

Easy Peasy…

There was a slight change in air pressure and the alarm abruptly cut off.

Jim pulled back and gave Claire a shocked look.

"Did you just banish my alarm clock to the Shadow Realm?"

Claire looked rather sheepish and attempted to hide the staff.

"Sorry I wasn't thinking. I swear I just did it on instinct. I can try to get it back…"

"Don't worry about it," Jim said.

The situation was so absurd that he started laughing. Claire and Toby joined in and for a moment everything felt right. Unfortunately his head injury had to go and ruin that. Jim hissed as it sent a jolt of pain throughout his skull.

"Aaaand I forgot about that," Toby said. "Are you okay to come down to the kitchen so we can get you cleaned up?"

Jim nodded and immediately regretted it.

"I brought a first aid kit," Claire said holding it up. "You have no idea how hard it was to sneak downstairs to get that without waking my parents."

Claire looked so pleased with herself that Jim decided not to mention the very well stocked medical kit that was already in the house. His mom always got lots of freebies whenever she went to conferences.

Jim stood up slowly grimacing when he realized his leg had fallen asleep. He leaned heavily on Toby as he massaged out the pins and needles.

Once they got down stairs Claire had Jim lean over the sink so she could wash the blood out of his hair and clean the wound. After she finished Jim sat down at the table while they debated how best to treat it.

"How about you just bandage it up for now?" Jim suggested.

"I don't know Jimbo, it looks pretty bad. We should probably drop by the hospital just to be sure. You didn't get this one doing troll stuff so it should be okay."

The idea of dealing with the hospital right now, even if he did get to see his mom, sounded really unappealing.

"Head injuries bleed a lot, so it's probably not as bad as it looks. Anyway it will be gone in a few more hours."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked a wrinkle forming between her brows.

Jim sighed.

"We're in a time loop right now. It restarts a little before noon. Unfortunately I'm the only one who remembers it."

He was expecting Toby to get all excited about it like he usually did. For a moment he looked like he was going to, but then he frowned.

"Does that have something to do with… you know… this morning?" He asked hesitantly as he placed a piece of gauze over Jim's injury.

Jim grimaced; he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Yeah. The last loop didn't end well."

"Are we in one of those scenarios were everyone dies and you have to keep going back until you fix it?"

Jim blinked. "What? No! I just… I kinda did something stupid last loop."

He looked away but not before he saw Toby and Claire exchange a glance. He felt Claire's hands on his head as she gently secured the bandage in place. He sighed.

"I went to Trollmarket…"

Claire and Toby both inhaled sharply.

"I thought with the timeloop in play I might as well see if I could check things out down there. Just a quick look…"

"You went alone didn't you?" Jim winced at the hurt in Toby's voice.

"Yeah… If it worked out I figured I could bring you guys next time. I just didn't want to see anything happen to you guys."

Jim's hands clenched on the table.

"I messed up. I got caught and Gunmar made Draal fight me. He… He was just about to use the Decimaar Blade on me before the loop reset."

Jim's breathing hitched. Toby sighed and put his arms around him.

"Oh Jimbo, what are we going to do with you?"

"I'm sorry," Jim whispered.

"I know you are," Toby said squeezing his shoulder. "Listen… I… I'm not going to ask for a promise, but please… Please! …Make sure you at least talk to us before doing something like this again. I… we can't lose you Jim."

Beside him Claire nodded. Were those tears in her eyes?

"I'm sorry," Jim said again, voice cracking.

The three hugged. Jim's shoulders started to shake and he felt his friends tighten their grip on him. They were shaking too.

Eventually Toby pulled away and gave him a determined smile.

"Okay! No more Trollhunter business today. We are making popcorn and we're going to waste the rest of this loop watching dumb movies and filling our bodies with junk."

"I could make a nice breakfa…"

"No," Toby cut him off. "You are banished from the kitchen. Shoo."

Toby waved a hand at him. Jim rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He started to head toward the living room but after a quick assessment of his clothes he decided that it was better for him to go wash up first. He was really sweaty.

A half hour later Blinky and Aaarrrgghh showed up. They didn't ask any questions. Jim assumed Toby must have filled them in. Toby and Claire emerged out of the kitchen with a plethora of junk food and they all leaned up against Aaarrrgghh as Toby put in Gunrobot: the Original.

The movie was actually cheesier than Jim remembered. The special effects were terrible, the plot questionable at best and the acting super hammy but the familiarity was nice. Jim laughed at Toby and Claire arguing the merits of the series and tried to answer Blinky's questions as best he could.

Jim yawned as the movie finished and Toby jumped up to put in a new one. This is nice, He thought snuggling into Aaarrrgghh's mane. Claire adjusted herself against his shoulder and Toby came back and leaned against him. Blinky shifted and carefully patted his hair. Jim smiled as his eyes slipped closed…

18.

Easy peasy, Lemon squeezy…

Jim yawned as he turned off his alarm. He stretched slowly and then reached for his cellphone. It rang a few times before he got an answer.

"Good morning, Sweetie. What's up?"

"Hi Mom. Have you had breakfast?"

"Not yet. I was going to grab a donut from the breakroom. Why?"

Jim grimaced at that.

"I was wondering if I could stop by the hospital so we could eat together."

His mom took a moment to respond but when she did he could hear the smile in her voice.

"I would love that! I have my break at nine. Would that work?"

"Definitely. And no donuts, okay? I'll bring breakfast."

She laughed at that.

"Sure thing kiddo. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

Author Notes:

There we go! Jim finally gets a little rest. The poor kid needs it.

Next time... back to hunting Porgon.