Hey guys! Wew this one is a long one, but hey now this arc is finished!

It has come to my attention that I am not good at finishing things (not just limited to writing) so I do hope you'll forgive the weird ending.

Anyway, HUGE thank you to all of you who reviewed, faved, followed, and even just took the time to read this series. I love you all :3

Disclaimer: IDOROTG

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The Way the Cold Burns Part II

...
Bunny was in a state of sheer and utter panic. Not only had he fallen asleep while he was supposed to be taking care of Jack, but when he'd finally woken up it was only to find an empty bathtub filled with water – only a few chunks of snow still intact.

And Jack was nowhere in sight.

The kid had been unconscious for days; his condition never getting any better. Why did he have to wake up the one time Bunny fell asleep?! No. There was no point grumbling about it now. He needed to find Jack before the kid made himself any worse.

Bunny made to run out of the room but stopped when his foot stepped in something wet. Looking down, he noticed the trail of water splashed across the floor leading out into the hallway. At least Frost would be easy to track.

Bunny got down on all fours and bolted, but he didn't even make it out the door before he collided with something solid and was pushed back, landing heavily in a heap on the floor.

"Oh, sorry, Bunny!" North reached down and pulled the Pooka back up to his feet. The Cossack's eyes widened when he caught sight of the empty bathtub. "So is true," he whispered.

"What's true?"

"Dingle," North said distractedly. "He woke me up – said Jack jumped out window."

"What?! Then why are we still standing around here?!" Bunny forced his way past the Cossack and followed the watery trail. Why Jack had run off he couldn't possibly fathom, but they needed to find him. Fast.

"Bunny? What's–"

Bunny ignored Tooth, keeping on Frost's trail. He wasn't surprised when she followed after him.

The water was starting to disperse – in some places completely gone, until it finally disappeared altogether. Bunny came to a halt, looking down both ways of the split hallway indecisively. He sniffed the air, but there was no trace of Jack's scent nearby.

"Now what?!" he groaned, pushing his ears back with a paw.

"What's going on? Bunny?" Tooth asked, flustered.

Sandy hurried around the corner on a cloud of dream sand, gesturing behind him frantically, symbols flashing above his head.

"Sandy, what is it?" Tooth tried to decipher the symbols.

A snowflake. An open window. Another snowflake.

"Show me!" Bunny ordered, understanding.

Sandy nodded and hurried away, not bothering to check if his fellow Guardians were following.

The hallway was filled with snow – that was the first thing Bunny noticed. The window was open, allowing more snow and the howling wind to enter. The Pooka had no doubt this was how Jack had gotten out.

Bunny wasted no time, jumping up and sticking his head out the window, looking down at the piles of snow below. He searched frantically, unable to find the winter spirit amongst the torrent of wind and never-ending white.

A howl, almost inhuman jerked his eyes further away from the base of the building. And then he spotted him. Jack was staggering, barely able to keep himself upright. His face was tilted up towards the sky, his arms out wide. And he was screaming.

...

...

Jack forced his eyes open. He'd allowed his exhaustion to take control but now he needed to fix things before they got worse. The freezing snow and the added chill of the wind had helped cool him down, but there was still a long way to go before he would be 'better'.

It was much easier this time to get to his feet, but his limbs still shook with exertion, sweat beading on his brow. He staggered away from the workshop. If he was going to try and make a storm, he didn't want it to be anywhere near North's home – especially since he would have next to no control over it.

And then it hit him. How was he going to make a storm without his staff? He would have slapped himself if he had the energy. Well, he'd shown he was still strong without it against Pitch in that whole staff-stealing incident, so he'd just have to make do.

When he felt he honestly couldn't walk another step he looked back over his shoulder towards the workshop. He was disappointed to find he hadn't really gone all that far. Maybe it would just be a small storm… That was probably wishful thinking.

Jack closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He focused on the wind wrapping around him, trying to communicate to it what he wanted it to do. But it didn't understand – continuing to do what it had been, wrapping around him protectively and trying to cool his raging fever. Furrowing his brow in growing frustration, Jack threw his arms out wide, pulled back his head and screamed.

He cried out all his frustration, channelling his emotions into the snow around him, willing it to whirl up – to create the blizzard he so desperately required. He tried to focus on the heat resonating in his core; to channel it out through his arms. The wind started to rile up, spinning around him, lifting the snow off the ground and forcing the clouds to gather above him. It was working!

Something grabbed him and he faltered. With panicked eyes, Jack turned to see Bunny shouting at him, but the words were lost, swept away by the wind. The Pooka was dragging him, trying to take him back towards the workshop.

"No!" he gasped, his breathing laboured as if he'd just run a marathon.

"Jack, you're gonna make yerself worse!" Bunny fought the wind, trying to get a better grip on the winter spirit.

"…Storm! Have to… make storm… Need to… let it… go."

"You can make all the storms you want once you're better!"

"No…!" Why didn't he understand? Why couldn't he see that the storm would make him better? His core was too hot; he needed to release the heat.

But he was weak, barely able to keep himself upright let alone fight against Bunny. All the energy he'd recovered in the snow-bank and the adrenalin left him, his body sagging in the Pooka's arms. The wind attempted to rescue its beloved winter spirit, but it was all in vain.

"No," he whispered brokenly. The wind and snow fell to nothingness as his world went black.

...

...

Bunny was barely able to catch Jack as he slumped lifelessly in the Pooka's arms. Alarmed, the Guardian of Hope quickly pressed a digit against the kid's neck, relieved to find a pulse beating beneath the surface.

"What the hell was he thinking?!" Bunny fumed, feeling like he had the right to be angry now that he knew Jack was just unconscious.

"Is he okay?" Tooth asked as she and Sandy hurried over to his side.

"Why would he try and make a blizzard in his condition?!" Bunny continued, ignoring her.

Sandy frowned, a few symbols appearing above him, but the two didn't seem to understand. The Sandman huffed in frustration and tried again. A sad face; a storm; a happy face. But from the blank looks he received, he assumed they still had no idea. Sandy slapped his forehead in exasperation. Sometimes he really wished he could just talk.

"Should we get him back inside?" Tooth wrung her hands together, suppressing a shiver as a blast of icy wind buffeted them.

"Is everything okay?!"

The three turned to see North standing in the workshop doorway, waving to get their attention. He was still just within earshot – Jack hadn't been able to travel too far. A part of Bunny wondered what would have happened if the kid had had his staff with him. They might not have found him at all.

"Come on," Bunny muttered, readjusting the winter spirit in his arms as he led the way back to the workshop.

"What happened?" North asked once they had been ushered inside.

"He tried to create a blizzard," Tooth explained. "Although why, I don't know."

"A blizzard?" North 'hmm'd, tapping his chin. "I will have yetis bring up more snow."

Bunny nodded and headed off in the direction of the bathroom.

"Bunny, look!" Tooth shoved the thermometer into the Pooka's face. "His temperature has gone down; it's 28°C!"

"What?" Bunny snatched the small device from her, confirming it for his own eyes. "Surely after that little stunt it would go up, not down?"

"The numbers don't lie," she replied, preparing a new IV needle. "Check again, if you don't believe me."

Bunny complied, slipping the end into the unconscious Jack's mouth. He waited a moment, watching the red liquid as if it had personally offended him. He was not pleased with the result. "30°; he's gone back up."

"What do we do? Nothing we've done has brought the fever down at all!"

Sandy waved his arms around to grab their attention, a sand storm raging above him.

"What do you mean, Sandy?" Tooth frowned. "You think the storm helped?"

"Nah, mate," Bunny placed the thermometer down on the sink. "You saw how weak he was after that."

"Well, maybe it's not the storm itself but the cold?"

"We've already piled him up with snow," Bunny sighed in defeat. "If we take him outside we won't be able to treat him properly. Unlike him, we can't handle being out in the cold like that for too long."

They lapsed into silence, avoiding each other's eyes. They were running out of ideas. And if they didn't figure out a way to lower Jack's temperature, it could do lasting damage.

...

...

It had been a week. A week since Lleu had shown up, weak and desperate, with an unconscious Jack Frost in arm. Jack had woken up only twice in that time – the first time only for a few moments and the second long enough to slip out undetected and give them all a real scare. His temperature had only risen as the hours turned to days, now sitting on 31°C. He was constantly flushed, his skin moist with perspiration. The snow they continuously poured over him seemed to be doing nothing. They'd even tried taking him outside and lying him in a snow bank but even that had proven futile.

Jack's condition was only worsening and none of them had any idea how to stop it.

"Lleu?" Tooth looked up from where she was wiping Jack's forehead with a damp cloth.

The summer spirit stood awkwardly in the doorway, concern evident on his face as he gazed at his opposite.

"I didn't know you were still here," she offered a tired smile but it wasn't returned.

"How is he?" Lleu asked, finally stepping over to her side, but careful to keep his distance from Jack.

"His temperature rose another half degree this morning. Other than that, there's been no change." Silence returned and Tooth resumed her pointless task. "What do you do… what do you normally do when you get too cold?"

"Me?" Lleu looked up at her. "It doesn't happen very often; brining him here was probably the worst it's ever been. I just stuck by the fireplace and kept as warm as possible until I felt better." He turned back to Jack. "But something tells me that there's something more going on here."

"What do you mean?" Tooth raised her head, startled by the sudden insight.

"Well, if it were merely a case of being too hot, then leaving him outside in the snow should have been enough, but it didn't fix anything," Lleu shrugged. "When I found him, he wasn't far into summer – nowhere near far enough to have gotten into the condition he was in. So I can't help but wonder what happened to start all this; I mean, surely nothing in winter could do this. It's almost like he–" Lleu trailed off abruptly, his eyes widening.

"What?" Tooth asked, her own eyes widening at the utter horror on the seasonal spirit's face.

"No… he couldn't have… he wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't what?"

Lleu shook his head, bolting from the room. Tooth called after him, but to no avail. She hovered for a moment, torn between chasing him and staying with Jack. She flew over to the doorway and stuck her head out, scanning the hall.

"Phil!"

The yeti turned, confusion crossing his features at her panic.

"I need you to watch Jack for me!"

"?"

"Please? I'll be back, I promise!"

Phil was still utterly confused but agreed, and Tooth hurried off without looking back.

She found him in the Globe Room.

He was staring at the fire with such an air of concentration that she wondered if he'd even noticed her come in.

"Lleu?"

The spirit of summer didn't respond, either not having heard or choosing to ignore her. Without warning, he thrust his hands out towards the fire, his eyes shut and his face a mask of utter determination.

For a moment nothing happened.

The fire started to flicker like a dying candle, and Tooth held out her own hand as if to stop him, shocked as realisation hit her.

Lleu reeled back as if he'd been stabbed, clutching at his chest in agony. The fire flickered back to life.

"Lleu! What are you doing?! Are you okay?!"

Lleu fell to his knees, curling in on himself, his breathing heavy. Tooth crouched beside him, hesitating; unsure what to do. After a few minutes his breathing evened out and he looked up at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"I… I need to let it out…" he panted. On all fours, he crawled over to the fire. Ignoring Tooth's protest, he thrust his hand right into the centre of the flame.

Tooth jumped back as the fire roared, the flames extending to twice their height before dying back down as Lleu pulled back his hand.

"What was that?" she gasped.

"I think I know what's wrong with Jack."

...

...

"What's going on?" North asked, forcing his way into the crowded bathroom.

"I know what's wrong with Jack," Lleu announced from the far side of the room; he was well aware his presence would do nothing to help the overheating winter spirit.

"Yeah, he's got bad heat stroke," Bunny frowned, crossing his arms.

"No," Lleu shook his head. "It's more than that. This is something that can't be cured by any amount of coldness or any care from outside forces. Jack has to heal himself. So we need to wake him up."

"How?" Tooth bit her lip. "He hasn't woken up for days."

"I can't get close without hurting him, so I need to you do whatever you can. Try shaking him or something."

No one moved, none wanting to do anything that would even remotely harm their youngest member.

Lleu growled, rolling his eyes. "The longer you leave this, the worse it gets!"

That got them moving. However hesitantly, Bunny was the one to step forward. He placed his paws on the winter spirit's shoulders and shook gently.

"Jack? Come on, Frostbite; you need to wake up."

Jack's head lolled to the side from the slight force but that was all. Bunny frowned and shook harder with the same results. He looked back at his fellow Guardians helplessly.

"Let me try," North stepped forward, Sandy hastily moving out of his way. "Jack," he called, tapping the side of the boy's face with the back of his hand. "Wake up!"

Lleu ran a hand down his face and groaned. "We do not have time for this." He stalked forwards pushing the Guardians out of his way. He seized Jack roughly by his shirt, hauling him a little ways out of the snow-filled bathtub. "Listen up, Frost! That day I told you we weren't friends? I was lying! Because I didn't want something like this to happen! Your friends are worried about you so you're going to get up off your backside and out into the snow and heal yourself, you got that?! We can't help you. If you're too stupid as to try and melt your own snow, then that's your decision. But don't you dare make the people that care about you worry because of your mistake!"

"Wait, what?" Bunny asked, sharing horrified looks with the others in the room.

Lleu gave Jack a good shake when the Guardian of Fun didn't so much as twitch. "Wake up, Jack!" Lleu took a deep breath, his expression going completely blank. "Fine," he let Jack fall back into the tub of snow. "Then you leave me no choice." Lleu rolled up Jack's sleeve and wrapped his hand firmly around the winter spirit's exposed forearm.

The reaction was instantaneous. Jack's brows scrunched together in agony, weakly trying to tug his arm away from the source of his pain. Lleu could hear the Guardians yelling at him to stop. Someone grabbed his shoulder, trying to pull him away, but he simply increased his body temperature and they were forced to let go.

Jack started to cry out from the extended exposure, the skin under Lleu's hand turning bright red.

"Wake up, Frost!" Lleu shouted down at him. "Wake up and I'll let go!"

Jack's eyes snapped open, his body springing upright with enough force to knock Lleu back. Dazed, he stared at his opposite and then winced, looking down at his burnt arm. "What did you…?" he croaked.

Lleu stepped back, trying to lessen the impact his natural heat would have on the ill winter spirit. "You need to get your staff, go outside and let it out before you kill yourself," he ordered.

Jack's attention shot up to Lleu.

"I don't know why you decided to try and melt ice; you should know the consequences of that. You got yourself into this mess, and you're the only one who can get yourself out. So get going before I have to drag you."

Tooth was the first to recover, closing her gaping mouth and flying over to Jack, helping him to get up.

"I'll go get staff," North announced before slipping out of the room.

It took five minutes of unproductive hobbling before Bunny got frustrated and hauled an indignant Jack over his shoulder and marched the rest of the way out of the workshop.

"You're an idiot," Bunny grumbled.

"…Would be better now… if you hadn't stopped me… earlier," Jack sighed.

"You wouldn't even need to get better if you hadn't pulled a stunt like that in the first place! What were you thinking?!"

"…They were going… to die… Couldn't… let them die… my fault."

"What do you mean, Sweet Tooth?" Tooth asked softly as she flew alongside them.

Jack didn't answer, his eyes sliding closed. A jostle from Bunny snapped them back open.

"No falling asleep," Bunny ordered sternly, earning him a half-hearted groan.

North rendezvoused with them at the main entrance, thoroughly thawed staff in hand. From there they all walked out into the darkness together – only Lleu remaining behind – Bunny giving Jack a light shake every few minutes to keep him awake.

Bunny carefully lowered the groggy, feverish winter spirit from his shoulder and onto the ground, leaving one paw securely on the kid's elbow to keep him upright. When they deemed him capable of concentrating for more than a minute, North handed him the staff.

"Do you know what to do?" North asked concernedly.

Jack sent a meaningful glare at Bunny. "Yes."

Bunny wisely did not comment, instead releasing Jack who leant heavily on his staff.

"You… might want to… move back," Jack warned.

The Guardians hesitated only a moment before doing as instructed – but staying close enough that they could come to his aid if the youngest Guardian required their assistance.

Jack spared them only a glance. Much like the first time, he closed his eyes, but this time he had his staff – it would be nowhere near as difficult to channel his powers. But days spent under the throes of a fever had sapped him of the little strength he had left; he could barely lift his staff let alone conjure a storm. But, he supposed, it wasn't really creating a blizzard… more like releasing one. He just hoped it wasn't so big that it damaged North's workshop. Or his fellow Guardians.

Summoning every ounce of strength he could, and ignoring the protests of his aching body, Jack lifted his conduit above his head, pointing it directly towards the sky. He focussed in on his overheated core, willing the heat to flee through his outstretched arms and into the frozen landscape around him.

He knew it was working when the burning intensified. What had originally been a flame in his chest was now an inferno raging through his body. He cried out weakly at the pain of it, his knees shaking from the exertion of keeping themselves upright. But he would not fall. He would not lose.

Slowly, agonisingly slowly, the heat directed itself through his shoulders, up his arms, and into his staff. The wood grew painfully warm in his grasp but he refused to let go. The wind intensified around him, whirling faster and faster until, even if his eyes had been open, he would have seen nothing through the swirling snow. Through the heat he could feel the ground beneath him getting colder.

And then, all at once, it was over. The heat was gone. Utterly spent, Jack fell to his knees, his arms falling limp at his sides. The snow continued its torrent around him, much larger than the one he had suppressed over a week ago. Even if he'd had the energy to lift his arm, he wouldn't have been able to see his hand in front of his face. The wind whipped past his ears, a low whistling blocking out all else.

Jack allowed himself to fall back, expecting to land in a soft dune of snow. The ground, however, was solid. He tilted his head and was surprised to find the once snow-covered landscape was solid ice. A small part of him wondered how far it stretched.

He could hear someone calling out to him, but their voice was being blown away by the wind.

"Wind," he managed, tightening his slipping grip on his staff. "Send it… further…" consciousness fled him before he could finish, but the wind understood what its beloved winter spirit wanted. Slowly, the storm moved further out, allowing the Guardians to rush to Jack's side.

"Jack!" Tooth plonked herself gracelessly down beside him, grabbing his face in her hands.

"I think his fever's broken," North said, pressing the back of his hand over Jack's forehead. "Remind me to thank Lleu."

Sandy pointed to a snowflake that had appeared above him, then over to the snow piling up on the edges of the now solid circle of ice a good hundred metres away.

North nodded, easily lifting Jack's lithe figure off the ice and over to the snow dunes. They weren't going to take any chances – they would keep him as cold as possible until they were 100% sure he was okay.

It would take another two days before Jack woke again, this time not delirious and, although weak, much better than he had been the last time. It would take a further three days after that and a great deal of love and care from his strange, mix-mashed family before he would be able to stand on his own, and another week before they would let him go back to dealing with winter – and certainly not before making him swear never to do something as stupid as melting snow again.

But Jack wouldn't make any promises.

A fortnight later it would be like nothing had even happened, with the exception, of course, of the mothering the other Guardians seemed to do that wouldn't start to die down for at least another two months. And although Jack found it annoying at times, on the whole he was indescribably grateful. He was reminded that if Pitch hadn't decided to try and destroy all belief in the Guardians, if he hadn't become a Guardian himself, then he would have been all alone with no one to help him or to care about him. A small part of him wondered if these people he considered family would have ever cared for him at all if that hadn't happened. But he buried that voice, unwilling to let his fears for what might have been rule him. Not when there were people who did care for him, regardless of how it had come to be.

A month after returning to the field, Jack saw them – the small family that he had tried to save what felt like so long ago. They were no longer huddled close together, fear dominating their features. They were walking, holding hands, and their clothes were warmer and cleaner. They were even smiling.

As he continued to watch, he followed them through the town, to where the three eventually met up with the man he had seen that night, a slender woman by his side.

A grin seeped its way onto Jack's face. The man, it appeared, had done more for these people than he could have ever hoped for. Perhaps, then, what had felt like a disaster had actually been a blessing in disguise. And, as he flew off further south, Jack couldn't help but reflect that things like that had been happening a lot lately.

Guest Review Responses:

Guest: Thank you for the clarification ^w^ Glad you liked it!

Meh: Hmm... I guess probably something around 20-25°C - seeing as he is still technically human just a little on the frozen side, but I don't know. I don't really want to get into the technicalities cause I'll just end up confusing myself ^^;

SaiyanPrincess: Haha. Thank you so much! :3