Closing In.

It worked! Lol ten reviews later, here is the next chapter! Another ten and another chapter (maniacal laugh).

He didn't know there was a name for it, he didn't even know he had anything. He wasn't sure how a reaction or a feeling could be designated into a name.

Claustrophobia.

How could one word combine the itchy, restless feeling at the mere thought of shoes. How Jack panicked when he awoke in a closed room, North having closed the door to shut out the light as not to disturb the slumbering child. Shutting out a light meant shutting him in. The cold sweat, the build up of tension, then fear, then fuzziness as his mind and eyesight began to blacken or dots would appear as oxygen couldn't, wouldn't reach his brain because he couldn't breath.

No-one noticed, not even Jack himself at the beginning.

When he joined the Guardians, in his first few months of being a Guardian, he had been indoors more than his three hundred years alone combined. When he visited the Warren, Bunnymund would lead him through the tunnels. It was fine when he was sliding at break-neck speeds but when walking along civilly with his friend through the entrance, he would feel a clench in his gut as his gaze took in his surroundings of hard rock.

Tooth's palace, he never felt uncomfortable. The place was always open, plenty of space for Jack to leap around and fresh air. Besides being warmer than his liking, he never felt anxious there.

Sandman took him on his clouds as he covered city to city, country to country and Jack would sit cross-legged and excited as he watched the children's dreams and he would make conversation with Sandy who would reply in nods and frowns and various expressive facial expressions.

North's Pole.

He made it open to Jack and made Jack know that he would be honoured if Jack would consider it his home which Jack knew he wanted it to be, it made sense, it was almost an assumption but he could never truly relax there for some reason. Yes, there was the excitement of all the snow, mountains, yetis, elves and wonderous toys and inventions but every now and then Jack would feel a slight unease, unlike when he walked the tunnel entrances with Bunny. He couldn't explain it, couldn't even pinpoint what was wrong.

One example was after the battle with Pitch, after everything had been restored, Jack was eyeing the globe and looking at the lights and attempting to count them. He wasn't getting very far but he wanted to have some idea of how many kids believed in them but he always got distracted or interrupted before he even got to a hundred. He sighed, it wasn't going to happen. He swung himself off the table and glanced at something familiar, he bent low and scooped up the red cloth and held it up, recognising it as the sack that had been his transport when he was kidnapped by the yetis and Bunnymund. As his hand held the cloth and he felt the rough texture he felt his stomach drop.

Squashed, felt like he was being crushed, bricks piled on his chest as his knees touched his ribs, curled in on himself as he was jostled in the bag.

"Let me out! Heyyy!" He cried, trying to lash out his arms but nothing, no space, no air, no-

Then the sack had been opened and he was looking at an elf, then feet, then the Guardians, but SPACE. Thank the Man in the Moon, room for movement and breathing. The panic had immediately disappeared.

Jack dropped the sack in his hand, not thinking so much about the memory but the momentary panic he had felt touching the sack again. His hand clutched his hoodie and he forced himself to slow down and breathe again.

"Jack?" called North from behind him and he spun around, "are you alright?"

"F-fine." Said Jack and found that now he was.

Another time, he had been rough-housing in the workshop and two yeti's had grabbed him, holding him tight inbetween their bodies. He had been laughing and gently trying to get out of their grasp till he felt his front and back covered by furry, unmovable muscle. Then his laugh and friendly jabs of "come on guys" turned to yelling and thrashing, "Off! OFF!" he screamed and the yetis dropped him in surprise. He had stayed on his knees for a few seconds, trying to breath, thumbing his chest and then finally, air. Deep into his lungs.

"Sorry." He said to the yetis and found he was fine.

It all came ahead one day, in the way trouble usually did for the Winter Spirit.

A prank.

Looking back now, he couldn't even remember what the prank was suppose to have been but it had something to do with Bunny (as usual) and he had needed a large amount of paint. He had asked Phil who had motioned down the hallway towards the storage cupboard. It was large and three Jack's could easily have fit. Jack walked in, resting his staff against the wall and eyed the dozens of paint colours at the back. Jack hadn't been in the cupboard before or seen the yetis coming for supplies so he didn't know that to keep the door open, it had to be latched to a hook on the wall.

The door closed quietly and Jack turned as the light of the hallway illuminated the inside of the paint closet began to grow thinner, his hand reached out but it closed with a soft click. Jack felt the door for the knob, his stomach clenching and then turning upside down as he felt frantically, realizing there was no knob. It only opened from the outside.

Panic overwhelmed him and he began pounding the door in rapid succession till his knuckles scraped and bled.

"OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DAM DOOR! PHIL! SOMEONE! NOOOWWW!"

Phil heard the commotion and lumbered down the hallway as quickly as possible. Jack meanwhile was losing control, he gripped his staff and ice and frost shot everywhere as he doubled over, trying to get air through to his starved lungs.

He. Couldn't. Breathe.

To his horror, the ice surrounded him, closing him in even more. Jack started shrieking now. "No! Nooooo!" he cried, clawing at the ice. "NOo!"

He tried to think but he couldn't, all he could do was scream and claw and punch and forget everything till finally the fuzziness and the darkness combined and without knowing it, he passed out.

Phil gave a yell and barked orders to other yetis as he opened the door and was met with another door of ice. Through the ice he could see a contorted and blurred view of Jack Frost behind it. A slumped, very still, Jack Frost.

It didn't take long for one of the yetis to interrupt the Guardians in the study and by the time North arrived, feet stomping loudly as he rushed down the passage, for part of the ice wall to have already been cracked and removed. North pulled Jack out himself and lay him on the floor and bent over him, knees by Jack's side.

"Jack? Jack!" he called, lightly tapping him.

Jack's eyes fluttered open but they were glazed and unfocused. He gave a moan and Tooth knelt to hold his hand and her eyes widened in surprise. "He's shaking.."

North and Bunnymund looked down and Sandy peeked over their heads. Jack was definitely trembling. "He cant be … cold can he?" asked Tooth, unsure.

"Shock." Stated Bunnyund, his ears twitched and he tapped his foot loudly as he thought and tried to concentrate. "When people go into shock, you gotta get 'em warm. Wrap 'em in a blanket or something. Frostbite's Winter so-"

North interrupted, following Bunnymund's train of thought. "Yetis! Gather snow! Lots of snow! Get tin bath tub in the freezer! Go!"

The yetis nodded and hurried off. North scooped up Jack or tried to but he was shaking his head slightly, eyes wide and unseeing. "Nnnnn…"

"Hold on North, give him space. Sandy?" sad Bunnymund and turned to the Sandman. Sandman nodded and twirled his hands, producing a stretcher of sorts out of his dream sand. North placed Jack on the floating stretcher and they made their way towards the kitchen that held a freezer like a large restaurant would, a huge walk-in freezing cold room.

When they got there, Yetis were already putting buckets of snow into the old fashioned tin bath and North thanked them for being so speedy. He took off Jack's hoodie with the help of Bunnymund and pried the staff out of his clawed hand. Then they eased him into the ice water and began to pack snow on top of him.

"Get him some sugar Tooth." Directed Bunny, in a gentle manner and Toothiana nodded, buzzing into the kitchen and found some cooldrink and hoped it would be alright. She came back and watched as BUnnymund, despite the freezing temperature and the cold painful ache he must be enduring, was firmly massaging the tense muscles of Jack's shoulders and back. North, Sandy and Tooth watched quietly as Bunnymund worked on his neck, shoulders and pushed him gently forward and worked on his back. Slowly it seemed to have effect. The boy had been tense, almost rigid and now he was slowly releasing himself and becoming more flexible with Bunny's movements. His eyes gradually lost their unfocused look and as awareness came back, Tooth brought forward and pressed the cooldrink to his lips. Jack shrugged and tried to turn his head away but North said firmly, "Drink it Jack."

He parted his lips slightly and Tooth tilted the drink back and sip by sip, Jack finished about half of it before North motioned that Toothiana could stop. After that, they waited till the sugar and cold water took affect, Sandy filling the silence with his sand creations and Jack gave a little smile.

Jack was lifted out of the bath and to his utter embarrassment, when he was carried to the guestroom, North helped him put on dry pants. He was placed on the large double bed and then Bunnymund and North were all over him, checking temperature, flashlight shone in his eyes, pulse and when they were satisfied, they released him and he fell back onto the huge pillow with a small sigh.

"You tired Sweet Tooth?" asked Toothiana, "Do you want to sleep?"

Jack shook his head, "No." he croaked, "I cant. When I close my eyes, its dark and I cant do the dark, I don't think I can ever sleep but, but I'm tired."

Tooth nodded and stroked his hair. "Sandy can give you something? You'll be out before you know it."

Jack shrugged then said, "no, its okay. Thankyou."

The small group talked and when Jack explained the panic and being unable to breath, things fell into place and Bunnymund and North looked at eachother. "Claustrophobia." They agreed and explained the condition to Jack.

"How do I stop it?" he asked. They didn't have an answer for that. "We can teach you how to try and stay calm, to keep breathing." Offered Toothiana and Jack nodded, conceding it was his only option.

"Did I have it when I was alive? When I was human?"

"I don't think so mate. You're a free spirit mate. How many centuries you been running around? You're like a wild animal when its caught and put in a cage. After being free so long, bars don't contain you, they kill you." Said Bunny.

Jack nodded, eyes downcast. "Sorry I freaked out." He croaked.

The Guardians quickly assured him it hadn't been that bad but all remembered the limp form, the out of focus eyes, how Jack was awake but hadn't been there. Tooth nuzzled his cheek, "you'll be fine Jack and we'll always do our best so a situation like that doesn't happen again."

They could see Jack was exhausted but fighting sleep, his eyes drooping and his head jerking back as he nearly nodded off. Bunnymund nodded to Sandy and with a flick of his fingers, Jack fell into Tooth's arms, sound asleep and she eased him down into a comfortable position on the bed. The Guardians left the room, knowing Jack would be fast asleep till late morning. It had been a unsettling experience but perhaps was needed. Jack had been forced to accept their help when he was most vulnerable and in the future, perhaps now that the seed of trust had been planted, Jack could grow to rely on them more and not always feel like he had to do things himself, despite it being that way for three hundred years.

As they made their way down the corridor, Bunny could be heard asking, "Why did the kid want paint for anyway?"

End.

Hope you enjoyed!

Thankyou to those who reviewed:

Hoot Owl: Thankyou! I try :3

Em: Family bonding just does it for me with some angst thrown in.

Tenshira: Thankyou for your long review and interacting! Cheers to my great German reviewer.

RizReviewer: Hmm I like your idea and it shall be done!

Cayran: Thankyou!

LittlePlagueSpirit: Thanks, it was the Cupid that just flew into my head and he seems like a nice but tough guy :3

Sam-Jo2013: Thankyou and hope to have many more chapters!

JayaEmera: I know, isn't it weird when you read a thought-provoking or fanfic full of feels and it has you down afterwards? I hope you feel good after some chapters too cause the Guardian of Fun is finally starting to feel loved!

Night-Fury1: My valued reviewer! Yes it shall be done but its probably going to be a little dark…

Till the next chapter, please review!

Wildkitkat

:3