* I just want to say thank you to all who have reviewed so far. Thank you for the feedback and advice I always love constructive criticism.
By the way, I referenced Phineas and Ferb. I don't own Phineas and Ferb.
Problems
Jamie awoke from a dreamless sleep and he noticed how…smothered the room felt. He wasn't cold, he wasn't warm, and the bed wasn't uncomfortable, but something felt off.
For minutes, he tossed and turned, legs curling and uncurling, arms crossing and uncrossing; he finally decided to gaze about his room. He gasped harshly, his back colliding with the bed's headboard as he stared into a set of sharp yellow eyes. Jamie sat like a statue, finally able to get a too close look at the dark form that was the Boogeyman.
Pitch Black stood a foot from the bedside with arms raised at his waist, cat-eyes scanning the child up and down. Jamie thought he would at least be stunned by his awakening. For a long time they exchanged a staring contest, neither of them exhibiting animosity nor contentment. Pitch's mouth was in a thin, almost impatient line before he slowly raised a hand.
"I'm not afraid of you," Jamie found his words, sitting straighter and puffing his chest in determination. Finding it hard to hide the quiver in his voice, he still held true to his word; he wasn't scared. However, waking up in the dead of night to find a legendary evil spirit towering over him was a tad disconcerting.
Jamie clutched his stuffed rabbit under the blanket and shook his head. "You can't-"
"Oh, shut up you little brat," Pitch snapped at the boy, using a hand to scratch his chin. "I'm thinking." Jamie swallowed, but obeyed. The staring continued, only with Pitch giving off more emotion.
The man flexed his jaw, narrowed eyes regarding the child with a mix of inquisition and bewilderment. From the way his shoulders saged at times, the nine-year-old could see just how exhausted Pitch was. Whatever the spirit wanted from him must've taken a decent chunk of energy just to arrive in the room.
Before he could even guess why Pitch was there, Jamie's heart jerked almost uncomfortably. The same exact thing happened just before school that morning when Jack left to bring winter to another state. As Jack flew into the clouds, Jamie's heart reacted anxiously, but emotionally he felt right as rain. He put a hand to his chest, trying to find the best theory.
A silky, chilling cackle shattered his reverie. Jamie immediately looked at Pitch's suddenly amused face. He shook his head and stepped towards the window, never breaking the chuckle.
"He bonded with you, didn't he?" Pitch grinned almost eccentrically.
Jamie's mouth fell slightly. "How-"
"Come now, where's Jack Frost?" Pitch opened his hands, head turning to scan the bedroom. "If he bonded with you he can't be far away."
Jamie fixed his sights on the window and his chest panged again, this time forcing him to take a shallow breath.
"No matter," Pitch conceded, meeting Jamie's gaze. "It's not like I can give you any bad dreams because of this, which truly is a shame. You always had the most vivid nightmares." He took a predatory stride. "I could either stay here gawking until your Guardian interferes, or," he pointed a cruel smirk at the child. "I could keep you in my lair and find a way around the problem without distraction." Jamie's resolve crumpled as darkness seeped around him with every step the Boogeyman took. He brought the rabbit out of hiding and hugged the toy to his stomach.
Pitch came to a halt a few feet from the bed when something tapped his neck. Stepping from the shadows, the Boogeyman's general domain, was Jack Frost holding the hook of his staff against the intruder's throat.
"Go ahead," Jack's mischievous grin slipped into an irate frown. "Touch him. I dare you."
Pitch clicked his tongue, staff jerking as he shook his head. "You're late," he mocked. "Poor little Jamie almost got himself captured due to your tardiness. And he's been longing to see you all day. What was it this time, Jack, protecting and bringing joy to other children? You are a Guardian now, right?" Jack felt his hands loosen. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was being scolded.
"How foolish of you," Pitch continued. "to put all your focus on one child when you have millions of others to look after."
"Huh?" Jamie piped up, pushing himself forward.
"Stay back, Jamie," Jack snapped. "And don't listen to him."
"Didn't he tell you?" Pitch's eyes feigned surprise. "You're his full responsibility. You now take precedence over every child on the planet. In fact, you get to see him every single day now," Pitch's gaze pierced into Jamie's eyes. "All because you bonded with him."
Jamie's brows knitted before he looked to the floor, realization flicking terribly over his face. Not having to see him to sense the boy's upset Jack pressed his staff more forcefully against the spirit.
"What do you want," Jack demanded.
"I have to have a reason?" Pitch rolled his eyes. He stepped back from the two boys and made a move for the shadows.
"Pitch-"
"Oh, don't mind me, Frost," the Boogeyman waved without looking back. "I'm just going to observe the nightmares of innocent children around the world. And Jamie," He turned around to see that the child didn't even give him a side-glance. "…Have fun with the wolves." Pitch melted into a dark corner of the room, his laughter fading with him.
"Wolves?" Jack whispered after a moment before opening his mouth again.
"I'm sorry."
Jack turned around to face the owner of the small voice. Jamie sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes downcast at his fingers that fidgeted with the toy rabbit's ears. "What?" The Guardian asked as he walked over.
"I'm sorry," Jamie repeated, eyes closed in guilt. "It's all my-" He paused. "W-we bonded. And I didn't know... I-I must've missed that part of the dream-"
Jack inhaled when the chord inside him jolted. And before he could question this, Jamie finally met his gaze, and the chord jerked again. "I completely ruined your life." Jamie curled his legs and pressed his face against his knees.
Jack tilted his head before moving to sit across from Jamie on the bed. "What are you talking about," he asked. "You didn't-"
"Yes I did!" Jamie shot to his feet and pointed a finger at the stunned spirit. "If I never asked to bond with you then you wouldn't be forced to stay here in Burgess. You should be able to go wherever you want right now, but no!" Jamie threw his hands to the air. "You're stuck here with me when you could be playing with other kids around the world."
Jamie plopped back on the bed, breathing hard from his outburst. Jack sat there trying to find his words, and also trying to register Jamie's emotions. A full three days had passed since the bond had been sealed and the Guardian was already feeling Jamie's every emotion, as if they were his own. All feelings that rolled off Jamie, Jack felt ten-fold. The spirit shook his head in attempting control over the coming migraine.
"You didn't want to bond with me," Jamie mumbled, avoiding the Guardian to stare at the rumpled blue comforter. "I'm so sorry."
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. What was he supposed to say? Of course I wanted to bond with you! Lie. I can go wherever I want; the bond doesn't affect that. Lie! He sighed before narrowing his eyes. He reached forward and pulled the child into his lap.
"You didn't ruin my life," Jack muttered as he rested his chin on the brunette's head. "You certainly made it more interesting," he chuckled. Jamie relaxed in the embrace which made Jack involuntarily tighten his grip around the kid. "But you didn't ruin it."
The nine-year-old shook his head. "But you-"
"I can go wherever I want still," Jack explained. "I…"
"You just have to see me every day." Jamie finished.
"I admit," Jack swallowed. "I didn't want to bond with you-" Jack cringed as the guilt that emanated from Jamie intensified. "But North did say it was an involuntary instinct. So, it's both our faults…?"
Jamie rolled his eyes. "North said we both had to come to terms with being bonded."
"And we did," Jack said before pushing Jamie back to look at his face. "You just solidified the connection."
The edge of Jamie's mouth twitched as if to say 'That's supposed to make me feel better?'
Jack sighed. "Anyway," he picked up the discarded stuffed rabbit and handed it to the boy. "There's no going back now, because whether you like or not," Jack suddenly pulled Jamie into a headlock and rubbed a fist against his chocolate hair. "You're stuck with me!"
"Jack!" Jamie groaned with a playful smirk before slipping out of the Guardian's grasp. The little boy 'humphed' before lying back on the bed. For a while, the pair just enjoyed each other's company as well as the lighter atmosphere.
"So," Jack broke the silence when he looked over at the desk. "According to that mountain of textbooks and papers you have there-" Jamie scowled at this. "-your day was just as fantastic as mine!"
"I hated today," the younger boy moaned and sat up. "I couldn't sit still at all. As soon as you left this morning I started feeling…"
"Anxious, agitated?" Jack offered as picked up his staff.
Jamie scrunched his nose. "Real jumpy, too. The percussion section in music class didn't exactly help with that." Jack chuckled and again ruffled Jamie's hair. "I've never acted like that before. Is it something to do with being bonded?"
"Yep," Jack confirmed, idly inspecting the old break lining the center of his staff. "Now that we're magically linked we can't be apart for too long. You," he nodded to Jamie. "can be away from me for possibly a few days. I, on the other hand, have to keep you in my sights nearly every day or else my powers go on the fritz.
"Today," Jack leaned forward. "I could feel your emotions all the way from Ohio. I ended up feeding off your anxiety and that fed my powers."
"Sorry about that," Jamie said. "Me and my friends were being chased by some bullies. So," Jamie straightened up, bouncing slightly in excitement. "What happened in Ohio? What'd you do?"
Jack laughed before waving his staff. "Let's just say some people will only be able to see the tops of their cars in the morning." Jack flicked his staff again and snowflakes shimmered and fell from the ceiling.
"Lucky," Jamie said, smiling as puffs of snow flitted smoothly over his face. "They're going to have snow days until the end of the week." He paused. "You said you could sense my emotions the morning after we bonded. Why can't I feel yours yet?"
"You are," Jack said as he began stacking snowflakes on the nail of his pinky. "Right now, you can only go off my emotions when we're apart, but I can feel your's twenty-four/seven unless I'm too far away." Jack leaned over and passed the snowflakes to Jamie, who took it as gently as possible in his palm. "You're younger so it's taking you longer to get used to my emotions," Jack smirked. "Which shouldn't be too long considering you're already using some of my powers."
Jack laughed at the kid's almost comical gaping before pointing to the tiny pile of snow in Jamie's hand. The stack of snowflakes never moved, in fact, they hadn't even melted. They stayed perfectly intact as if Jack Frost was the one holding them.
"Whoa," Jamie breathed wondrously. "But North said-"
"You two are progressing real fast, you've just about skipped thought sharing," Jack waved a pale hand. "This all you'll probably be able to do for a while. Did you know that Sophie is this close to making the flowers in the Warren bloom? Cottontail won't stop bragging about it."
"Sophie's the lucky one," Jamie said, blowing the snowflakes from his hand. "She gets to see Bunny every single day. She even sleeps in the Warren some nights."
"Bunny hardly moves around much, unless it's Easter."
"Easter," Jamie repeated before blinking in Jack's direction. "What happens when spring comes, and summer? Where do you go?"
Jack pursed his lips before leaping up. Walking across the bed, he got to the wall and flipped pages on the calendar. As he ran his pale fingers over each coming week, Jamie could just make out the countries and towns Jack muttered under his breath. The spirit hummed once before pointing to a certain month and day on the calendar.
"That's when I should be done with my rounds in the U.S.," he explained. "I always move onto northern Norway after that. It's a tradition of mine." His heart panged at Jamie's crestfallen features. "The wind can take me from Russia all the way to Burgess in a matter of an hour. The connection won't allow me to stay away for too long. I'll be able to see you every day."
"But that's the problem," Jamie shook his head, flakes of snow releasing from his hair. "You should be able to go wherever you want and not be obligated to see me every single day." He suddenly looked at Jack, wide eyes brimming with a brilliant idea. "What if I travelled with you?"
"In a perfect world, yes," Jack shrugged. "But how would that go with your mother?"
"I could tell her I'm going to stay with my grandparents."
"What happens if she calls your grandparents?" Jamie opened his mouth before closing it again. "And you have school. Don't worry," Jack reassured in the usual laidback tone. "We'll figure something out."
Jack watched as the clock on the nightstand struck three in the morning. Jamie should be getting back to sleep soon. His already lonely frown disappeared as he watched the little boy grab at the snow that danced dizzily in the air. Each flake seemed to gravitate towards Jamie before sneakily slipping out of reach. Eh, Jack thought as he leaned against the pillows. I'm going to be selfish right now.
Jamie chuckled proudly at the snowflake he snagged between his thumb and index finger, still getting used to the fact that it refused to melt. Yet he somehow managed to make his exuberant grin slide downward a little. Jack immediately sat up as he felt the concern emitting from the small boy.
Jamie looked at the Guardian. "Pitch said something about wolves."
"I have no idea what he meant," Jack ran a hand through his wind-swept hair. "But I'll be asking North. You still have that snow globe?" Jamie reached over Jack's lap and they both peered into the nightstand's drawer. "Good," Jack said, observing the clear, glass orb. "I don't think Pitch is up to much right now – he looks pretty weak – but I want you to have that in case you need a getaway."
Jamie nodded. "I keep it on me all the time."
"Good." Jack stood, feet pattering against the bedroom floor. The spirit gripped his staff and held out his arms which Jamie gratefully leapt into. "I'll be back in the morning," he said over the child's shoulder. "I got some errands to run."
"Okay, mom," Jamie teased, causing Jack to laugh and lightly flick the kid's ear.
"You mentioned bullies earlier," Jack said as he walked to the window. "What'd they do to you?"
"They chased us for two blocks and pegged us with snowballs full of ice."
"Ugh," Jack grimaced. "I hate that kind of snowball. Do you have any welts?"
"A few," Jamie said, rubbing a small red mark on the back of his neck. For a split second, Jamie felt a short wave of anger just as resentment flashed in the winter spirit's eyes. However, the feeling quickly faded, as did the snow in the room.
Jack exhaled and nodded. "Give me some names." Hesitantly, Jamie rattled off the names of the bullies. "Oh, I remember those kids! Thank you." Jack opened the window.
"Jack," Jamie almost accused. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm just going to check up on those bullies of yours," Jack raised a hand in defense before bringing it up to scratch his jaw. "You know, make sure they have good homes, good families, a nice yard," He grinned and gave the child a wink. "Make sure their water pipes don't spontaneously freeze."
Jamie couldn't help chuckling as Jack turned back to his desk. His eyes scanned the computer and monitor. "Can you get school delay and closing updates on your computer?" Jack asked.
Jamie nodded. "I already checked tonight, though," he propped his chin on the bedpost. "School tomorrow."
Jack hummed and stole a glance out to the streets. "Well," Jack said as he stepped on the windowsill. "You may want to check again." The wind slammed against the open window before pulling Jack into the night.
With the winter spirit gone, Jamie could now see the outside air and gasped. He ran and jumped on the computer and punched in the weather station's web address. He swiveled the mouse, clicked a few times, and started scrolling down the web page to find his school district.
"No way," Jamie whispered before hollering a 'Yes!'
"Jamie!" His mother yelled from the other room.
"Sorry mom," he said with a flinch. "Hey, Sophie!" He exclaimed, wanting to share the excitement. "No school tomorrow!"
Giving a bubbly laugh, Jamie looked out the window, taking one last look at snowflakes the size of ping-pong balls before getting ready to sleep in for the next morning.
* Okay, I'm still taking requests, both one-word and general ideas. Now that Jack and Jamie have more or less accepted being bonded, if you guys have an ideas or situations you want to me to write regarding the two of them (No romance, please), please let me know. Again, I'm still taking one-word requests.