"Author's" Notes: Uhm, well. First time trying writing in English, and Chack. I realized that it's hard. But I like writing Jack and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with Chase's part here. Anyway, I'm just going to upload this as it is, and going to continue it writing it, but there is still so much left, and I'm in the middle of trying not to fluke my exams. So yeah, that's all for a while.
(Planned happy end, and uhm, other things are on the way)
It hurt. It caused him serious mental and physical pain to get out of bed and start packing. He straight up despised packing. Besides, it was way too early for that as well. Having been up until sucked, especially when he had to get up at as early as 7 in the morning. Jack groaned but get out of the bed non-the-less. This day sucked already, and it's just going to keep getting worse. He glanced at the half-packed boxes around his room, and the two – still empty – suitcases. Fuck it all. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep, he knew he can't. He needed to pack everything, and he needed to do it fast. So he carried himself to the bathroom is hopes of a quick shower to wake him up.
Jack casually put a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom, letting all the steam out. Searched for some casual clothes, because there is no way he is going to pack in tight jeans, just no fucking way. He opened his wardrobe and methodically started to load all his wearable clothes into one of the suitcases. There were surprisingly not much to pack since he no longer wore those gothic clothes he used to, but his wardrobe still consisted of mostly black. Habits die hard, but Jack tried harder. And deciding to go to college was a proof of that. He studied his ass off in this past year to meet the requirements of John Hopkins, It was mental fucking hell, but he did it, he is in, and he is going to give is all, and have a good time, and try not being a weirdo. Just a normal nerd, with the IQ of 180. A piece of cake.
After emptying his wardrobe, throwing away any clothes that he deemed inappropriate or just embarrassing – way too much then he cared to admit – Jack moved on to pack everything else. Moving sucked doesn't matter what others say. It was a major pain in his butt. He could have used one or two or maybe ten of his Jack-bots to help him, but he wanted to do this alone. It helped him think and rethink over and over again until his head hurt and his eyes wanted to pop out of its sockets. But it still worth it though. He was almost done anyway, only one small wardrobe left. So after hours of packing, he started to get hungry, it was almost and he only had coffee around 8.
Having a quick lunch can't hurt, never mind that there was absolutely nothing in the kitchen that was edible. Take out as it is. Preferably something profoundly unhealthy and a lot of it, thank you very much. So Jack dialed and ordered enough food for a small family, not forgetting to order dessert, maybe going a little bit overboard, but honestly, Jack doesn't give a fuck, not even the slightest. He frowned, hearing that it will take around 40 minutes to deliver, he hoped he's not going to starve. Not being occupied with packing hunger hit him like a tsunami, right in his face. Until he got his food, he might as well finish off the rest of the packing. Not much left anyway, and what he left for last, can't be done with an empty stomach.
Jack closed the suitcase, only using one at the end, and started closing the boxes when he heard the bell. Finally. He stood up and went to open the door. He did not run…nope, maybe a little, but he was hungry, so nobody can blame him for it. Opening the doors of the mansion, the first thing he saw was the delivery guy, slightly smaller that Jack, and obviously uncomfortable. Probably a newbie, Jack guessed as he took the boxes and give the guy his card. Jack mentally noted that other's hands were shaking a little. That made him smile a little, he was cute, with big blue eyes. He wasn't Jack type, but a little teasing can't hurt, can it?
"Do you want me to help with that?" – Jack asked as he watched the boy when he saw he had problems inserting the card in the reader, because of his shaky hands. He looked up to Jack and blushed a really adorable pink, and Jack couldn't help the corner of his mouth to curve into a smirk.
"N-no. I g-got this" – the delivery guy stuttered and finally succeeded in putting the card in its place. When it was paid, he gave Jack back his card, quietly thanked him for the choosing them, then basically fled the scene. Jack just shook his head and moved back into the mansion. Settled onto his bed and opened the massive amount of boxes, and probably ate more than during the whole week.
After finishing, he felt okay enough to finish everything off. He closed the remaining of the boxes and proceeded to shut off his lab. The cool air of the basement felt good against his heated skin. Jack opened the door of his lab, took a deep breath and walked in. It felt oddly wrong and satisfyingly right to be here. Even though this is going to be the last time for him to come here, at least for a while, but he wasn't planning on returning to China after college. He walked up to the main computer and brushed his fingers over the keyboard ever so lightly, like telling goodbye. Just as he was about to shut it off, the Shen-gong-wu alarm went off. Jack have never actually noticed before, how annoying this sound was, so he ignored it.
He glanced back from the door one last time, before switching off the main electricity source of his lab, and with a sigh, he closed the door behind himself. He felt just a tad bit sad but not as bad as he thought he would feel. He wasn't depressed, not even close. He would even dare to say, he felt relieved. He did it, closed a part of his life, and left it behind. It felt kind of good, to be honest.
His phone rang at an ungodly hour; 5 in the morning. Well, he had a plane to catch, and he still wanted to take care of a few things. He sent everything forward with the moving company yesterday, so his packages should arrive around the same time as he will. But first, he wanted to write a mail to Kimiko. They have gotten closer during this past year and she was the only one who knew that Jack was bisexual – besides his parents of course –, but he preferred mostly guys. He told her about the moving and going to college and all that shit, but made her promise not to tell anyone. Especially not to a certain thousand-year-old warlord. After all, Jack is running away, and even he knew that, but getting beaten up weekly wasn't on his bucket list.
Around a year ago, more precisely 10 months ago, Jack stopped showing up at showdowns. Surprising himself when he realized, he felt totally okay with it. About a month later Kimiko showed up at his front door, being ever so friendly. Honestly, it creeped Jack out big time, at first, but the girl proved herself to be good company and a horrendous cook. The only admirable "cooking shill" she had, was making the best hot chocolate in the entire solar system. Those roasted marshmallows, oh my god.
So, Jack pured his heart out in front of her, all his worries, insecurities and his anger. And she was understanding, comforted him, and just listened. Jack didn't need advice or reassuring words, telling everything is going to be alright. Because nothing was alright, and he was balancing on the thin line of depression. He needed someone to just fucking listen.
He quickly snapped out of his daze, and started to get ready. Quick shower, getting dressed, eating the remaining of yesterday's delivery, calling a taxi. He then packed his laptop, grabbed his phone and headphones and left the house, making sure to close the everything, and shut off everything electronic. The mansion he lived his entire life was about to become something close to a haunted house. His parent moved out around two month ago, to get everything ready in their new home. Jack didn't necessary liked the idea of living with his parents, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Besides, as soon as he can manage to get a decent part-time job, and can afford a small apartment close to uni, he's going to move out anyway.
He looked out of the windows of the taxi, observing the quickly passing view with boredom. He felt sick, just thinking about the 18-hour flight, that was waiting for him, one change in Tokyo. He is going to hate everything on the planet. Well, having wealthy parents meant traveling on first class. It still sucked though.
With a sigh, Jack payed for the taxi, and went inside one of the terminals of the Hon Kong International Airport. Passport in hand, he checked in, and felt the ball in his stomach forming. As always, when he was flying. Gosh, he hated planes. Hated, that he can't feel the wind on his face, that he was locked in a tin bird. It just felt wrong. He couldn't explain it, but it made him sick to his stomach. 18 hours was nothing…he is going to die…
Chase Young was furious to say the least. He himself couldn't tell what was the real reason behind…duh bullshit. He knew what made him so mad, just didn't want to admit it. On top of being angry for month, Wuya lost three of their Wus. Stupid witch. Just how much more pathetic she can get? His warriors were pooling around his legs, trying to calm him, with very little success. He was boiling over. He got up from his throne, startling some of his warriors, and went back to his personal wing in his lair.
He got out of his armor, and just stared into the night, trying to calm his nerves. He opened the door that led to the cliff in front of his room and just sit there thinking, letting his thought roam free in his mind, for once. His thoughts were about one annoying flee, the bane of his existence, Jake Spicer, self-proclaimed evil genius. Chase felt – what was probably the first time since he became immortal – uncertain. He didn't know what was going on with Spicer. He wasn't showing up on showdowns, and he haven't seen him around his lair either. Wuya knew nothing as usual. When the Heylin with asked the monks about it, they seemed to be just as clueless as her. Maybe not all of them, but there was no way he was going to ask the dragon of fire about Jack Spicer. Just the mere thought sound impossible and awfully humiliating.
So, he left it at first, thinking that the teen was just planning something, probably something stupid. He's never really understood why Spicer was so hell bent on getting shen-gong-wus, but he was enthusiastic, if nothing else. But after not showing up for month, he suspected that there was something more, or actually, there was nothing at all and he's just overthinking things. Then a year passed and there was no sign of the evil genius. He had enough. Since nobody seemed to know anything, he has to go after it himself. Chase put back his armor, and left his lair.
Once at the Spicer mansion, he felt that something was obviously out of place. Chase casually walked up to the front door, and found it closed, as expected, since it was already past midnight. He teleported inside the mansion, noticing the lack of, well, everything. There was no furniture, the whole mansion was empty. His first destination was Jack's basement lab. For his surprise the teen wasn't there, the only thing he found was a darkness. He couldn't hear the electricity running through everywhere like he did before, when he visited the lab a few times before, just to threaten or mock the teen.
The last room he checked was Jack's bedroom, and the fact that it was empty wasn't news to him
anymore. Jack left. Left without saying anything. But why is he bothered by it? Why is it bothering him, that Spicer didn't say goodbye? No, he probably said something. What was bothering him was that Jack Spicer didn't say anything to him. He ran away without a word. Did he really? Chase somewhere deep down could understand why did Spicer left the way he did. It was bound to happen sooner or later, Chase just wasn't expecting it to happen this soon.
With a sigh, he teleported back to his lair, to just process the newfound information. He wasn't actually angry anymore. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt relieved. Relieved that the teen won't come and hurt himself aimlessly, in a fight he has no chance to win. And that angered him to no end.
18 deadly hours later, ha was finally in Washington. He is going to meet his parents at the hotel, so he called a taxi, not even considering public transportation. As soon as his phone was alive again, the first thing he saw was an e-mail from Kimiko wishing him good luck, and scolding him for not saying goodbye properly.
The hotel was only around an hour drive, but Jack was sick of travelling. He wanted a bed, and wanted to sleep for days, if not weeks, hell he is going to sleep until the semester starts. Once at the hotel, he paid for the ride, and for a moment just stared at the enormous building in front of him. That was one big, fancy ass hotel. At the reception, he was given a key card. At his room he called his parent, and decided to meet at the cafeteria. Of course, his parent wanted to talk about everything. They happy and excited to see their soon, but Jack was hungry and just slightly hysteric. Even though, he was trying his best to answer everything, doing poorly anyway.
"How was the flight? Did you like Tokyo? Did you eat on the plane? Did you say goodbye to your friends?" – Asked his mother with a smile on her face.
"Long. I only had an hour mom, but what I saw through the windows looked nice. No. Uhm…yes." – He did not say proper goodbye to anyone, but they do not need to know that.
So, they just ate in silence, and Jack excused himself to his room. Only after putting a deadly amount of sugar in his system of course. He needed sleep, because tomorrow was more flying awaiting him, to Baltimore. He wasn't necessarily enthusiastic about it, but he couldn't deny that he was itching to be at their new home.
When he exited his room the next day, Wuya shoot him a knowing look.
"So…how is Jack doing?" – asked the witch with a smirk. Honestly, she looked uglier than before, if it's even possible.
"Why would I know anything about that insect?"
"Oh, I just thought you went to the Spicer manor yesterday. Maybe I was just imagining things." – There was no point in denying it. It was faster to just tell her, because if he decided to keep things to himself the Heylin witch, would keep whining and nagging him, and that had the possibility of him snapping and strangling her…accidentally. Killing Wuya would have been nice, but the witch was useful sometimes, so he decided not to.
"He was gone" – he said simply, careful not to show any emotion.
"Well, of course. It was inevitable." – As Wuya shook her head, Chase frowned and looked at the with expectantly, waiting for an explanation. Wuya clearly knew something, and Chase is going to find out. He hated when that obnoxious woman knew something he did not.
"What I meant is that Jack was not suitable to be Heylin, and it was just a matter of time until he realized that himself. And when it happened, he decided to stop fighting a battle he can't possibly win, and moved on. Like the adult, he is…he became. Well, I personally think he did the right thing. If it means he won't get hurt any more unnecessarily." – Chase hated it, and would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, but Wuya was right. Jack was weak. Weak to the point it was almost painful. He cried way too easily, got manipulated just as often, despite his high intellect. He desperately wanted to fit in a world, where he didn't belong, and probably never will.
"So, do you want to know where he is?" – asked Wuya with a calculating smile on her lips. He wanted to strangle her…so much. His hands were itching to curl around her neck, and just snap it, but he controlled himself. He growled at Wuya, just for good measures. Just to let her know where is her place exactly.
"How would you, out of all people know where is Spicer right now?" – asked Chase warily.
"Unlike other people, I have absolutely no problem throwing away my pride for information" – stated Wuya, with sarcastic smile. "So, I asked the monks" –, she shrugged – "they didn't know about Jack moving away, surprisingly. But the fire dragon was kind enough, to tell everything. I've never would have thought that Jack could become friends with one of the Xiaolin monks. Anyway, she told us, that Jack went back to America to study. College or whatever it is called. Oh, and that he has absolutely no intentions of coming back to Chine or going to showdowns." – That surprised the warlord a little, but show nothing on his face. He remembered Wuya's words: It was inevitable. So why the hell is he feeling so goddamn miserable?
He was out of it, after another 6 hours of flying, and he was half dead. It sucked, but they were finally here, and the house looked surprisingly like a normal family house. Only throwback, it was god damn far away from college, so he had to use public transport, and this made him cringe. Just for the fact that it was called "public", and Jack wasn't really a huge fan of crowds. Other option being: drive. Problem, he had no car, but he was a good driver so maybe he can persuade his father to let him use his car – or buy him a relatively cheap car, that he can use for his heart content…would be nice. Little did he know.
"So, since it's your birthday next month, and giving this to you then would be late, considering that school starts within two weeks" – his father started talking the next day, during breakfast – "we thought, it would be wiser to give it to you know. And I sincerely hope that I don't have to give you a lesson on responsible driving. – There was a smile on his father's face, and holy shit, he loved this man.
"You are kidding" – Jack gaped, and jump off from the dining table sprinting to the garage, where he saw it. It was small but totally fine with him, perfect for driving to school. He gave a hug for both his parents, as the appeared behind him in the door. – "Can I take it for a test drive?" – he asked, and his father gave him the keys, he caught them mid-air, itching to drive his car already.
On the first day of school he was late. He slept through his alarm, but if he got ready in 15 minutes, and drove like crazy he can make it in time. So, he did just that. For his luck Jack made it, and holy flying cows the school was big. He looked at the paper in his hand, that was sent to him with the acceptance letter, telling him the location where he has to go on the first day. There will only be short lectures about the school, and a tour on campus.
At that very moment Jack felt, that he made the right decision to come here. Giving up being Heylin. It didn't suit him anyway, being normal was just fine, and more than enough for him. At least his life is not going to be in danger all the time, fighting a battle he can't possibly win…ever. So, he is going to do what he is good at, and use his most valuable asset: his brain, his intellect. In the meantime, he is going to try and forget…