When Juliet shows up at Jack's door they don't talk about it. Jack can't bring himself to say anything when Juliet smiles at him; it's just a little forced and perfect with dull eyes, like some sort of doll. They don't speak as she clings to him, for dear life, in a only other outward sign of a problem a shaky sigh and the warmth of Juliet's tears against his neck. When she pulls back all evidence of her lapse is gone and her mask of calm is back in place.
"Welcome back, Jewels."
"Good to be back, Ruby."
The first day is spent catching up, Jack steering clear of anything that could remind Juliet of her break up. That evening, when Juliet tries to leave, the door is blocked by Jackbots. They gently guide her upstairs to a guest room decorated in soft creams and whites, her luggage already unpacked and put away neatly in the open closet filled with majority of the Jackbots leave with a wave of Jack's hand, one stays hovering near the door.
"Okay, so I reprogrammed this one for you. He'll obey you fully, unless the others go into emergency mode, then he'll stick by your side to protect you, unless it's a major problem that needs all Bots attention. Basically, he's programed to help you in any way you need and protect you if there's ever an emergency." Jack explains quickly as Juliet looks the Bot over.
Juliet smiles up at the Bot, "Do I have to call it a 'Jackbot'? I mean, you have to admit it's a little bit silly," she teases as she pulls the Bot closer and turns it around, "Well you removed the big off switch at least."
"Hey that was one time ten years ago! I guess you can name yours if you want, how you're gonna tell them all apart when they're in a group I have no clue though." Jack shrugs, leaning against the doorway to watch the two get acquainted.
"Yeah yeah, hey can we order some paints, specifically for metal?" She asks as the Bot turns back around, Juliet takes it by the hand and tugs it over to the glass doors of the balcony and into the sunlight "Hm… maybe blue."
"Uh sure, but the art room is still stocked. Can't you just use the ones in there? What do you need them for?" Jack asks, watching as the Jackbot scans Juliet before reaching up to fix a curl of ginger hair that had fallen from her intricate braided bun. Juliet grins up at the Bot, silver eyes warm and fond for the first time since she had arrived at the house. She turns that look toward Jack, grin widening before speaking.
"I'm going to paint him, I'm thinking wings!" She exclaims before darting out of the room with Jack and the Bot hot on her heels.
The paints are ordered and delivered the next day.
The second day is spent in Jack's lab; Jack working on his robots and Juliet crammed into a corner surrounded by paints and a lone Jackbot that she'd dubbed Manna. They work quietly together in the same room, ignoring each other completely for most of the day as Juliet outlines the Bot in silver and gray, keeping with the original design besides the color change. By the end of the day the lab reeks of oil and paint fumes.
The week continues similarly to the first day, as the days pass Juliet adds more to her new Bot. starting in the center of the Bots back spread massive wings; bright and shining in blues and whites, intricately detailed from the coverts and down to the primaries that wrap around the front of the bot to frame the center circular mask overlaid with Juliet's initials in ruby red cursive.
"What happens when it rains? Will it ruin him?" Jack asks one day in the lull between projects, as Juliet finishes the last loop of red and takes a step back.
"Well I was thinking a clear sealant, Since it's a metal paint and I didn't paint over any movable parts except the hands but the fingers are paint free so there shouldn't be any issue with everything working as normal, the only issue is making sure it doesn't melt off. If the sealant doesn't work I can always redo it with some sort of stain, it'd be a pain but if that's what it takes I'll have to do it," She shrugs before turning back to the Bot, "Now you go somewhere to dry off, I'll be fine by myself for the rest of the day."
"Now what will you do with your time? Don't tell me you're gonna paint all my Bots." Jack jokes as Manna wanders off and Juliet gathers up her paints and brushes.
"Well bother you duh, that's what friends are for!" She coos at him as she zips up her bag, leaning over the metal table between them to smear the excess paint on her hands on Jack's cheeks. Jack makes a high whiny sound and bats her away, smearing oil on her shirt in retaliation.
Juliet gasps in mock offence, taking a swipe at Jack's ribs "You bitch!" she half shouts before lunging across the table to grab at Jack's tattered trench coat. Jack shrieks and jumps away from her, immediately darting around the table and somehow dodging Juliet's grabbing hands as he sprints out the lab doors.
Jack pauses just long enough to hear muffled cursing and heels clattering to the concrete floor before sprinting past the stairs and sliding around the corner just as Juliet bursts through the lab doors. Jack hears Juliet's laughter and the soft pad of bare feet on wood paneling follow him as he runs through the bland entryway and matching living room, she's definitely gaining on him, in a last ditch effort to not get tackled into the hardwood floor Jack slips through the glass doors into the back yard.
He hears Juliet pick up the pace just before they hit the grass, and then silence. Jack, familiar with Juliet's particular brand of creeping, doesn't look back and runs as hard as he can. Winding between trees and dodging bushes is just delaying the inevitable, and when Juliet tackles him from the side without any warning he's not even surprised.
They roll together a good distance away from where Jack was first hit and land hard, Jack flat on his back with Juliet sprawled on top of him with her face crammed into his shoulder. They both lay there a moment in silence before Jack huff's an amused breath and removes the arm he'd tucked protectively around her head when they rolled, Juliet lets out a giggle, fingers twitching where they're rested against the back of his neck. She quickly dissolves into uncontrollable laughter against his shoulder, letting out unattractive snorts between gasps for air. Fondness fills in Jack's chest, brotherly and affectionate, familiar and rare without her around. He's grinning as she sits up, only slightly, to check him over for injuries.
Juliet mirrors his grin, framed by her cloud of amber corkscrew curls that fall loose from her once carefully put together bun. Silver eyes flash with more mischief before she speaks "You owe me a new shirt Spicer," her voice is warm, the slight teasing in her tone offset by the joyful crinkle in the corners of her eyes "unlike Mister leather trench coat over here, oil is very noticeable on my clothes." She sits up fully and slides off his torso, legs still draped over his own as she leans back into the grass with arms spread out. Jack reaches for her hand across the grass and they lock fingers loosely and stare up at the cloudless blue sky, his nearly translucent and pale against her golden copper.
"Anything for you Jewels." If Jack holds on tighter than normal, well, that's just between him and Jewels.
The following week is hectic and lively in a way that Jack is unaccustomed to. The moment the paint dries Juliet drags Manna along with her to descend upon other parts of the house, bouncing between projects with four or more other Jackbots other than Manna trailing behind her to help in some foyer slowly fills with golds and oranges, the first image fully completed is a small bright sun that settles half set over the canopy of barely outlined trees that line the floors. Juliet seems to lose interest after the trees are outlined and moves on to the next room, walls only half colored with slowly darkening orange as it reaches half up the wall on all sides.
The living room brightens with a field of wildflowers in various colors, the outlines of the same trees in the forest packed tightly around on all sides. Juliet focuses on each individual flower; adding texture and life to each bloom before losing interest momentarily and bouncing off to add a wispy cloud and a touch of pink or purple to the foyer. Eventually the field is filled with color as the flowers are completed, The sunset in the foyer accumulates clouds and fades to the pink and purples of dusk high up the wall. The trees in both rooms stay untouched besides the vause outlines, Juliet seemingly uninterested in the large blank gap between the trees in the left corner of the room. She moves on to the kitchen.
The kitchen, strangely, is finished in one day. Jack wanders in at three that morning to Juliet fully dressed and intent as she outlines the leaves of the final tree. He leaves her be and by midnight she's finished and passed out on the couch with her team of Jackbots cleaning up the mess. The trees are finally completed, they line the walls with dark bark and patches of bright green leaves accenting every thin tree. Sunlight is painted to stream through the gaps in the much looser packed trees, shining across the small bright flowers similar to the ones in the living room that dot the roots of the trees. They are quickly filled in with color as well, though they are far less detailed than the field in the living room, before being ignored for the cabinets. The cabinets and countertops remain largely white as Juliet focuses on outlining all the doors with different brightly colored cartoon vegetables and kitchen utensils before labeling each door with looping red cursive. It reeks of paint, but with the window open should be fully useable by morning. Jack only shrugs and orders take out.
The only room on the first floor with color before Juliet descended upon the house is the formal dining room, designed to intimidate and flaunt the family wealth, the formal dining room is filled with old Spicer heirlooms and any and all treasures the Jack's parents have acquired over the years. Along with deep red walls covered in rich golden swirls interlocked with intricate silver flora that make up the majority of the Spicer family crest and several disapproving looking family portraits, the room practically screams for anyone outside the family to envy or fear the owners of such treasures. Juliet absolutely hates it, and quickly ruins it, instructing the Jackbots to move all the display cases and large paintings into the entryway for safe keeping before stripping the paint off the walls and starting over.
The new formal dining room is done in white surprisingly, with nearly invisible frost like patterns added in silver. Juliet badgered Jack for an hour until he finally cracked and helped her look for the original Spicer family crest to copy and add over the double doors. Jackbots hover worriedly underneath Juliet as she paints the ceiling while cradled in Mannas arms, their constant monotone 'do you need assistance Miss' echoing through the house at 3 am. After several breaks to add to the foyer, the ceiling is transformed into a large clear night sky filled with stars. The room stays empty, the valuables and painting moved to an empty guest room for now, until new display cases can be delivered and Juliet can find a nice way to return the family painting to the main Spicer estate.
By the end of the second week only two rooms are completed, the entire house smells like paint, and Jack finds Juliet stradling Manna or handing off several Bots to reach high places countless times. It's loud and honestly pretty stupid, but Jack hasn't felt this content since he moved here years ago.
The second week ends without much incident, neither of them bring up Juliet's break up or the alarm that goes off every few days for Shen Gung Wu that Jack ignored and then turned off completely.
"Hey Jewels you in there?" Jack knocks on the door to Juliet's room while batting away the borderline frantic blue feathered Jackbot next to him as it tries to get to its mistress. "Manna chill she's probably fine you've been down for maybe an hour." The Bot lets out a high whistle but beyond that ignores him until Juliet's voice answers.
"Yeah come on in!" Jack opens the door and lets Manna pass him first into the room, the Bot zooms over to Juliet's side and bumps her affectionately before catching her as she almost topples over. Juliet laughs loudly and twists in the Bot's arms until she can see Jack "You'd think we'd been separated for months instead of like an hour."
"Yeah I dunno how he got so attached to you, I checked him over and there's nothing out of the ordinary so somehow you've charmed a robot into loving you, I mean, yeah all the Bots have emotion chips but I'm fairly certain he has no way of actually forming bonds, but whatever, it's probably some sort of magical shit," Jack shrugs as he dodges around all the paint supplies to open the glass doors of Juliet's balcony, "Also please open these so you don't actually pass out I'm pretty sure it would give Manna a heart attack and I'm not even sure how that would happen." he gripes, collapsing on top of the three comforters of varying colors piled on her bed.
"Oh it'll be fine, I haven't passed out from paint fumes in months," Juliet says nonchalantly as she straddles Manna's shoulders, he lifts her up easily to the center of the wall where she resumes painting, "And if my gorgeous face and personality has taught a robot to love then that's the least of our worries."
"You know what, I'm not going to dignify any of that with a response." Jack huffs and rolls onto his stomach to watch her paint. It's indistinct at the moment but it reminds him of fire, it has all the right colors for it but the shape seems strange more like a huge wing than some kind of wildfire. It feels somehow familiar and Jack relaxes into the bed while keeping his eyes on the motions of Juliet's paintbrush as it adds shades of yellow.
"That's fine." They spend a long while in silence as Juliet paints and Jack lounges on her bed, after a bit Juliet begins to hum and Jack relaxes further into the bed. Jack pulls over a pillow and ignores the splotch of yellow paint stuck to the silk sheets as he smooshes his face into it, he sighs as the smell of paint fumes that fill the entire house is blocked by the familiar cinnamon spice of Juliet's perfume. Soon Jack begins to dose lightly, but is startled awake again when Juliet stops humming and speaks "Hey Jack can I talk to you about something?"
Jack is suddenly wide awake as her words sent a sudden jolt of anxiety through him, hundreds of possibilities rush through his head in the few seconds before he responds. "Yeah sure Jewels what's up?"
"I want you to go back to Shen Gung Wu hunting." Jack sits up on his elbows quickly and stares at Juliet's back. To a casual observer she seems just as relaxed as the moment before, but Jack has known her for most of his life and can easily spot the tension in her shoulders and the slight straightening of her back, she was preparing for an argument.
"Jewels…" he sighs and now she's visibly tense, her posture suddenly too perfect and movements careful and precise. "No hey listen, I would love to go back to Wu hunting but I need to know you're okay before I do anything!" Juliet sighs and taps Mannas head to lower them back to the ground, she hops down and walks back over to sprawl across the bed next to Jack.
"I don't know what I'm feeling right now honestly. I don't think I loved her, not really at least, I just liked what she represented. Jasmine was... different than most everyone else I've known, I mean you of all people know how difficult it is for me to tolerate other people enough to willingly interact, so I think I'm more upset that I lost something so rare than I am about Jasmine specifically." She sighs and covers her face with her hands. "Besides she used me just as much as I did her, all I was some status symbol anyway. So really neither of us were exactly right in this situation."
"Jewels I don't really know all about what happened with you two, which is totally fine by the way no pressure, but what I do know is that you're the only one of us that actually knows what you need. I mean, you're literally my only friend and you're the one that usually does most of the comforting so I have literally no clue how to actually help you emotionally." Jack huffed a frustrated sigh. "What I'm trying to say is that you've always been there when I've needed you, so anything you need right now is fine. We'll do whatever you're comfortable with, when you're comfortable. Whatever you decide is fine with me as long as you're happy." he finishes with a sigh. Juliet looks over at him with a stubborn gleam in her eyes.
"I want you to go back to Wu hunting." she pauses to sit up and fiddle with the top comforter, "but I want to come with you, I think a distraction is what I need right now." she finishes, looking up and locking eyes with Jack.
"It's a deal, shake on it?" He asks, lips twitching into a smile as he holds out his hand. Juliet returns the smile before grabbing his hand and giving it a firm shake.
"It's a deal."
The next hour is sort of awkward, neither sure how to act after a serious heart to heart. However, they get past it quickly, Jack chattering away about the Heylin and Xiaolin sides. Manna putters around Juliet's room organizing the mess as best he can while avoiding a pacing and flailing Jack. Eventually Juliet takes pity on the struggling Bot and gets up to help, expertly dodging Jack's flailing limbs as they organise the room while only half listening to the tirade about the 'Xiaolin losers' she's heard at least eight times by now. Just as she picks up the last container off the floor a loud piercing alarm goes off. Manna stills and immediately goes to Juliet's side and Jack pauses mid breath to look towards the noise when suddenly there's a huge crash from downstairs, Manna instantly leaves Juliet's side to help guard the house from whatever danger just attacked. Jack and Juliet share a look before the running the same direction towards the noise.
"What the fuck was that!?" Juliet yells over the alarm as she follows Jack towards his lab.
"I have a few guesses!" Jack calls back as they slide to a stop at the doors to the lab, they've been forced open by Jackbots, rubble moved to the side so they could get through.
Jack steps forward cautiously through them and they're greeted by destruction. The lab is trashed and mostly dark, debris litters the ground along with pieces of Jackbot and other high end tech. Juliet's eyes widen in shock at the destruction and she gasps loudly as a particular Jackbot with silver blue wings unsteadily hovers towards her, Manna is dented and scorched with one arm ripped off and sparking, he's barely able to hover a few inches off the ground, his once bright silver body now scuffed and dreary. Manna lets out a high glitchy screech as he tries desperately to reach Juliet, clawing deep gouges into the concrete floor when his jets fail him momentarily before bobbing back into the air, he manages to make it to Juliet's feet before collapsing completely. Juliet kneels down next to the mangled Bot as he quickly loses power "I'm okay, don't worry you did your job." she soothes the Bot and then falls silent as the last bit of energy leaves Mannas body and he goes dark.
Silence falls momentarily over the lab, the only sounds the shifting of rubble and distant shrieks of the other Jackbots. Juliet tentatively reaches out to touch what's left of Mannas mangled blue wings where they're curled around his chest, she lets a strange sound that could have been a soothing coo or a very soft sob before moving to lift what's left of Mannas body off the floor. Jack moves to help her lift him but freezes as she flinches away, holding the broken Bot tightly to her chest even as her arms shake from his weight. Juliet struggles over to a intact table deeper into the shadow of the lab and sets Manna there as gently as she can, she presses her palm to the initials on the circle in his chest and whispers something to the Bot that Jack can't quite hear. It's quiet again, the cries of the other bots have stopped and the only sound Jack can make out in Juliet's soft breathing, suddenly the quiet is broken by a group of voices calling Jack's name.
There's a loud shifting of rubble and then four monks stand in front of them, the smallest of the group jumps forward over the warped metal of a Jackbot with a shout "Jack Spicer! We have come to stop your evil plan!" he exclaims, chest puffed out and pointing dramatically.
Jack groans in annoyance "What are you blabbering about cheeseball? I don't have any evil plan." Jack runs a hand roughly through his hair with a huff, "geez a guy leaves for a couple of weeks so of course he's up to something."
"To be fair you usually are" Juliet mutters from behind him, walking out of the shadow of the lab to stand next to Jack and lean heavily into his side.
"Jewels back me up here!" Jack whines, flailing a bit at her sudden weight before steadying both of them and crossing his arms defensively. Juliet just smirks as she examines the four intruders before putting on her best disappointed parent face and eyeing the rubble around them.
"So these are those Xiaolin monks you told me about? They aren't exacting what I expected." Juliet muses, leaning more into Jack and staring at the group very intensely.
"Oh hello Miss! I am Omi. We did not know Jack Spicer had company" Omi smiles up at Juliet, totally unaware of the less than welcoming look on her face. Juliet's hard stare softens slightly with his cheerfulness and she huffs out a large sigh before moving away from Jack and walking towards the door of the lab.
"Alright then, if we're going to do this the polite way let's get out of the wreckage." she pauses at the opened doors and waves them over "since you're here I'll be Interrogating you over this Shen Gong Wu business, it's the least you could allow after breaking our house." Juliet snipes a bit, her lips twitch a bit when the monks quickly shuffle along through the door looking a bit embarrassed.
Jack follows behind the monks but pauses to question Juliet "Why exactly are we letting them inside?" Juliet shrugs and waves him through the door before tugging it closed behind them. "Aren't you mad about Manna?" he asks softer so the monks won't overhear as they look around the half painted foyer.
"Well I'm going to need to know your enemies if I'm joining you on this crazy train and I might as well be civil about it." Juliet's mouth thins into a hard line "and yes I'm livid but stabbing them won't get me the information I need." Jack nods with a grimace as Juliet walks away to lead the monks down the hall a stiff, clearly forced, polite smile on her face. Juliet leads the group to the living room and gestures to the half circle of chairs and couches facing the tv before leaving to make tea, Kimiko quickly following with a murmured 'I'll help' and a quick wave off of the other monks concerns. Unfortunately this leaves Jack all alone to handle the rest of the monks, he's immediately on the defensive when Raimundo turns to him with a smirk.
"So that's what you've been doing these past few weeks, gotta say Spicer didn't know you had it in ya" Raimundo leers in the direction Juliet and Kimiko left, completely missing the horrified look on Jack's face.
"No. No. Nope, not doing this. NO!" Jack half shrieks, jumping up and flailing his arms wildly "Gross man she's my sister!" Jack continues, crossing his arms and glaring at Raimundo.
Raimundo raises his hands in a placating gesture before speaking "Woah man sorry, you guys don't exactly look alike." he says defensively, glaring back at Jack.
"He's right there pardner, the two of you are about as different as day and night in terms of looks." Clay tries to calm the two as they continue glaring at each other. Jack calms slightly and nods a bit at his words before sitting back down, still shooting Raimundo dirty looks occasionally.
"Fine I get it, we're not actually related or anything but that doesn't mean any of you should try anything!" Jack glares at the room in general before continuing "Jewels is gorgeous of course but we grew up together, she's the closest thing to a sibling I have." Jack huffs before relaxing completely as Juliet comes back into the room carrying a tray with a tea pot and cups, Kimiko trailing behind her.
"We heard yelling what happened?" Juliet asks as she sets the tray on the coffee table in the center of the chairs and pouring a cup for everyone "I leave you four alone for five minutes, honestly." she says coolly, sipping her tea and sharing a vaguely amused look with Kimiko.
"Just a misunderstanding Ma'am, we didn't mean to cause no trouble" Clay answers sheepishly, removing his hat and rubbing at the back of his neck.
Juliet sighs and passes Jack his cup before sitting next to him and crossing her legs "You guys thought we were banging right?" she says bluntly, the monks all choke simultaneously on their tea, she smirks a little behind the rim of her cup. "It's a pretty common mistake, we are technically dating but it's mostly just to get Jack's family off his back. How long we've known each other and the fact that I'm a huge lesbian kinda puts a block on any romance that might develope, you know how it is." She fakes casualness, obviously smirking now as the three male monks choke on their tea again.
Jack rolls his eyes at the monks as they regain their composure "Jewels, quit fucking with them and get on to what you wanted to ask. I want these Xiaolin dweebs out of our house."
Juliet nods sharply and squares her shoulders before she speaks "Right, I have a few questions for the lot of you about this Shen Gong Wu business." She pauses to see if any of them have any complaints and smiles a bit when Kimiko slaps a hand over Omi's mouth before he speaks. "Before that though I should introduce myself. My name is Juliet Celandine, and I could not care less about this whole Xiaolin verses Heylin business. I need you all to understand that the only thing I'm here for is Jack, you all can fight and do whatever you need for your little Good versus Evil schtick. I won't stop you, do whatever you all must to make yourselves feel like you're doing your jobs, but don't drag me into it. I will always choose Jack." She looks that the monks very intently to make sure they understand before continuing "Kimiko gave me a bit of a rundown about all of you, and of course I've heard plenty about you from Jack" Juliet shoves her elbow into Jack's ribs when he smirks "Don't worry about introducing yourselves, I'll figure it out. Anyway, first question: How often does Wu usually pop up? I was under the impression it was once maybe twice a week, why were you all so sure Jack was up to something if he'd only missed a couple showdowns?"
"Well actually it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks, for whatever reason a lot of Wu have activated all at once, all around the same area. It's just strange that Jack didn't show up for any of them so Omi immediately decided Jack had some plan to steal the Wu from us" Kimiko explains, unable to stop Omi before he pipes up.
"Jack Spicer is always trying to steal from the temple! It is not strange to think he'd try to again!" Omi exclaims, quickly being backed up by the other monks.
"It's not like it's hard to get them back anyway, Jacks too weak to be any sort of real threat. We just figured we'd save ourselves the trouble" Raimundo shrugs, leaning back into his chair and putting his feet on the coffee table.
Jack doesn't even blink at the casual insult but Juliet's mouth thins into an unhappy line "So to save yourself the trouble you decided to break our house, you do understand we have a front door right?" Juliet looks very pointedly at Raimundos feet on the table until Kimiko shoves them off.
"A- anyway to answer your question: Yes, Shen Gong Wu usually only activate once a week or so but there are some exceptions and these past two weeks have been one of them. Things seem to have calmed down now, but Dojo's so worn out it's not like he'd be much help anyway" Kimiko tries to distract from the offense Omi and mostly Raimundo have caused as Clay tilts his hat in Juliet's direction to show her the sleeping dragon inside.
Juliet nods, the tense line of her mouth not softening "There's something else I'd hoped you'd know, but you might have to ask that dragon of yours or your master. Can anyone use Shen Gong Wu or do they have to have some sort of magical affinity? You as Xiaolin monks obviously have some sort of magic in you to control the elements, and most on the Heylin side clearly have magic but is it required?" Juliet questions cooly, her voice showing her irritation.
Kimiko frowns in thought but it's Omi who answers "That is a most interesting question Miss! Even I do not have the answer to it! Though it is most likely that it is not necessary since Jack Spicer can use them, someone so incompetent could never have the ability to wield Shen Gong Wu if there was any sort of rule to it." Omi answers confidently, completely missing the way Juliet's eye twitched at the casual insult.
"We'll be sure to ask Master Fung Ma'am, That is a mighty important thing to know." Clay answers politely and Kimiko quickly speaks before the others can.
"I gave you my phone number right? I can text you when we figure out the answer." Juliet gives Kimiko a nod of gratitude, taking a deep breath before answering.
"Thank you Kimiko that would be very helpful."
Juliet's mild interrogation of the monks continues, her irritation growing with every casual insult thrown at Jack that he doesn't even react to. Kimiko and Clay try to mediate between Juliet and the other two monks but eventually even they started to throw casual jabs at Jack, laughing at shared jokes at his expense and constantly calling him useless, unnecessary, weak among many thing that Jack just accepted. It was clear to anyone with eyes that Juliet was becoming more agitated by the minute, Jack picking up on the increasing tension in the room and trying to calm Juliet silently with a calming hand or leaning into her side for comfort to try and calm her before she snapped.
It didn't work.
"That's enough" Juliet's voice is completely calm, darkly commanding the monks attention and silence before she leans forward to set her now cold tea on the table. She sits back in her seat before speaking again, face utterly blank. "You think just because you're some so called 'good' that you can just do whatever you want, that you can treat people however you like. So long as things are good for you they're clearly the 'right' way to do things right? Newsflash kids: that's not how this shit works. I don't give a damn who you think you are, you can't just destroy things that are important to people and get away with it." Juliet stands from her seat, glaring fiercely at the monks in front of her. Her hands are shaking, she grips the sides of her legs to stop them before she continues "You need to seriously think about how you're advertising the side of good. Because from where I'm standing it looks a lot like the side of evil." Juliet turns sharply and exits the room, the sharp click of her heels slowly fading as she gets farther away.
Omi jumps up, indignant at being called anything but good, but Clay grabs him before he can run after her. "She's right Omi" Kimiko says quietly, staring down at her lap ashamed "We screwed up."
Jack stands from his seat, walking to the archway out of the room and pausing "I think it's time for you to leave." he says without turning around, he continues towards the front door and waits for the monks to follow him. They do slowly, most having the decency to look sheepish and ashamed at their behavior, Omi still looks mildly indignant but it seems like Juliet's words are sinking in a little because he seems to wilt a little when he meets Jack's eyes. Kimiko is the last to walk out, she turns to Jack as the others wake Dojo and prepare to leave.
"Jack, will you apologise to Juliet for me? She was really nice before all this even after we… ruined things. She doesn't have to forgive us I just want her to know." Kimiko asks hesitantly, clearly deep in thought.
Jack sighs and nods "She's big on second chances, but don't screw that one up too, you won't get another after that. Just, think about what she said alright? It might not be what you want to hear but in my experience she usually has a point." Kimiko nods, determined look in her eye and leaves to join her fellow monks. Jack closes the door without another word, he has an idea of where Juliet went.
Sure enough she's in the wreckage of the lab, staring at the cold shell of Manna. Jack can't see her expression where she's half shadowed in the dark half of the room but she appears to be whispering to the Bot. He decides to give her another few minutes to finish up as he heads over to the back up Jackbots used for cleaning up messes like this. He activativates three of them and gives them their orders, then makes his way across the room to stand next to Juliet. They stand quietly for a long while, the sound of shifting rubble and whirring of engines surrounding them.
Juliet looks up at him, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. "I really hate people" she says miserably. quickly covering her face with her hands before the tears can fall "I finally had something good focus on, I had you and Manna and everything was going so well and I thought I finally had something to help me get over everything and they killed it Jack." she sniffles quietly as she can, shaking like a leaf. Jack slowly puts and arm around her waist and pulls her to his side in an attempt to comfort. She lets out a wounded whine before continuing "You know how difficult it is for me to care about things, and how weird it is that I got to attached so quickly. I guess I was just looking for something happy to latch onto, I don't know." Jack leans his cheek on top of her head and lets her wipe away her tears, knowing she'd hate it if he did anything but support her right now. Eventually she sags against his side, leaning heavily into him and allowing herself to be guided out of the dark lab.
"Let's get you to bed alright?" Jack suggests, leading her up the stairs and into her room without much fight. Once she's sat on her bed Jack helps ease off her heels and helps her under the covers, he sits with her until he thinks she's fallen asleep before standing up.
Just as he reaches the door Juliet's voice calls, muffled underneath the covers "Jack?"
"Yeah Jewels?"
"Do you think you can fix him?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to try"
"Thanks Ruby"
"No problem Birdy"
Jack waits until he hears her breathing slow before he closes the door and makes his way back down the stairs. He hesitates briefly in front of the lab doors before walking through, making his way over to Manna and rigging some lights to see by.
He had a robot to fix.
Thank you for reading! To anyone that's been waiting for this chapter I am so so sorry I took so long! I have trouble keeping a good writing schedule and editing is always a bit of a mess. I'm looking for a Beta right now, if anyone wants to volunteer or has a suggestion of where I can find someone please let me know! Thank you again for reading!