Jack arrived at the clearing with Kuwabara and Yusuke only moments before the Xiaolin Dragons appeared. Yusuke got in front of him.

"Don't worry Jack, we've got this."

Kuwabara smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Yusuke yowled.

"Idiot- Jack can handle this! We should see how he does."

Yusuke looked at Jack. He grinned at his friend and teacher.

"Yeah, I've got it."

Jack was about to begin his search for the wu when he noticed something was off. There were two extra people riding on Dojo's back. They looked... familiar. Flowing blood red hair caught his gaze. He froze in place.

He stared as the dragon landed. After the Xiaolin Dragons, Shuuichi and Hiei climbed down from the reptile's back. At the sight of his cousin, his mouth went dry. His chest suddenly felt tight, his eyes hot. He swallowed and tried to process what he was seeing.

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked uncomfortable. Guilty, even. They had known. They'd known the whole time that Shuuichi had left to join the Xiaolin warriors, Jack realized, but they hadn't told him anything. He struggled to breathe.

"Shuuichi?" He raised his voice as much as he could bear.

Shuuichi looked up to meet his eyes. His face was blank and cold. Jack clutched at his Monkey Staff.

"How- what are you doing with them?"

Shuuichi looked away. He didn't respond.

Jack clenched his jaw. Whatever. So what? He'd been betrayed again. It wasn't anything new. He wiped his eyes and turned away to search for the wu. He ignored Yusuke and Kuwabara trying to help and the uncomfortable looks the Xiaolin Dragons were exchanging.

He stumbled onto the wu at the same time as Clay. He glared at his enemy as they made the customary chant.

"Xiaolin Showdown!" Clay matched his shout. "Gong Yi Tanpai!"

"I wager my Fist of Tebigong for yer Monkey Staff."

"I accept!" Jack said.

Underneath their feet, the ground shifted and crumbled away. They were left on a platform, everyone else kept back by a fence taller than Jack could even see.

"We fight until one of us is knocked off his feet." said Clay.

"Sounds fair to me."

Jack stepped back, keeping his staff in a defensive stance. He was angry and wanted nothing more than to take a swing at the guy, but he knew better than to rush in. He didn't bother activating the wu yet.

Clay ran right at him, swinging his fist. Jack dodged and moved to behind his opponent. Clay turned and made quick swipes that Jack just barely managed to avoid. He kept moving and waiting for an opening.

Finally, when Jack was starting to become short of breath, Clay swung out too far- tired from keeping up the quick pace. Jack activated the Monkey Staff. His tail wrapped around Clay's ankle as he went past him, sending the blond sprawling on the ground.

Their surroundings returned to normal. Jack gathered the wu, a smile on his face. Until he saw Shuuichi, that is. Shuuichi was approaching him, moving quickly and confidently. Jack shoved the wu he'd won into Kuwabara's hands frantically, feeling suddenly nervous.

"Jack. We need to talk."

Jack scowled. "I don't feel like talking to you right now, Shuuichi."

Shuuichi frowned disapprovingly. Well, Jack thought, Shuuichi could shove his disapproval. Jack hadn't been the one to run off with the jerks who beat him up.

Shuuichi grabbed his arm and took him off to the side. When he stopped, Jack snatched his arm back.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk, Jack."

"Well then," said Jack, feeling small as he looked up at his older cousin, "Maybe you should've thought of that before you ran off with the Xiaolin losers."

"Look, I didn't mean to," Shuuichi stopped to take a deep breath, "to just leave like that."

"Then you shouldn't have done it."

"Jack, please, it's not what you think. Just listen to me- I'll explain."

"No," said Jack, "I've done enough listening!"

His mind stuck on all of the times he'd been left behind. All of the times someone had betrayed him. All of the times when he had accepted someone back just because he was lonely, with only a 'look, I didn't mean it that way' or 'there's no harm in teaming back up again, right?' after they'd stabbed him in the back. He wasn't doing that again. He couldn't do that again.

He turned away from his cousin and it took all of his will power not to just run away and go as far as his feet would take him. He walked back to Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Jack," he heard Shuuichi say, but he didn't turn back. He walked out of the clearing, ignoring the pounding in his chest and his instincts telling him to just go back- to just hear what his cousin had to say. Listening to those instincts had never gotten him anything but pain before, and they certainly wouldn't now.

When Jack returned home, he went straight into the basement and locked the door. Much as Yusuke and Kuwabara were his friends, he couldn't deal with them right now.

He didn't know if he could look at them, let alone talk to them, after what they'd done.

-=-1-=-

Kurama returned to the temple with the Xiaolin Dragons. He hesitated in the courtyard, unsure what he should do. His heart and mind struggled. Mentally, he knew he should stay and continue his watch over the children. Emotionally, well, he wanted to go out and kill something if he was being perfectly honest.

"Why did Spicer call you 'Shuuichi'?" asked Clay, not the type to draw things out with subtlety.

"It's my given name." Kurama did his best to keep his fingers from twitching. He longed for the feeling of his rose whip in his hand. "I like to keep my work and my personal life separate."

He turned his attention to his friend. Hiei gave him a measuring look in return.

"I'm sure they can survive you being away for a couple of hours, fox."

Kurama struggled to make a decision. After a moment, he nodded. He would be no use to anyone as he was. His upset would make him clumsy and more prone to violence.

"Hey, wait-!" shouted Kimiko, but they were already gone.

He went with his friend to another, nearby mountain.

"You want to spar?" he asked.

"Always." said Hiei.

They grinned at each other.

-=-2-=-

Back at the temple, Kimiko scowled.

"What a guy, just leaving like that!"

Raimundo was snickering. He socked Clay in the arm.

"I can't believe you lost to Jack!"

Clay didn't look amused. Instead, he seemed thoughtful.

"Somethin's different about that boy." he said.

"You're just saying that because you lost."

Clay huffed a laugh and ruffled his friend's hair. Raimundo elbowed him in the side and left to go bother Kimiko. Omi was at his side almost instantly, near bouncing.

"What do you mean Jack Spicer is different?" he asked.

"Don't know quite how to say it." Clay adjusted his hat and looked down at Omi. "He… didn't seem scared of gettin hit at all. Seemed like he was focused more'n anything."

"You think so?"

"Wasn't fighting him long enough to get a real solid read, Omi, but that's what it seems like to me."

"I see."

"All I'm sayin is that we need to be a bit more careful of him in the future."

Omi laughed, "You are taking this far too seriously, friend!"

Clay sighed. "Maybe I am."

"Let us go play the ping pan!"

"It's called ping pong, partner."

"That is what I said!"

-=-3-=-

Jack snuck out late that night. He just couldn't get his mind to settle. His gut churned with the thoughts rolling around in his head. He just wanted to move and get this out of his system.

He walked into the forest and didn't look back. He didn't really think about where he was going- just let his feet carry him forward. Even upset, he didn't travel too far from his home. The last thing he wanted to do was to make his bad situation worse by getting lost like an idiot.

He leaned back against a tree for a moment. He slid down- only to be drawn out of his morose thoughts by a couple of nails stabbing into his thigh. He ripped them out of his pocket. He was about to throw them into the grass when something stopped him. He unclenched his fist and looked down at the small pieces of metal.

He pressed his reiki into them, remembering that day in the labs not so long ago. Right now, he'd do just about anything to draw his mind away from the betrayal echoing around in his head. Tired, he stared down at his palm. It was odd- they reacted to him so easily. He just didn't get it- why could he work with these so easily when plants didn't?

Had… had Shuuichi left because Jack couldn't do that? He'd seemed eager to teach him how to work with his plants. Had he gotten tired of Jack's incompetence? Was that why he'd left?

Jack shook his head. He didn't want to think about his cousin. Against his will, his eyes stung. He turned his head away and clenched his fist, letting the sting of the metal digging into his palm distract him.

Treacherously, tears dripped down his face.

"Crybaby." he admonished himself, scrubbing at his face harshly. He managed to stop the flow of tears, but his throat ached and his chest still felt tight.

Frustrated, he turned back to the nails. He focused entirely on them and tried to lift them with just his reiki. He nearly jumped when they actually responded. Shocked, he accidentally launched one out of his hand and into a tree. It embedded into the bark with a solid thunk. It was dark enough outside that he could only see the faintest gleam of metal, but that didn't stop him from staring.

Leaves crunched somewhere nearby, pulling him out of his thoughts. Jack went completely still, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Jack?"

It was just Kuwabara. Jack stuffed the remaining nails back into his pocket.

"What do you want?" he shouted back.

"It's getting kinda late. I was worried was all."

Jack got back on his feet, dusting off the back of his pants. He started walking towards the voice.

"Well don't be. I'm fine."

He pushed past Kuwabara, not looking at him. He was stopped when the bigger teen grabbed his elbow.

"Look...Jack," he stopped, as if unsure, "I'm sorry."

Jack didn't say anything, just shook his hand loose and kept walking.

He had nothing to say to him.

-=-4-=-

Jack spent the next few days trying to completely avoid Yusuke and Kuwabara. He set one Jack-bot to make meals and another to bring him food in the basement so he wouldn't encounter them while trying to get to the kitchen.

He stayed late every night to work on the gadget Wuya wanted- it was something he could bury his time in easily. It was what he almost always ended up doing when he was distressed. Robotics was how he coped- he could get lost in the design and fitting the pieces together, and nothing beat the feeling of accomplishment he got when he completed a project. It also had always helped him ignore the loneliness he felt.

When he wasn't working on that, he was experimenting with his newfound ability to manipulate metal. He didn't really understand it well, so it was something he could analyze. Through some tests, he was able to find out that he could lift a wrench from his palm if he put in his full effort and with smaller things, like nails, he could manipulate their shape. It was interesting to study.

A couple nights into his new 'avoidance schedule', Wuya paid him another visit.

He sensed her reiki the moment she entered the room and spun to face her instantly. Her face was briefly a mask of surprise. She got control quickly and put on a winning smirk.

"I see you've learned a new trick." She raised an inquisitive brow. Jack kept his mouth clenched shut.

She made her way over to the table. She looked down at the workbench, not getting in his personal space immediately for once. Jack tried not to show how relieved he was that she didn't actually seem interested in him this time.

"You're done already?" she asked. She sounded surprised.

Jack shrugged. "Yeah. If there's nothing you see that you want changed."

She picked it up and examined it.

"This is fine work, Jack." she said, she placed it back on the table, looking as if she'd like to question him more about it. Then it was like Jack had missed some signal- her head snapped up and her eyes locked on the ceiling. Jack took a step back nervously, unsure of what had caught her attention.

"Someone up there has sensed my presence."

Jack's eyes went wide. He'd hoped she wouldn't pay attention to his guests this time.

"You're still missing two..." she said thoughtfully.

He crossed his arms defensively as her gaze turned to him, glowing green eyes oddly focused.

"Tell me, Jack, what are the names of your visitors?"

"I'm not going to tell you that!"

He didn't even see her move when her fingers were suddenly resting on his throat. He swallowed nervously, sweat gathering on his brow. He kept his mouth shut.

"Don't make me lose my patience."

"They- they're Yusuke Urameshi and Kuwabara," he blurted out, not telling her the other names and hoping she wouldn't care or notice. Her eyes went wide and lurched up to the ceiling, her shoulders hunched.

"That's who those two are?" she hissed. Her hand tightened, Jack breathed in small gasps.

"Um- you know them?" he squeaked.

She looked at him as if just remembering he was there. She dropped him and hurriedly snatched up the device he'd made for her.

"I'll speak to you again soon, Jack." That didn't sound good.

She was gone in the next moment.

Jack blinked at the space she'd just vanished from. What was that all about?

-=-5-=-

Late that night, when Jack was heading upstairs for bed, he ran into Yusuke. He was standing in the hall, next to Jack's door, apparently waiting to accost him. Jack scowled.

"I don't want to hear it." he said.

"Too bad," said Yusuke, moving to block his door, "because you're going to listen."

Jack waited. As soon as he was sure Jack was staying put, Yusuke started talking.

"Look, it's fine if you're pissed. I shouldn't have kept that from you..."

Jack crossed his arms impatiently.

"But Kuwabara didn't know."

"What?"

"He thought that Shuuichi was just going out with Hiei for a while. I didn't tell him where they went."

Jack glared at him, uncomprehending.

"I knew where Shuuichi was, but Kuwabara had no idea. You gotta listen to me kid, the guy's really broken up about it- thinks he shoulda somehow known and told you about it."

"Well you should have told me what was going on in the first place!"

Yusuke sighed.

"Look kid. I know this probably sounds stupid to you, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings, okay?"

Jack scoffed. "What, so instead I could find out like this?"

Yusuke growled, ran a hand through his hair, and moved out of the way of Jack's door.

"I'm not any good at planning crap. I didn't even think that this could happen." Yusuke said, "Anyway, that ain't what this is about. Hate me if you want, I don't care. I just wanted to tell you that this isn't Kuwabara's fault, that's all."

Jack went into his room and locked the door.

He continued to go out of his way to avoid them but returned to training in the back yard. He didn't know how to feel. He was still angry at the very least. Mostly, he just felt conflicted about the whole situation.

They were the first people to act like they cared about him in a long time. It had seemed like they'd had no ulterior motive, like they'd just liked him for being him. Jack had been confused about that. He hadn't been sure how to deal with tit, but it'd still been a nice feeling. Only, then Shuuichi had left to join the people who he'd been battling for years.

It stung, in a way that felt familiar, but somehow worse than what he'd experienced before.

Even after Yusuke talked to him, he was still angry at him and Kuwabara. He couldn't even tell why. He felt like they should've said something, done something, even though Kuwabara hadn't known anything.

He kept training. He still wanted to get stronger, but he didn't know if he could accept their help any time soon. Or ever.

By the end of the week he still felt lost after giving it a lot of time and thought. Kuwabara hadn't been talking to him, letting him keep his distance, though he'd looked sorrowful for the whole week. Yusuke was completely ignoring Jack's existence, which suited Jack just fine.

Jack needed to talk to someone. He called Katnappé. They weren't exactly close friends but they still talked sometimes.

"Jack," she said, "you'd better talk fast, I'm kind of busy right meow." There was someone shouting in the distance from her line.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked. Were those gunshots he heard?

"Since when do you care if it's a bad time?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Look, I can call you back later."

Katnappé went quiet for a moment. "Is efurrything okay?"

"Not really," he said.

"I'll call you back soon, purromise."

She hung up. He sighed and rolled over on his bed.

She did eventually call him back. He told her what was going on and she actually listened the whole way through. Then she gave him advice he somehow didn't expect from her (he really should've).

"Wow, they suck." she said, "Mew should tell them to screw off. They aren't worth your time, which is saying something."

"Wha- I can't tell them that!"

"Why not?" she asked, "What, beclaws you're a wimp?"

Jack sputtered. "Katnappé, it's not like I can kick them out of my house or anything. I'll still have to live with them if I tick them off!"

She sighed. Jack could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"Well, that's the only advice I've got for mew. Talk to you later, Jack."

Jack frowned. He felt better after talking to her, but he still didn't know what to do.

-=-6-=-

Kurama ended up using the young warriors as a distraction. If he spent all his time training them, he decided, he'd have no time to think about his little cousin. He would later admit to himself that he'd been a bit too harsh to them.

"Again." he said as the dragons finished a kata. He ignored their groans.

"If you cannot do this until you collapse, how do you hope to stand against an enemy until the very end?" he said. He wasn't going to pull any punches. These children were supposed to be warriors, so warriors he would make them.

He would admit to being surprised with how quickly they had learned a new martial arts discipline, but he wouldn't allow them to slack off. He didn't want them to go into a battle unprepared.

He made them run katas until they were dead tired, then sent them in to eat dinner. He asked their master to make sure that they all ate- they would need the energy. Then he quietly retired the temple garden. He was tired and frustrated. Plants had a way of calming him and he hoped they would help him to get a handle on his dissatisfaction, or at the very least, to help him relax.

He knelt down, examining the plants for blemishes. He was a little surprised to feel Hiei settle in next to him. He turned to his friend. Hiei didn't seem to notice his discomfort.

"Hiei?"

His friend's red eyes met his for a moment before he looked away. That was all he was going to get from him until he was ready to talk, he was sure. So he let the small demon alone and went back to examining the crops. They were silent for a long time, enjoying each other's company and the atmosphere that the garden gave off.

"Kurama," said Hiei, sounding unusually serious, "there's no use getting angry over what can't be dealt with."

Kurama sighed. "I'm not angry, just… frustrated, I guess."

Hiei gave him a look. Kurama knew he was right.

"I only wish there were something I could've done."

Hiei scoffed. "Your weak ningen relative is still alive, isn't he?"

Kurama glanced at his friend. "But he is angry with me, and right to be so."

"He will get past it."

Kurama frowned. "I don't think that he will, honestly."

Hiei frowned at him. He was quiet for a long moment.

"Do you think," he said, "that Yukina would hate me if I admitted my identity to her?"

"Of course not!"

Hiei nodded firmly. "She would be angry."

"Yes, but she wouldn't hate you Hiei."

Hiei smirked. "It is the same with Spicer."

Kurama was about to come up with a rebuttal, but Hiei was already gone. He huffed a small laugh at his antics before turning back to the flowers, feeling oddly reassured. He didn't quite believe Hiei, but what he'd said was still comforting.

-=-7-=-

Small A/N: The reason Jack still has the Monkey Staff is because Kimiko forgot to take it from him after the last xiaolin showdown. Also! Thank you to everyone who left a review! You're all super sweet and I appreciate the support u