A/N: Hello, and welcome to my new crossover fanfiction.

I've been into Supernatural and Jackie Chan Adventures for years now, and hoped to make a SPN fanfiction for years. I particularly loved Shendu's demon-sorcerer family, while Supernatural's Lucifer must be one of my all-time favourite villains in live-action TV. I originally got the idea that became this story around 2015-16, though it was only after I started my serious work on The Storm Hawk and the Dragon that it seemed like it might become a reality.

In this story's world, the characters of either franchise exist in separate alternate universes to each-other which can be reached by spellwork. This story takes place in early 2012 in both universes – so during Season 7 of Supernatural; and it assumes Jackie Chan Adventures begins roughly the year it was released, and so it takes place nine years after the finale. It'll mostly stick to established canon for both universes, but it might get slightly AU in later chapters without any major changes to SPN canon.

This story will be updated roughly every four weeks, give or take.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction using the worlds and characters of Jackie Chan Adventures and Supernatural; and I do not claim any ownership of said worlds and characters. They are the property of Adelaide Productions and Warner Bros respectively. This story is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of either franchise's canon. I am not financially profiting from the creation and publication of this story; it is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline. I am grateful to Jeff Kline, Dong Woo Animation, Eric Kripke, and all associated cast, voice cast and crew who worked on the two programmes; for without either programme, this story would not exist.

So, without further ado, I give you…

The Unburied Demons

Chapter 1: An Evil Alliance

Lightning eternally forked and flashed, no more than five seconds passing in the black void before a patch of its endless expanse lit up, the taut chains glinting though electricity never touched them. Nor did the lightning touched the giant box that the infinite chains held suspended in the blackness, medieval-looking pikes protruding along its roof and bottom's rims.

Through the stone walls' grids of X-shaped openings, the lightning cast odd shapes, banishing the darkness to the box's furthest corners only for it to immediately re-establish itself. Inside, the box was about the size of a modern bedroom, though nothing whatsoever furnished it. There was only a figure in one corner, knees bent in a crouch, grey-shirted back turned to the rest of the dark space. Lucifer would've looked almost peaceful to an observing human, eyes closed above his face's angular nose and cheekbones, the forehead-lines below his light-brown hair almost smoothed out. O was just the likeness of the last-but-one vessel he'd possessed, what limited creatures who couldn't perceive an angel's true form would view.

With a proverbial intake of breath, Lucifer's eyes snapped open, irises shining bright-red before reverting to the blue eye colour, sighing audibly. Raising an index finger, skin unblemished unlike the real vessel had been, Lucifer carefully touched the vertical bar that marked the Cage's corner – then he began drawing his finger vertically down, leaving a pencil-line of sparkling-blue. Lucifer's weakness from siphoning his power this way was next-to-nonexistent, though he knew it would be mild once he'd finished the spell. This spell he'd seen his dad use back in the day, before the family disagreements over humans. God would draw a sigil, pouring a bit of his power into it, and open a rift to Lucifer-didn't-know-where. He'd mainly used it to do away with some of his more tumultuous lab experiments, and he'd pulled it off first try every time – but Lucifer had now been repeating the spell for nearly a year, without result. When he'd returned to the Cage, torturing the little human who'd trapped him had been an oh-so-satisfying time killer – but then his pretty earthly bitch had left, so Lucifer had started replicating his dad's cosmic-porthole spell. But the spell kept failing, no matter how many times Lucifer drew and powered it, waited a while for his batteries to recharge, then tried again. He could only guess something else was needed – maybe some second power source for the doorway on the other side, or some receptacle it needed to latch onto. Lucifer had tried getting Michael to help, to see if two archangels' power would hit the bell, but Michael hadn't said anything to him in a while. So Lucifer had left his brother stewing in his own corner of the Cage, currently invisible to the first five senses, while he tried on his own. The fallen archangel wouldn't stop trying for long – he only had infinity ahead of him to find an escape from his least favourite pit.

In the meantime, briefly thinking of what he'd do if he ever got back to Earth, a thin smile spread on Lucifer's human face. Hunting down the ones who'd trapped him would be somewhere on his to-do list – he'd certainly love to see the horror on their faces. He'd probably kill Dean Winchester quickly, he'd maybe try breaking the Winchesters' pet angel out of his crazy-spell just to break him all over again and quite literally, and Sam he'd do so, so much more to.

No land, no ocean – just sky in all directions, up and down and left right, the image broken only by the many floating rocks. There was no sun or moon, but the sky cast a reddish-orange glow, suspending the Netherworld in a perpetual twilight without night or day. In that dull light, Shendu's green scales looked rather dark, whilst his pupiless red eyes shone bright, making the upright-standing dragon-demon look all the more intimidating. But the demon-sorcerer cared little for his appearance now when it wasn't of use to him - his spike-crowned and tattooed face wearing a savage-looking expression that was close to neutral by his standards, forked tongue hanging above his strong jaw's gleaming lower fangs. He brought his huge, impressively-muscular arm forward, clawed index finger pointed. To the partially-complete symbol Shendu had carved on the rock, he began adding a new, semicircular line.

This spell wasn't very remarkable as far as Shendu knew – it was just a recurring footnote across various magical texts, said to enable escape from any prison in the universe. The catch was, it would only work if someone else, somewhere else was performing the spell in unison with the first practitioner. It would be the latest in many spells Shendu had attempted since returning to the void, but with nothing to kill or subjugate, all Shendu had was trying to escape. If not for the benefits of meditation, and the ability to look out through windows to the earthly realm without touching it, Shendu would have wondered how his siblings had kept their sanity in the Nether-realm for a millennium. They certainly hadn't been happy with him for his inaction throughout their imprisonment, and that hadn't changed in the nine years since he'd returned here. When Shendu's siblings had first become aware of his and Drago's arrival, they'd been eager to sentence him to eternal torment again. Fortunately, with his twelve Talismans restored, this time Shendu could have bitten back nastily if they threw anything his way – and none of them wanted to experience Drago's bite after he'd combined their eight magics. Which meant Shendu was isolated most of the time – these days, he and his kin if they crossed paths only interacted to take their spite out on each-other.

Soon, Shendu's claw-tip finished carving the complete symbol, and the demon-sorcerer took two seconds to assess his work. Mirrored pairs of semicircular curves on top with diagonal lines running inside them; the curving lines flanking a shape resembling a staff, and eye flanked by two snakes. Between and below the curves' diagonal lines, a shape like a Latin 'w' enclosed a pair of fleck-shapes like eyes, and a central trio of small flecks, the 'w'-shape in turn being enclosed by mirrored pairs of lines which formed a trapezoid-like base and legs. Satisfied, Shendu pulled back slightly, jaw firmly closed and fangs hidden as he brought his four-fingered hands together in front of his chest – pinkie fingers interlaced, index and middle fingers crossed.

"Jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun, jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun," Shendu recited in his hoarse, snakelike voice; "jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun, jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun… Jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun, jyu ji wan wai dik si hoi mun…" A thin blue energy-current appeared on Shendu's scales, then a stream of it shot off, taking away a sample of his dark-chi. It blasted and crackled on the rock-carving, then faded. Shendu stood, watching for a reaction. A few seconds passed – then traces of dark-blue lightning forked around the symbol, white light bursting through the carved lines. Slightly gasping air in a hiss, Shendu felt the rock island vibrating under his clawed feet with a tremor. He stepped back, sensing the power building, ears picking up sounds like crackling glass and ripping fabric.

SKREEESH!

Wary, Shendu leapt backwards off the rock, a second before a bright flash burst – the Netherworld's bending gravity made the Fire Demon hurtle in an unnatural curve. Huge feet slamming loudly onto a smaller rock, Shendu righted himself and looked ahead. He stared across a fifty-foot distance at the dark mass on his former island – it was nine feet wide and six feet tall, jagged edges rippling. It looked black inside, but if Shendu looked carefully he could see faint streaks of grey against blackness, angularly sliding in straight lines towards the centre and vanishing, like a screensaver he'd seen on modern computer screens. The way the Nether-realm's very fabric now rippled, tickling Shendu's scales, told him exactly what he'd just opened. It was unbelievable bordering on horrifying – Shendu had torn open not just the Nether-dimension but the very fabric of the entire universe. It made the demon-sorcerer gape in astonishment.

Finishing the sparkling sigil, Lucifer stood, neutral face as cold as early spring in the Cage's gloom, folding his arms. He only had to watch and wait a few seconds, before white light started shining through the sigil's lines, snuffing the angelic glow, and seismic vibrations started running through the Cage. His jaw fell by a couple short inches as he slowly paced left, staring while a sound like hissing ice and ripping cloth filled the air. Abruptly, a jagged, horizontal line of blackness split the air and sigil, then it opened up like a gaping maw. Lucifer stared, blue eyes slightly widening. The space-time tear took up almost half the Cage's interior at nine feet wide, and the jagged edges rippled like it were being seen through water. Inside its borders, streaks of grey travelled against the blackness in angular straight lines towards a centre-point.

The corners of Lucifer's lips slowly moved upward, ajar mouth forming a chilling smile while thunder crashed and lightning flashed. He took two slow steps forward. Raising an index finger, he very-slowly moved it towards the opening – when Lucifer's hand went far enough, it started dissolving into pure-white light, high-pitched true voice manifesting around it. Using his angelic senses, Lucifer could barely make out what was beyond – there was an other side as he'd been confident there'd be, like a pinprick of light at the far end of a tunnel; yet from the way certain magics and energies just cut inside the rift's mouth, it was like it led outside the universe itself. Like Bizarro-World. Lucifer smiled widely, staring unblinkingly. Then he pressed forward, into the grey-streaked backdrop beyond the jagged edges. He continued stepping forward into the grey-and-black, until after three seconds, pure-white light suddenly burst off Lucifer to completely fill the rift's maw with his essence. Then the rift's edges shuddered and it snapped shut on the Cage.

Inches in front of the dark tear, Shendu landed with a thud. Draconic face grim, he raised a clawed hand, and reached forward – the moment Shendu's claw went far enough into the rift, he felt a sensation close to coldness as if every order and energy making up his universe had suddenly ended. It halted Shendu from proceeding further, lower-jaw forming a scowl which a human would've had trouble seeing. He wanted to escape this eternal pit, but if this rift led out of the very universe, would it even take-

A bright pinprick suddenly shone in the rift's dead-centre, making Shendu slightly gasp in surprise before taking a step backwards. The sensitive demon-sorcerer got another sensation – something was pushing against the Nether-realm's mystical currents near the rift, but Shendu could sense no magic behind it. When the sensation amplified, while the pinprick shone brighter, the conclusion seemed obvious and near-certain – something, though Shendu didn't know if it was sentient or just a force, was approaching. He leapt into the air, fluidly landing with his Talismans' aid on a rock fifty feet away. His senses now alerted him to something familiar approaching – but Shendu all but ignored the eight other demons, swimming or diving forth around and behind him.

"Well, well," growled the slightly-deep voice of a horned and winged demon, who flew diagonally overhead from Shendu and nearly destroyed the rock-platform he smashed his feet into. Shendu ignored Drago's dramatics. On his left, Bai Tza hissed, mermaid-like blue body suspended in air, hovering high to make up for her shorter height than him.

"Whatever have you been up to, brother…?" the female Water Demon murmured in her high-pitched raspy voice, her unpleasant tone somewhere between patronising and threatening – the Fire Demon suspected his other siblings were experiencing the same mixed feelings as her.

"This cannot be…!" Dai Gui exclaimed as he leapt with a thud onto a rocky platform, the minotaur-like demon's grating voice awe-filled as he stared ahead.

"But it is…" Hsi Wu murmured, the imp-like demon landing bird-like on the Mountain Demon's rocky shoulder, before she shook him off.

"Hm?!" Tso Lan cocked his semi-insectoid head in a half-alert manner, while Tchang Zu made a growling sigh behind the Moon Demon's shoulder, faint light and a ringing sound touching their faces and senses. White light suddenly burst from the rift's maw in rays, like a star were coming through – the whine rapidly intensified to painful levels. Within seconds, the light was so intense that Shendu cried out and raised an arm to shield his eyes, his brethren nearest him doing the same as the Netherworld's red gave way to white, and as the noise threatened to consume their senses of hearing. Over the noise, Shendu heard Drago growl, maybe heard him summoning fireballs in his hands, before he too yelled over the sound. The light must have been vast in size, easily dwarfing even the largest demon present.

"What… Who is this?!" Po Kong yelled, vexed and disturbed. Shendu could barely see his brethren. The light didn't seem to have a single source anymore, nor did the sound as Shendu turned his head against the whiteness, red eyes squinting – ceaseless light and noise seemed to be all around him, and Shendu felt half the known forces of the universe being pushed back. In seconds, the Fire Demon realised he couldn't see anything else – no even his lower-body. His ear-drums were near bursting. Shendu screamed, raised his half-visible shadow of an arm in front of his face. Then he acted – aided by his Talismans' super-speed, strength and levitation, Shendu's silhouetted blur shot far through the white light in a leaping arc, in what should have been the opposite direction from the rift. Landing in a crouch, Shendu was shocked verging on horrified, as his bipedal body and rocky platform were only half-visible through the whiteness, the noise in his ears barely lessened. And that quickly vanished as whatever undetectable force guiding the light seemed attracted to Shendu, his red eyes widening before white light and noise engulfed everything. Lost in white pain, Shendu was about to attempt verbally talking, but halted when he thought he felt the torment ease. After a pause, sure enough, his vision and hearing eased. Shendu and his rock became visible – so did more rocks further ahead as the light and noise shrunk, then streaks of the Netherworld's red began enclosing. Seeing the ball of light shrinking, Shendu was both disturbed and amazed by how vast it had been – the other demons' silhouettes, when they started re-materialising, confirmed Shendu had leapt the seven-mile distance with the Talismans that he'd anticipated, yet the entity's reach had barely lessened.

Back at the entity's starting point, where Drago un-shielded his glowing eyes, hints of a shape seemed to be visible as the light got smaller – when the light had gotten small enough that most of the rift's island could be made out, Shendu could confirm there was a figure with wing-like shapes there. The fading light retreated into a man, or at least something that looked human, giant feathered wings made of the light forming behind him. Only when the formerly-blinding light's last traces were retreating into the figure's shirt-clad chest, did the wings start to furl and fade away. The new figure slowly turned his head, scanning his surroundings, while the dark reality-tear behind his shoulders shuddered and snapped closed. Human-like as the figure now appeared without his light-wings and the noise, he took in the eight towering and staring demons with seeming indifference.

Lucifer was quite interested. He hadn't known what he'd emerge from the rift to, but it was one of the greatest shocks he'd had in half an eon. There were basic earthly laws of physics around him – an up and down, a left and right – but in terms of the higher metaphysics angels could directly sense; space, time and the energies of this world all felt wrong, like someone had stuck reality in a blender and added a couple other things. The other first thing the archangel was aware of, were the creatures looking like a D&D figurine collection come alive. There were eight in front of Lucifer, on hoverboard-like floating rocks. That number changed, when the one who'd fled with superspeed shot off his rock several miles away, a Superman-style speeding pinprick on the sky. He landed fluidly in a green blur atop a rock island amongst the other creatures. Cool blue eyes scanning them, Lucifer noted that the only things the creatures really had in common were a red-glowing pair of pupiless eyes, and differing animal-like traits. The nine beings watched Lucifer with astonishment and caution, appropriately wary that he'd unleash an explosion or something. It reminded Lucifer how this place felt physical, with real solids and gases rather than imitations, but he was standing and moving in his old vessel's form without an actual vessel – literally all he'd had to do was coalesce himself in a certain way, and his essence had formed a solid human body with clothes. Angular face neutral, Lucifer took two steps forward on his rock-island – almost straight-away, he gave in to the urge to flex one shoulder with a sigh, experiencing the muscle sensations just like he would've in a real vessel. Then he stepped further forward, raising a hand slightly and smiling.

"Uh, hi there!" he said jovially. "Or… Lín-hó?" The entities only let the briefest pause pass, quickly sharing looks amongst themselves. Lucifer might have seen the dragon-one smirk – though it was hard to tell with his face – before his rock-board floated forward with him standing straight-backed. Getting a closer look at him, Lucifer saw he was one of the larger of the gathered creatures, all of which were at least slightly larger than humans. His general appearance, with the elongated face's fin-like whiskers and the markings around his eyes, spoke of eastern culture. He looked to Lucifer like a cross between a tyrannosaur and Godzilla Jr. His body – mainly the arms and broad shoulders – had popping muscles like a bodybuilder would envy. His only garment was what looked like a red-and-purple skirt, with double-jointed legs below and a large tail behind it.

"Greetings, mysterious traveller," the dragon-entity murmured in a sibilant voice. He put a clawed hand to his pectoral chest, bowing his head. "I am Shendu, Demon-sorcerer of Fire."

"It appears we have my fiery brother's spellwork to thank for your arrival." A toad-like creature prevented Shendu from speaking further, slanted eyes looking from his so-called brother back to Lucifer. Almost-immediately, the toad-creature turned his lilac-skinned body – which would've looked emaciated with the gangly limbs, if not for his bulbous, shell-backed torso – to fully face Lucifer. "I am Xiao Fung." He put a hand towards his underside in a similar bow. Xiao Fung had a guttural voice, razor-teeth flashing between his wide mouth's lips when he spoke.

"Allow me to extend the greetings of the rest of our family," murmured the half-man, half-insect creature dressed in flowing robes, a long tongue weaving outside his monstrous mouth as he spoke. "I am Tso Lan of the Moon." He gestured with one of his larger pair of arms – though his voice was smooth and deep like black ink, when he next spoke he upped the volume for drama. "Our sisters, Bai Tza and Po Kong. Our brothers Tchang Zu, Dai Gui and Hsi Wu. The son of my brother, Drago. We are demon-sorcerers, former emperors of the Earth." Emperors of the Earth!? That interested Lucifer, though the closest he came to showing surprise was cocking an eyebrow and a lip's corner up by an inch.

"And you?" asked Drago in a gravelly voice, band-clad arms crossed, tentacle-beard unmoving – he was at least as stocky as Shendu, with similar legs, but his horns and wings looked like Dai Gui and Hsi Wu's. His tone was gently wary, elongated face neutral. For a brief moment, Lucifer's face was also neutral, cool blue eyes shifting as he thought very-briefly.

Slowly spreading his arms for emphasis, he smiled and said, "I'm Lucifer. Morning Star, maker of demons, world's most hated angel, blah-blah – I won't bore you with the titles." At the last part, he held his hands in front of himself and smirked.

"What?" Drago all but squawked, uncrossing his huge arms and scowling. Shendu, whose jaws had been unreadably ajar in what could've been astonishment or nothing, immediately shot the chimera-entity a glare. Tso Lan and the mermaid-creature Bai Tza only narrowed their glowing eyes very-slightly, and all the entities' faces became guarded. So, they mentioned an Earth, and apparently Lucifer's name rang a bell. The plot thickens, Englishmen! Stepping forward on his rock island, Lucifer clasped his hands together and smiled amiably up at his audience.

"So, demon-sorcerers you're called?" he clarified.

"Yes," Shendu hissed lightly.

"It sounds like we might be the Sinister Ten in the making," Lucifer murmured, smirking. "I mean you guys have demon in the name, I made demons back home." He gestured with a four-fingered upward-facing palm from them to himself at the last sentence. The demon-sorcerers turned their heads, sharing looks as some silent communication went on again, not-so-subtly this time.

"Hmm… That might come to pass." Boomed Po Kong. By far the lardy of the litter, the warehouse-sized demon-sorcerer seemed like Miss Trunchbull had eaten a radioactive snack, with her gruff voice and bun hair. Hsi Wu suddenly landed too-close to Drago, making the chimera growl through shark-like teeth at him, though the grey-skinned demon-sorcerer ignored him.

"This realm, you see-" Hsi Wu spread his clawed arms as he spoke in his raspy voice. "-is not our true home." His large eyes were slightly narrowed, and Lucifer could imagine images playing in one of those glowing orbs. "In the earthly realm, at our full power, our kingdoms' strength made us matched only by each-other."

"Until we were banished here!" Dai Gui's voice grated, practically roaring the last word.

"Hm." Lucifer hung his head, nodding it slightly as he chewed the inside of one cheek. "And you want me to…" He briefly paused for drama, flitting his blue eyes slightly sideways. "-Houdini you a way out?"

"We cannot break the locks which keep us here by ourselves," Bai Tza hissed, the tentacle-haired mermaid-monster coiling and swimming in the air like some giant eel, red eyes bright. Her shrill voice sounded oddly like it was being heard underwater without air-bubbles. "But you are an unforeseen factor which our jailers did not expect. We have tasted your alien magic."

"This realm's barriers were never meant to hold a being such as you," Tso Lan said, the flowing-haired demon-sorcerer floating slightly forward. "You can break your way through, and leave the way open for us." At the last part, he laced his four pale hands together in a business-like manner. Lucifer arched his eyebrows and nodded his hung head thoughtfully, pulling a slight face that said, Maybe. After a moment, the expression on his still-hung head turned to a broad smile.

"Help me get this straight, guys," he said, looking at his audience again, nine pairs of red eyes on him. "You want me to Shawshank you out of here, assuming I can – not saying I can't." He said that part quickly, both hands' index fingers pointed in front of himself. Furrowing his brows, Lucifer made a gesture with both hands like he were balancing scales in either. "…What's in it for me?"

"My brothers and sisters want you to realise, we have amassed knowledge of a multitude of magics, hidden in ancient archives in the earthly realm," Shendu murmured, rock floating forward.

"If we were free to reclaim our rightful archives, with our translation, the wealth of knowledge could be useful to you," Hsi Wu said, wagging a clawed finger, raspy voice dipping into a subtle mischievous tone at the last part.

"Or at the very least, make your transition to our universe much more enjoyable," Xiao Fung purred on Lucifer's diagonal side.

"Hm." The sound was so quiet Lucifer himself almost didn't hear it, nestling one arm's elbow in the other hand while he tapped his index finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Question?" he asked suddenly, blue eyes shooting back onto the demon-sorcerers. "The artist behind that thing-" Lucifer turned as he spoke, wagging a finger at the sigil cut into the rock-island's central hump. He turned his torso only halfway and his head all the way back. "-he – or she. Or any one of you guys really, since you're all a family team effort." A two-handed gesture of bringing things together at the last part. "They wouldn't have anything else that can punch through alternate universes?" Shendu floated forward again, now the closest demon-sorcerer to Lucifer on his island, eyes narrowed as he met the archangel's gaze in a somewhat serious manner.

"That spell was a mere footnote in my texts," he murmured. A second pause, before Lucifer let a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, gentle but cold blue eyes holding the demon-sorcerer's unblinkingly.

"Do we have a deal?" Xiao Fung purred expectantly – the grinning shape of his dark-lipped mouth didn't look so much like it was just the amphibian facial structure. Blinking once as he turned his eyes, Lucifer responded with a look as cold as winter.

Though it was early spring, the grey clouds only covered half the San Francisco sky, blue breaking through in patches. A small cacophony of muttering was in the air, seven miles across the cityscape from the Golden Gate Bridge. At rush hour, the bus terminal was packed with people, inside the glass walls and on the sheltered parking bays' pavements.

"JACKIE!" The round-nosed, square-jawed man winced, clenching the bus route brochure he'd been reading. Turning, he saw the thin, elderly man in a sleeveless yellow fleece, marching through the crowd. "Station shop has no garlic! Uncle told you to bring garlic!"

"Uncle, I thought you would stay in the car?" Jackie said, rubbing his nape through his neck-length, wavy hair which was just greying at the temples.

"One more thing: It is too quiet in car!" Uncle shrieked the last words, clearly audible over the crowd-noise.

"Well, we can both be here when the bus arrives," Jackie said, smiling with hopefulness. A pause passed in which Uncle turned his head, looking around.

"Ai ya!" the old man exclaimed, clutching his tousled grey hair with both hands. "It is TOO LOUD!" Several heads were turning, making Jackie wave and grin nervously. The younger Chinese man looked at the terminal's overhead clock – sixteen minutes past ten – then checked his wristwatch read the same.

"It should be here about now," Jackie said – before quickly looked back at the brochure, re-checking the parking bays.

"Heh! Uncle asks for garlic, shop girl suggests Uncle take garlic sauce!" Uncle muttered, arms folded and nose held stubbornly high.

"Perhaps she thought you were looking for a condiment," Jackie suggested gently, before burying half his face in the brochure.

"Garlic is NOT condiment!" Uncle yelled. He'd been particularly bad as of late, and Jackie suspected the changing season alongside Uncle's age were responsible. Not four seconds after Uncle's outburst, a coach pulled in two feet in front of Jackie, and passengers started filing out. Third off was a thin, young Asian woman, wearing a high-waisted purple jacket over a plain shirt with denim jeans, backpack slung over one shoulder. Her light-brown eyes found the men almost-immediately.

"Jade," they greeted greeted her in unison, smiling. The Chan woman smiled as her younger uncle approached.

"Hey, Jackie!" she said as she removed her backpack, wrapping him in a hug.

"You've grown an inch since you last visited!" Jackie quipped, pulling slightly back to look at the woman who stood at his eye-level.

"I doubt it; you're exaggerating," Jade said, rolling her eyes, before pointing and smiling. "And you look the same as ever, Unc."

"Oh, I wouldn't say he's the same person on the inside," Jackie murmured.

"Because changed Uncle would not complain about having no GARLIC!" Uncle screeched behind Jackie's shoulder, making the aged archaeologist wince and groan, before resuming his smile.

"You grew your hair long?" Jade inquired, pointing.

"Actually, I've been keeping it long for three years," Jackie said – he nearly put a hand to it, before the ghostly hints of mischief in Jade's eyebrows and her smile's corners stopped him. "Er… Tohru is preparing a welcome-home party." He regained his smile as he said, "You must tell us about your college work in Hong Kong."

"A welcome back?" Jade said, surprised, before quirking an eyebrow. "He knows I'm only back for the week, right? I've still got a graduate course to finish."

"Well, it has been a while," Jackie said, smiling.

"Uncle was very firm about making shop adequate for niece's return!" Uncle said, finger raised.

"Captain Black has even organised a Section 13 welcome-back party of his own later today," Jackie added, turning to walk with Jade and Uncle.

"He did what?!"

"I hope you don't mind that we let him in on your return…" Jackie's voice was lost among the sound of the crowded bay as the three walked back towards the terminal's glass walls. High above, grey clouds were slowly thickening. A rumble like thunder rolled over the city while white light flashed – not a flickering burst of light, but a serpentine white patch which crawled through the clouds like an eel through marine trenches.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think – I do appreciate knowing how my readers react and respond. :)

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!