Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown.

In this chapter, Chase is getting worse, but just when he's about to say something, Blaise realises what he's up to.

A Mouse Always Runs.

Chase thought about it. Why had I taken my armour off? Well obviously because it had been to hot, but somehow he felt that that wasn't the real reason. He wanted to do things to Blaise that were to hard to put into words, he wanted to tell her how her skin felt on his hands, to tell her that he needed to feel his bare skin against hers, but part of him knew that she wouldn't appreciate him saying this.

"It was pestering me." He put it simply. If he had to explain how he felt…

"Oh… kay…?" Blaise's eyebrows were raised, but she just sat down on the small patch of grass nearby and looked at him, studying him almost. The grass flicked about her legs and there was tiny daisy just at the edge of her ankle.

He suddenly felt dirty. He rubbed his hands together, but it didn't make him feel clean. He stared at Blaise, he really looked at her, staring into her rather than through her. Thoughts were rushing through his head, thoughts of Blaise…

His face went a little darker. He smirked widely. He was enjoying these thoughts. He still felt wrong to think this way, but it has been such a long time…

"Chase… are you okay?" Blaise looked a little frightened and concerned. Chase smirked again and nodded. He thought of her back arched, her breasts thrust out, her fingernails digging into the bed-sheets and shook his head slightly.

He sat down beside her. The grass made a soft crunching noise as he sat down. She swung an arm around his shoulders.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am fine, just a little tired and that armour is heavy." He thrust his shoulders back so they cracked.

"Here, let me massage your shoulders."

Another mental picture raced through his head, her hands grabbing his shoulders, her head buried in his chest, gasping for air. His cheeks went slightly red, but not enough for Blaise to notice.

She got up and knelt behind him, very gently running her fingers along his shoulders and down his spine. Using her nails, she ran them along his shoulder blades and around the nape of his neck. It was very relaxing and slightly ticklish. Now and again she would squeeze the tips of his shoulders and the sides of his neck. She ran her fingers up his scalp and down to his neck, pressing her thumbs down on the spot just before his spine juts out slightly. Chase jerked his head to crack his neck. She used her nails to tickle the nape of his neck and very gently ran them along his collarbone. He shivered slightly. It felt good.

Blaise stopped and sat back down beside him. She continued to run her nails along his spine, up and down.

"Do you feel any better?"

"Much better… thank you." In fact, he didn't feel much better at all. It took much more than fighting and armours to wear him out. He could think of other places she could massage, but he didn't dare say that. He valued their friendship more than that, but his thoughts were getting the better of him. These thoughts… how badly he wanted them to be true.

"What time is it?" Blaise flicked her half purple hair, half blonde out of her eyes. Chase grinned. Her soft pastel lips were slightly parted and her long eyelashes flicked so high they touched her eyebrows. Those lips…

Checking the clock tower just to the left foreground of the cave, he said, "It's only 3:15. You have plenty of time."

"Plenty of time for what?" she laughed.

"For me." He put his hands behind his head and lay back in the cool grass. It felt cold under his t-shirt. Just out of the corner of his eye, Wuya was watching, her ghostly form shimmering in the light. Blaise either didn't notice, or didn't care. Wuya had never been too kind to her. Wuya thought she was too bubbly and happy for Chase. She was a right, but Chase enjoyed her company because he got tired of constant dark and evil people surrounding him, asking him questions and trying to tell him that they had what it took to rule the earth. It got excessively frustrating to find someone who could just be. Blaise was always herself, she would never try to be something she is not and it was that exact thing that had made Chase talk to her.

Blaise lay beside him.

"Don't you ever get lonely here?" she asked, "I mean… Wuya can't be the best companion at times. How you can even stand the smell is just beyond me."

Chase smirked again. "That's why I have you. And you get used to the smell after a while."

She laughed and then gasped. "Chase? Making a joke? This cannot be!" Wuya looked murderous.

"Funny, it's not a joke."

Blaise sat up and stared at him for a few seconds and laughed. Slumping back down and sighing, she played with a few blades of grass by splitting them down the middle.

Chase looked over. Her right leg was bent and her left was flat on the ground. Her baggy trousers hid the surprises inside. The temptation to run his hands up and down her legs, just to see what they felt like was overwhelming. Her slightly muscular arms were above her head, her delicate hands tearing strips of grass apart. Closing his eyes, a wide smile spread across his face as he thought about what's under those clothes and how soft her skin must be.

Seeing his smile, Blaise sat up and asked, "A penny for your thoughts?"

Too lost in a fantasy, Chase heard nothing but the noises inside his head.

Going closer to him, whispering in his ear gently "Cha-ase?"

Feeling her warm breath in his ear, he murmured to acknowledge that he had heard her.

"What are you thinking about? You're very quiet."

Not thinking he said, "I'm thinking about you."

Blaise gasped. "Oh God, I don't wanna know! Ugh!"

She stood up quickly and began to walk away. Just realising what he had said, Chase stood up too and went after her.

"It's nothing like that!" He cried.

"Oh sure, just a big smile spread across your face and you say you're thinking about me?" She was shouting at him. "So tell me oh-great-innocent-one, what were you thinking about?"

He could think of nothing. His mind went blank. He scratched the back of his head, searching for answers. Not one excuse came.

"Okay, so maybe it was sort of like that but-"

"Aww Christ!" She interrupted him.

"But it was nothing horrible, I swear to you!" He took her left hand and looked into her eyes. "I swear to you." He repeated.

Blaise looked very hard at him. "You swear?"

"Yes!" He loved how soft her hands were, so he used both his hands and rubbed her palm and the top of her hand at the same time. The tips of his fingers bumped off something on her wrist. It felt like a chain, like metal, and it gave a faint jingle when he pushed it back slightly. He looked at her wrist, confused. Nothing was there.

"Good." She breathed. When she felt him bumping off whatever was on her wrist she tore her hand away and clutched it.

"What was that?" He gave her an odd look. Wuya shifted.

"Nothing, just the bones in my hand, I'm a little sensitive about it okay?" She said, a little too quickly. It was easy to tell she was lying.

"It felt like metal. Tell me what it is!" Chase was getting impatient. The only thing he hated worse than a liar was a bad liar.

"It's nothing, okay! Drop it!" She was trying to focus her magic.

"Wait… that's the ver-"

"It's nothing! Look, I gotta go now. I'll see you around, Chase." She raised her left hand into the air and brought it fiercely down, opening a portal (as the Golden Tiger Claws would) to her home and she stepped through it.

"BLAISE! Get back here!" Chase ran to catch her, but the portal closed before he could grab her arm. Wuya flew over to him. He viciously kicked over a beautiful remake statue of the Greek God Athena and reduced it to rubble.

"GODDAMIT!" He shouted.

"You know what that was on her arm don't you?" Wuya asked.

"Of course I know what it was!" He snapped. "Don't you think I realised at the exact moment I touched it?"

"Then why is it not active? Why does she wear it if it is not active?"

"How am I supposed to know? All I know is…" his eyes took on a sudden dark look, "that Blaise has it. Blaise has had the Vermillion Bracelet all along."