Curiosity got the better of Chase, for once in a few hundred years, and he went to the hotel where Jack and his mother were staying while they finished all the details about their estate.
He had always known that Jack's family was wealthy (all those robot parts were definitely not free, he was well aware of that) but it still surprised him when he realized just how wealthy they were. Spicer certainly had never acted the part of a bratty rich kid. Only a pampered and scaredy one.
"Chase! Hi!" called a voice from across the room, and Chase knew Miranda Spicer had spotted him. He rolled his eyes and went up to her at the bar. He had hoped to slip in unnoticed, but the security had been too tight. Most of it courtesy of Jack, of course. He could recognize his traps and alarms anywhere.
"Hello, Ms. Spicer. You seem well," he said.
Miranda sighed. "That's a surprise," she said. "But here, come sit with me. Jack will be down in a few minutes. He needed some alone time. Let me buy you a drink while he comes."
Chase sat down next to her and ordered a glass of wine. Better for Spicer to find them talking than for him to get any ideas of him having done something to her. Spicer seemed like a taut string. Any more pressure and he would snap. And that would not serve any of Chase's interests.
"I saw you at the funeral," she said. "Thank you for coming. I didn't approach want to approach you while you were talking with Jack, but…that was a nice gesture."
"I was only presenting my respects, ma'am. I am truly sorry for your loss. I know it must be very painful for you. You must be heartbroken."
Miranda didn't respond. She looked down at her martini glass, until tears overflowed from her eyes.
"Thank you," she said, wiping her tears away. "Thank you so much Chase. You're the first person that has told me that. And I…it's true. I don't care what anyone thinks or says. I loved Lionel. God, I still love him so much, I can't. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I think of him all the time."
Chase almost lifted an eyebrow at that. He had heard about their divorce from Omi, when he had explained Jack's anger during the battle.
Miranda kept talking. "But now that everyone knows about the divorce, they think I didn't love him. But I still loved him. Even after everything that happened."
"You were going to get divorced? Sp- Jack didn't tell me anything," said Chase. Which wasn't a lie at all.
"We were. We were finishing the details about it, but we postponed it because I couldn't go through with it. This was our third attempt at getting divorced, and we had even told Jack about it. But in the end I couldn't bear it. I begged him for us to try again. I loved him. He loved me. Or at least, he said so in his stupid letter," she said, and downed her martini. "So why couldn't we make it work? I don't know. I think…I think love just isn't enough sometimes. It won't get you through the worst of life. Hell, it didn't get us through the best of life. And we had the best of the best," she turned to look at Chase. "Love is not enough Chase. Keep that in mind now that you're young."
Chase couldn't help to smile at that, but he hid it by taking a drink of his wine.
"You will remember my words some day," she said. "Oh, but you seem like such a serious and responsible young man. You will make someone very happy some day. I'm so happy that Jack met you somehow. I feel like you're good for him, even if Lionel disliked you. But I think Lionel thought I was hitting on you," she said.
Chase nearly choked on his wine. "H-he what?" he sputtered.
She stood up, and wobbled a little on her feet. The smell of alcohol from her was overwhelming. "Oh, don't worry. We each used to think the worst of each other most of the time. And the best of each other occasionally. It was enough for a time. But then it was not. Being a parent, you're supposed to be the best you can be. And we never could. It's a sad thought. That I failed as a mother. But I guess you have to live with your decisions, and hope for the best." She patted his arm. "Now, where is that boy? I bet he's still fighting with the management board. Ah~ I don't deserve him. You wait here just a minute."
She passed a hand through her hair, and left with wobbly steps.
Chase stayed at the bar, looking at his reflection on the glass. A failure as a mother. That was an interesting thought. And one that he had never thought of. He thought back to the tiny green tunic back at his lair. When he had gone back home, that was the only thing that he had found. No traces of his mother, or his father, and his older brother Eon had never mentioned them again.
What would Eon tell him now? Nothing, probably. And how could Chase ever breach the topic anyway?
'Did our mother ever tell you that she felt like a failure when I switched to the side of evil?' Not a good conversation starter.
And in the end, she might not have said anything at all. He dug back into the farthest memories of his childhood, but all he could remember of her was a silent figure. Observing. Closed off into herself.
If Miranda Spicer was a raging fire of highly destructive motherly affection, Chase's mother had been a silent rock of motherly presence. It was there. Dependable. Cold.
In truth he hadn't thought about how she would feel about his shift to the evil side, because you didn't usually consider the feelings of a rock.
He could almost feel Eon's judgmental stare down his back. But then again, Chase would just laugh at him. 'See? I was evil from the start', he would tell him.
Eon would be so disappointed.
"That wasn't much time at all," said Spicer, approaching him.
Chase's eyes went straight at his right hand, where he held the extendable metal spear that he had used the last couple times they had fought.
"I didn't come to fight you Spicer. You can put that down," he said, taking a sip from his glass.
"Oh, so you just dropped by for a nice chat?" he asked, but the anger in his voice flaked around the middle.
Miranda's words came back to Chase's mind. 'Love is not enough'. And when he looked in Jack's eyes, he thought that maybe that was what Jack had realized.
"Sit down Spicer, you're attracting too much attention," said Chase, motioning to the seat next to him at the bar.
Jack grumbled, but did as he was told. The barman approached them, asking if he could offer him anything. Jack hesitated.
"Uhm, a mineral water please," he said without much conviction.
The barman lifted his eyebrows at him.
"Didn't you hear him?" growled Chase.
The barman paled, but left to fetch it for Jack.
"Well, aren't you acting out the gentleman part now?" said Jack. "I'm not my mother, you know? I know you're not a gentleman. You're not even human."
"It never seemed to bother you before," said Chase, trying to pretend like he didn't care about his words.
The barman returned with Jack's water. "Hmph. I was stupid back then," he said.
"You were a lovestruck fool," said Chase, and delighted in the way Jack actually did choke on his water.
He turned to Chase, with a completely red face. "F-fuck you," he said, and looked away.
"So you were," said Chase.
"Was. In the past, and it doesn't matter anymore," said Jack. "Anyway, what do you want?"
Chase swirled his wine. What did he want? To keep pressing on Spicer's buttons? To see if he had truly become strong, or had just given up on everything?
"Free Wuya," he said. It seemed like a good thing to ask for. He was planning to free her himself, after all.
"What? No way," said Jack, shaking his head.
"I can free her myself. I am merely extending you a courtesy, considering your silly interest in me."
"Well then don't extend me no shit. There's no way I'll free Wuya, and there's no way you'll free her yourself," said Jack. "And I don't need your pity."
Chase scoffed at him. "Pity? Aren't you supposed to be my number 1 fan? You better than anyone should know. I feel no pity."
"Then…why?"
Why indeed. Chase wondered that himself.
"Respect," he said finally, and it wasn't a lie. It was just half of the truth. "You have become worthy of respect as an opponent."
"Respect," repeated Jack, looking down at his glass of water. He took a deep breath, and then looked up at the great mirror behind the bar. "You know what's funny, but not really? I don't care. I feel nothing. Nothing at all. Is this how you felt? All those times I threw myself at your feet?"
"No," said Chase. Confusion. Anger. Hope. Disappointment. He had felt a lot of things. Most of them bad.
"Whatever. Look, if you really want to be a honorable knight, just go and…give me more time," said Jack, getting up and walking away from Chase.
Chase gritted his teeth. More time? For what? To keep dying inside?