Jack sighed. It had been four days since his father's untimely appearance. The old man was gone again, off to either Malaysia or Polynesia or Micronesia or somewhere like that. Jack didn't really care where his father went. His only concern was when he came back.
In a few days, the albino teenager would get a present sent to him as an apology. It was a routine he had become familiar with; get roughed up and belittled, win a fabulous prize!
At the moment, though, he was starting to understand why fathers beat their kids.
"Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack."
Just over and over again, Jack marvelled. Like he could keep it up all day.
"Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack. Jaaaaaack. Jaaaaaack. Jaaaaaack."
And here I'm trying to make him some better weapons so we can re-take his castle and does he let me work in peace? No.
"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack."
Not that I would ever beat my kid.
"Jaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Jaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaack."
"What?!" Spicer roared, whirling away from his workbench.
Little Chase was standing at the bottom of the stairs, Jack Bear tucked under one arm and an innocent look on his face.
"Hi." The dragon lord announced. This done, the child giggled and ran back up the stairs.
A muscle under Jack's eye started to twitch.
Oh yeah. He would never beat his kids.
But he understood.
Rolling his neck to try to relieve the tension, Jack turned back to his work. He was trying to come up with weapons that would counter-act Chase's total lack of strength. He had some neat breakthroughs with an ionized wire that was like a pocketknife light saber, but with Chase reverting to childhood, the goth genius wasn't sure he trusted the boy with it.
Chase may have been trying to hide the changes his mind was going through, but after Little Chase's meltdown over the Scary Man at Breakfast, Jack had put two and two together. Little Chase could be really cute when he wasn't dead set on annoying his caretaker to death. But Jack was starting to get concerned over how much Little Chase was the one in charge.
"Jack."
The young albino man hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
"What is it, Chase?" He asked in the sweetest tone he could manage.
"What's this for?" Something thunked down the stairs as Chase returned to the basement.
Jack looked over his shoulder at the object Chase cradled against his chest. The tall column dragged along the floor when the shrunken warlord walked, leaving the gold-painted figure at the top right at Chase's eye level. At first Jack didn't recognize it. He hadn't seen the thing in about seven years.
"That's a skiing trophy, Chase."
"It was in your closet."
"Yeah, I won it a long time ago."
Jack turned back to his work. It would have been . . . let's see, going on eight years since Jack Spicer had been a familiar sight on the slopes of Aspen. For three years previous, Jack spent every day that was cold enough for snow under the tutelage of a ski or snowboarding instructor, or even a figure skating coach. There was talk of Olympic hope, or a career as a professional snowboarder, or something else dashing and dramatic and cool.
Then it turned his mom had been nailing the lodge owner.
Apparently Jack could have been laying in a ditch somewhere for all it mattered, as long as Mom had her alone time with . . . . James or Hans or whatever his name had been.
Kinda cast a pall over Jack's winter sports activities.
"I wanna go!" Chase announced, jerking Spicer back into the present.
"Go? Go where?" Jack asked, turning away from his work yet again.
Chase hefted the trophy.
"You want to go skiing?" Jack asked.
Chase nodded eagerly.
"Do you even know how to ski?"
"No. But you can teach me!" Chase lifted the cheap prize over his head. "You're great at it! You have trophies."
"Omi, why should we even care? Jack was the one who had a kid. And he's evil." Raimundo stressed. "Why do you want to go help him?"
"It is true Jack is weak and misguided, but he will be having much difficulties with a child, since he has no wife to care for the boy." Omi paused. "You never explained how Jack could have a child without being married, ei-"
"Little partner's got a point!" Clay said quickly. "Bein' a single parent's hard enough, but it sounds like Jack's daddy ain't too happy about what happened. He's gotta be havin' a hard time about now."
"I'm not babysitting some brat that carries the dreaded Spicer genes!" Kimiko declared. "Jack made his bed and then – did things in it," the Japanese girl censored herself, glancing at Omi. "He can lie in it!"
"Look at it this way." Clay said. "Jack's flirted with joining the side of Good before. If we go help him out when he's at his worst, he might come over to the Xiaolin side and bring his Little Chase with him. If not, then in a few years we've got a father-son team of evil on our hands."
"You just want somebody to play Cowboys and Indians with you!" Raimundo retorted. "I saw you getting all your toys together!"
"I had not thought of that!" Omi cried. "Yes! This could turn Jack Spicer to the side of Good! We must go attend to him in his darkest hour!"
"Oh Jenny, isn't that the most adorable thing you've ever seen in your life?"
"Awwwww!"
A small group of young women, the daughters of wealth and privilege, cooed in delight at the sight of the pair on the bunny slope.
Jack Spicer wore his black ski suit, the high tech material hugging his lean form pleasantly. He had his signature goggles pushed up around his hairline, the straps augmented with black earmuffs. Such accessories weren't unusual on a ski slope.
Usually Jack preferred snowboarding, but since he was teaching Chase, he opted for normal skis this time. A pair of long black skis were strapped to his feet, the dark slashes against the snow surrounding Chase Young protectively.
Chase was bundled up tightly in a green and black snowsuit, and since Jack seriously hadn't been able to resist, a warm cap with a trailing crest made to look like a dragon's tail was tied under the evil overlord's chin.
Chase was wobbling his way down the bunny slope, clutching Jack's hands tightly. The albino youth stood just behind the shrunken warlord, leaning over the child so his hands would reach down far enough. Jack's skis were turned so far inward in an effort to keep his speed to Chase's that the tips nearly touched.
"Young fathers are so cute!"
Jack looked up at the exclamation. There were a group of women on the balcony of the nearby ski lodge, watching the beginners on the bunny slope. To his surprise, they were all looking at him. A few waved.
A self-conscious blush crept across the pale youth's face. He waved a couple of free fingers at them.
"Jack!" Chase had just lost his balance and squealed out his teacher's name as his skis started down the slope without him.
"I've got you!" Spicer assured the child. He tightened his grip on Chase's hands and pulled him back upright. "If that ever happens when I'm not holding on to you, just sit down, okay?"
"I have to do this by myself?!" The dragon lord asked in disbelief.
"Well yeah!" Jack laughed.
To his credit, even as little kid, Chase was no coward. He got his feet under him, then s-l-o-w-l-y let go of first one of Jack's hands, then the other. He stood there, getting used to the feel of the skis. Before the child could protest, Jack straightened up, straightened his skis out, and neatly ski'd over the top of Chase's head. The little boy gaped as his caretaker, teacher, and all-around hero started down the slope.
"Jack!" He screeched.
The pale youth coasted down the hill about twenty feet, then twisted sideways to bring himself to a halt.
"I'm not going any further. Ski to me, Chase!"
Chase whimpered, giving Jack a pleading look.
"You can do it, Chase! I know you can!" Jack held out his arms invitingly.
Chase Young stared at the pale young man on the hill below him. Jack stood tall and strong, totally at ease in this environment. His normally harried red eyes were calm, confident, and amused. He balanced so easily and freely on these strange contraptions. Pretty girls were waving at him and Jack still took the time to teach Chase to do it on his own.
Little Chase felt an ache deep inside of him; like he'd never be half as cool as Jack Spicer.
Some part of his mind protested this thought, but Little Chase ignored it.
"Come on, Chase." Jack crouched down so the shrunken warlord could ski straight into his arms. "Remember what I said: straighten your skis to go forward, bring your toes together to slow down and sit down to stop."
Trembling, reaching forward, the little boy straightened his skis and started down the slope towards Jack. Spicer grinned broadly, his expression one of utter joy. Little Chase smacked solidly into his chest with a 'whump'. The little imp's eyes were aglow as he looked up at Jack.
"I did it!"
"You did it! I knew you could, Chase! I believed in you!" The albino youth agreed, cuddling the boy close.
"Aawwwwww," cooed the group on the balcony.
The next hour or so passed in much the same manner; Jack would flit around the slope like a very somberly dress snow hare, coaxing Chase through his lessons until the tot was skiing down the entire bunny slope on his own. Jack always hovered close just in case.
"Wow, Chase, you're great! You'll be better than me, soon!" Spicer cried, applauding as Chase reached the bottom of the bunny slope once again.
"Nuh-uh." Chase giggled, grinning.
The child paused and looked around, the tail of his hat swinging around as if it were wagging.
"Jaaaaack, I'm hungry and cold." He whined suddenly.
"Hungry and cold, huh?" Jack took stock of their location. There was the lodge overlooking the beginner's area, but Spicer remembered there was a restaurant on the very peak. When he had been a regular to the slopes, that restaurant was reserved for the elite of the elite. Not only did you have to be able to afford it, you had to be cool enough.
Jack's mother had refused to take him there.
But this time, Jack Spicer was cool enough.
"Wow, Jack, look, look!" Chase squealed, pointing over Spicer's shoulder. The albino youth chuckled. The warlord-turned-toddler was getting his first ride in a cable car and was nearly beside himself with joy.
There were several ways to get to the peak, but with Chase already complaining of the cold, Jack had foregone the normal open air ski lift and bought them tickets on the sky tram. The cozy, enclosed cars hung from stout cables and would be a safe and restful way to get them both to the top of the mountain.
Or so Jack thought.
Shortly into the ride, Jack had to get up from his seat to catch Chase, who was darting back and forth from one side to the other, trying to see out both at once. Not only were the other riders starting to give them that 'my kid would never do that' look, Chase's motion had set the car rocking slightly and some of the others were looking a bit green.
Now the shrunken warlord was safely corralled in Jack's lap, where his destructive tenancies were limited to stomping on Jack's groin with his ski boots. Spicer winced as Chase dug a toe into his family jewels as the tot craned his neck to look out of the windows.
"We get to eat dinner all the way at the top?!"
"We sure do."
Jack swept a hand under the dragon lord's knees and twisted his shoulders around, ending up with the world's greatest warrior cradled in his lap like a baby.
"Know what?" He asked the child. "Once I snuck up to the peak when my teacher wasn't watching, and I skied the triple black diamond trail all the way back down and didn't fall once."
"Wow." Chase breathed, his gold eyes wide.
"They closed that trail last year." A young man with jet black hair peeking out from under his ski cap announced. "There was a really massive avalanche and part of the mountain just fell off."
"'Fell off'?" Jack echoed.
"Yeah, it just dropped straight down into a gorge. It looks like the Alps back there."
"Was that where they used to have the ski jumps?" Asked a woman in her mid-thirties.
"Mmm-hmm. There's just this one jump left hanging out over the abyss like: Who dares jump the gorge?!"
This drew a chuckle from most of the riders. Jet Black Hair started up a conversation about the best trails in the area with a few other riders. Jack noticed Chase was suspiciously quiet and looked down to see the dragon lord drifting off to sleep. Spicer grinned. It stood to reason that Little Chase would be tired; they had a long day. After dinner they would go home and get some sleep. Jack hoped the little boy wouldn't cry when it was time to leave; God knows he always had. It would be some kind of karmic revenge if he had to deal with the same tricks he had pulled as a kid.
"You know what's great to see?"
Jack looked up to see Mid-Thirties Woman smiling at him warmly.
"What?"
"It's great to see a young parent actually taking care of his child instead of just foisting them off on a nanny," She said. She didn't question whether or not Jack could afford a nanny; if he was here, he had money.
"And actually taking their kid along with them." Said the man sitting next to her. He looked about the same age as Jack's father, but was still quite handsome in a Robert Redford-y kind of way.
"When I was your age, these lodges and clubs always had children around. They learned what was expected of them and the proper way to behave around their peers and elders. Now you're lucky to see a child under fifteen and they're usually spoiled brats because they've been isolated from everyone but their babysitters for most of their lives."
That was on the nose, Jack thought with a slight grimace. Robert Redford-y Man saw the look and laughed.
"Sorry, lad, did I just describe your childhood?"
"To a 'T'," Jack sighed, looking down at Chase. "That's why I didn't want that for him."
"He's so cute." Mid-Thirties Woman interjected. "How old is he?"
"Four."
"He doesn't call you 'daddy'." Robert Redford-y Man observed.
Jack sighed. What the hell, everyone assumed Chase was his son anyway; why fight it?
"He lived with his mother until recently. Then she basically dropped him with me and said she never wanted to see either of us ever again." The lie dropped quite easily from Jack Spicer's lips. "He doesn't really know me as his father."
The cable car jerked. Chase's eyes popped open wide.
"It's okay," Jack told the boy. "We're at the top. Now they have to pull the car up to the door so we can get off safely."
Chase didn't answer, just stared up at Jack for a moment. Then his eyes drifted close again. Around them, the other passengers began to gather their skis and other effects.
"That's too bad; I imagine there was trouble because you're so young?" Mid-Thirties Woman asked. Jack nodded. "Well, at least you know you'll never have to let him go."
Spicer gave a sad smile. Little did she know.
Jack shifted Chase against his shoulder so he could have one hand free to pick up their skis and head into the restaurant. There was an airlock where patrons could stash their skis and boots and change into soft slipper-type boots provided by the restaurant. Chase was roused again when his footwear was changed. As Jack hefted the sleepy child back to his shoulder, Real Chase managed to make an appearance.
"How long do you plan on holding me like this, Spicer?" He growled, fighting his body's urge for sleep.
"Just until the Stockholm Syndrome sets in," Jack quipped.
Something that might have been a laugh escaped from the sleepy dragon lord, then Chase was gone again. The hostess prepared to greet them with her usual smile, but stopped and let out a subdued squeal.
"Oh My God, she's sooooo cute!" The girl gasped.
"He." Jack corrected.
"He's so cute! Awwwww," The girl's gaze flicked downward suddenly, then she gave Jack a warm, inviting smile.
'Did she just check for a wedding ring?' Jack wondered. What the hell; first the women on the balcony, then that lady on the cable car, now this hostess. Jack was girl candy today.
"Is there somewhere quiet I could sit with him for a few minutes? I'd like to let him sleep a little more so he's not cranky when he wakes up." Jack asked.
"Oh, sure! Come on and sit by the fireplace. Normally this is where people wait for a table to open up, but it's off-season, so there's not too many people here yet." She led him down a few steps behind the bar to an open great room. A fireplace nearly twelve feet tall would have dominated the room, but where the walls should have been floor to ceiling picture windows looked out over the mountain range.
Jack chose an overstuffed armchair near the fireplace and settled in.
"Do you want something to drink?" The hostess asked. "Maybe some cocoa for the little one?"
"Cocoa sounds good. I'll take a cappuccino."
Another brilliant smile and she disappeared back to serve the other patrons.
Wow. Who knew toting a kid around suddenly turned you into every woman's dream? Even without that, Jack had a blast today. Teaching Little Chase, playing with him, even being annoyed by him was kind of funny in hindsight. Jack brushed a stray lock of black hair back up under Chase's hat. Being responsible for a child, protecting him, caring for him; it made Jack feel stronger, bigger, somehow much more adult.
Jack was really going to miss this feeling when Chase was restored to his normal age.
Then again . . .
. . . Did he have to be returned to normal?
Red eyes widened as Jack let the thought steal over him. If he just kept Chase the way he was, Little Chase would take over completely. Jack was the only caretaker the boy had ever known; he would accept it if Jack told him he actually was the boy's father. Nana already thought the child was his; it wouldn't be too hard to whip up a fake DNA test to prove it. A sobbing confession of stupidity a few years ago would have his mother accepting Chase as her grandchild with open arms. His father . . . well, his father would alternately be enraged that he had conceived a child and relieved that Jack was (semi) straight.
Then Chase would be his. Chase Young would love him. Sure, it wasn't the kind of love Jack had first wanted, but love was love! By the time he was grown again, the bond between them would be iron-clad. They could rule the world together as father and son.
A smile spread slowly across Jack's face.
The hostess came back with Jack's coffee and Chase's cocoa.
"I just can't get over how cute he is!" The girl said. "What's his name?"
"Chase." Jack answered with a proud grin. "His name is Chase Young Spicer."