Oh my god a new chapter!? About time, I know. . I only own the story and my OCs! Also there was a question about when the Heylin side will find out about Jack's power which that should be within the next chapter or two. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

Family Woes

If there was ever a time when Jack wanted to constantly bash his head against the wall, it was at the exact moment he allowed his cousin into his home. It wasn't like he didn't like his cousin; by all means he adored having Danni visit him. She just had a tendency to become a little over protective when it came to her 'baby cousin' and she was also accident prone. That and she was a bit of a psycho (Yet no one believes that she is!). Jack could already feel a slight headache forming from the thought of all the chaos that was bound to happen during Danni's visit.

Sandra "Danni" Spicer was a fairly pretty young woman. She had long, wavy dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. Two strips of hair came down to her chin, framing her heart shaped face. Her eyes were a golden brown that seemed to change shade depending on her mood. In height, the top of her head came about to Jack's chin. She was dressed in faded blue jeans that were held up by a black leather belt, her black and white long-sleeved shirt fit snug against her thin frame. The long white sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. Her hands were clad in black fingerless gloves and hanging around her neck was a pair of yellow goggles that were an exact copy of Jack's own.

Jack frowned, reaching up on top of his head to find nothing but his red locks. He sighed as he silently wished that he hadn't lost his signature spiral goggles. He really loved those goggles…

"You know, I been having a craving for some pasta, preferably some Chicken Alfredo. It's too bad all I keep finding is instant ramen. I swear, I have no idea how you could stomach this crap!" Danni said shuttering after she closed another cabinet filled to the top with 'crappy food' as she had put it. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Really, it's not like I asked your opinion on the food I eat!" He snapped, clearly annoyed with the older Spicer. Danni just giggled and started to search through his refrigerator.

"Yeah, I know, but isn't nice of me to state my opinion to you anyway?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Well too bad!" She turned back to face Jack and stuck out her tongue at the red-head. She closed the refrigerator door behind her once she found herself a snack- that happened to be one of Jack's pudding cups- which would satisfy her hunger. With snack and spoon in hand, Danni joined Jack at the dining room table.

"So, you plan on telling me what happened to you?" She asked, motioning to his broken arm with her spoon as she sat down across from her cousin. Jack tensed, his blood red eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He had forgotten to come up with a good excuse as to why his arm was broken. If Danni were to find out the real reason his arm was the way it was… Oh crap! What do I say now?

"Err… it was an accident. Yeah, I was trying to work on the mechanics inside one of the wings on my jet and I kind of…fell off." Jack cursed himself inside his mind for coming up with such a lame excuse. Danni stared, processing what he said silently.

"That has got to be the most pathetic lie you have ever come up with. Now do you plan on telling me the truth this time Jacob?" Jack winced. He hated it when Danni called him by his full first name; that usually meant that she was either upset or really mad. Though she asked that question in a calm voice, the look on her face stated that she was clearly pissed that he had lied to her. Jack squirmed under her intense gaze, not daring to look her in the eyes.

It remained silent for the next few moments. During that time Danni kept her gaze fixed upon Jack while said red-head continued to shutter and shake. Her gazed softened as she watched her cousin battle with inner turmoil. It was by his actions alone did Danni figure out all the information she needed. Finally, she sighed.

"I see." Danni said, semi-focused on opening her pudding cup. Once the small plastic container was open she scooped up a spoonful and took a bite, only to grimace the moment the taste of the sweet concoction touched her tongue, "Bleh! Oh, gross! I thought it was vanilla! Eh, I hate banana pudding. Damn, I can't seem to win today."

Despite himself, Jack chuckled slightly at his cousin's blunder. You would think she would learn to read the packaging, he thought as he shook his head. Danni cracked a grin of her own when she heard that laugh from her cousin. She grabbed her 'gross' pudding and offered it to Jack. He looked at the pudding then he looked up at Danni, raising an eyebrow.

"What? There is no point in having it go to waste, you know! I know how much you adore this stuff so I figured you would like to have it instead." She said with a wide grin on her face. Jack simply rolled his eyes and took the pudding cup from his cousin's hand. He thanked her then placed it on the table in front of himself.

"Anything to make my favorite cousin happy!" she announced, giving him a thumbs up. He offered up a smile that did not reach his eyes. Jack then looked back down at his good hand, clenching and unclenching his fist. Danni frowned at the action but said nothing. She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.

An uneasy silence fell between them. Danni looked up at red-head. He was still and silent, as if he was suddenly transformed into a statue. His pudding cup remained in the same spot he left it. She frowned at this discovery.

He hasn't touched it since I gave it to him, she thought, it isn't like him to just leave a pudding cup sitting. Normally Jack would have downed that sucker in two seconds. He must be really upset about having 'it' happen again. What ever happened must have really shaken him up. Poor Jack…

A low rumble sounded from Danni's side of the table. Jack turned his head in her direction, surprised by the sudden sound. Danni's face became beat red as she placed her hand over her stomach.

"Was that your stomach just now!?" He asked which only caused Danni to get redder.

Danni let out a small embarrassed laugh, "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought! Considering that I've slept on the entire plane ride here I haven't had a chance to really eat that much. Was it really that loud?"

"Loud? Ha! I bet you the entire world heard it!"

"Oops?" She offered up, a sheepish look etched into her features. This look only caused Jack to laugh. Soon afterwards Danni could not help but join in the laughter. Anyone who would have walked in the room at that moment would have thought both Spicer teens had completely lost their minds with the amount of laughter emitted from them both. Though, the hilarity quickly died down as Jack started to cough, lungs unable to withstand the strain any longer.

"Are you okay?" Danni asked her voice laced with worry. He waved her off as he tried to get his coughing fit under control.

"Y-Yeah, I fine. I think..." He said as his breathing started to level out once again. He took a couple deep breaths, which caused him to winch slightly each time. Danni frowned at his actions.

"You have broken ribs too?"

"Eh, I don't know, maybe?" That would explain the trouble breathing I had on my way back…

"What do you mean 'maybe'!? How could you not know you have broken ribs?" at this Jack shrugged his shoulders. Danni let out a loud sigh as she shook her head.

"Honestly, for someone who claims to be a genius you can be really thick sometimes." She said standing from her seat.

"Well excuse me little Miss- ow ow ow ow ow! H-hey let go!" Jack called as Danni proceeded to drag him out of the dining room by the ear. She ignored his continuous calls and shrieks of pain as she made her way up the stairs, all the way towards his room. Danni opened the door to the Goth's room then released his ear. Jack glared at the older teen, rubbing away the pain in his abused ear.

"Jeez, Danni, what in the hell was that for!? You almost tore my ear off!"

"Well it serves you right for being up and about in your condition!"

"In my condi… It's only a broken arm and a couple of hurt ribs. It's not like I'm gonna spread chicken pox to you or something."

"True, but your bones won't be able to heal properly if you don't get plenty of rest. So you crawl back into bed while I go cook you up some-"

"Hell no, you are not cooking anything in my kitchen!" Jack snapped as he cut her off. Danni glared daggers at the red-head.

"And just why not?" She retorted, hands on her hips. Jack fixed her with a blank 'Are you serious?' look.

"Have you forgotten the last time you attempted to cook something here?"

"Oh come on Jack! So I screwed up the first meal I ever cooked, big deal!"

"Big deal!? I nearly lost part of my house because of you! You even left scorch marks on the ceiling!"

"Yeah, you know, I still haven't figured out how the flames on the stove got that high. It was actually pretty cool now that I think about it."

"Oh my god, there is nothing cool about sitting someone's house on fire," Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, "How I managed to survive this long with you around is beyond me."

"Please let me do this Jack. I want to do something nice for you, the least you could do is let me cook you a meal. Pretty please, with banana slices on top?" Danni asked fixing Jack with a puppy-dog stare and pout. Jack's jaw dropped at the pitiful sight before him.

Oh no, not that! Okay, Jackie, don't look her in the eyes. Don't look. Don't look. Don't look… Damnit! I looked!

Jack sighed, then, "Alright fine! I have 'edible' food in the pantry that you could use to whip up some sort of meal. However, if I hear one smoke alarm go off I'm banning you from the kitchen for life!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Danni gave Jack a mock salute before she walked back down the stairs and out of his sight. Jack watched as she left. He let out a heavy sigh as he walked into his room to get some rest as cousin 'causally subjected'. A small, true smile appeared onto his face. It's nice to know that you still haven't changed, Danni.

Back in the kitchen, Danni began rummaging about inside the pantry looking for ideas on what to cook for her cousin.

"Sheesh, does that boy eat anything that isn't instant ramen and pudding? Honestly, if it wasn't for that freaky high metabolism of his I would be kicking his ass for having such a poor diet! Well, at least he has some veggies and stuff like that. He also has beef in the refrigerator; maybe I should cook a beef stew!" With that idea in mind, Danni gathered all the necessary ingredients and started up the beef stew.

She spent the next twenty or so minutes preparing the stew. She made sure that everything was taken care of before she placed everything together in the slow cooker. She sit the cooker on medium, this particular meal would not be ready for some time so it was to be their dinner.

"Okay, now that's taken care of, I guess I'll see what I can do about early morning lunch." Jack didn't have any breakfast food that she could find (Unless that nasty banana pudding of his counts as 'breakfast' I might as well just go straight to lunch time!).

Danni couldn't find much else inside the pantry. She decided that for herself she would make a baked potato while Jack would have a bowl of ramen. It's not like that guy would eat much else anyway. Not saying that he's picky but he does have weird tastes in dishes.

"He's always been the odd ball that's for sure." Danni said out loud preparing Jack's noodles. Her mind slowly began to wonder during this task.

"This party really sucks!" Seven-year-old Sandra Spicer called out once she was out of earshot of all the other guests of said party. Sandra truly despised coming to any social family gatherings that her parents forced her to come to. It always seemed to her that whenever she was present among other members of the family it would seem that they would look down on her because of who she is. Sure she would dress up in beautiful little dresses and act the part of a proper young lady – a sort of rule her parents had set- yet no matter what she did it didn't seem to be enough to please them.

"Not like I care about 'impressing' those snobby rich jerks! I don't need them! There is only one thing in this world I should care about: taking care of myself!" With a huff, Sandra planted herself at the base of a particular tall tree at the back of the mansion where the party was being held. While the thought of getting dirt all over her nice light blue dress crossed her mind, at that point she no longer cared.

It would seem that, only minutes earlier, Sandra had caught snippets of a conversation that had involved her in some way. She had no intentions to ease drop, though, the next sentence spoken in that conversation cut right through her.

"…It's such a shame really, to think that those two would have any hope for a street urchin like that girl."

…street urchin…that girl…

Sandra bolted out of the mansion the moment those words left that person's mouth.

"I'm not good enough for them anyhow. To them I'm nothing. I'm nowhere near as good enough compared to their bratty kids and I'm just a speck of dust when compared to Jacob Spicer!" She spat out that name like it was poison. It was true that during parties and gatherings she was the one looked down upon while her cousin, Jacob, was given all the praise. Constant words of delight would fall upon her ears at 'how miraculous' or 'what a genius' the boy was. Those constant reminders of everything that she would never be hardened her heart towards a boy whom she never, nor wanted to, ever meet.

"He probably is just as stuck up as the rest of the Spicer family," she hissed, "The moment I meet that rich, snot-nosed, stuck up brat I'm gonna deck 'im!"

"You really shouldn't judge people before you get to know them." A sudden voice called out which caused Sandra to jolt. She whipped her head around to find the source of that voice. Sandra raised an eyebrow when she couldn't find the owner. What the..?

"I'm up here." Sandra looked straight up. Sitting on a sturdy limb amongst the leaves was a boy, around the age of five, who had red hair and was wearing a brown suit. Sandra narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" She asked the boy, who shifted so that he was laying on his stomach on the branch as he peered down at her.

"Mama says it's not very nice for someone to judge others. She said that it's um…'impolite and unbecoming of a young growing individual'. Kind of like how you judge a book by its cover before you actually decide to read it." The boy said with a grin on his face, a sure sign that he was pleased with himself for actually remembering what his mother told him. Sandra just looked shocked as she heard him speak.

"Those are some biiiig words coming from a small kid like you."

"Yeah, I know. I hear a lot of people say that."

"…Hey, how'd you get up there anyway kid?" she asked, looking over the tree. She couldn't see any low hanging branches or any spots that could be used as foot placements. So how did he get up there?

"There's a rope that is tied to a branch on the other side of the tree. I used it climb up here. Papa always did say that I was sort of like a monkey when it came to climbing things." The boy giggled to which made Sandra smile. Sandra peeked around the tree and sure enough there was a rope connected to the tree.

"I guess you would have to be part monkey to climb that thing. What are you doing up there?"

"Hiding."

"From…?"

"My cousins," The boy frowned slightly, "they always like to pick on me. Since I'm so small compared to them, I usually make for an easy target." Sandra frowned when the boy told her this. Those creeps are nothing but bullies…every last one of them. If it's not me they are harassing then it has to be this kid. It seems like neither one of us can win on our own… Suddenly, Sandra was struck with an idea.

"I bet you they won't think twice about bothering you when you have someone around all the time!"

"Yeah, but it's not like I can ask someone to guard me all the time."

"True, but that is to say someone was to make sure their friend wouldn't be bullied?" The boy's eyes grew wide. Then a look of sorrow appeared onto his face.

"I don't have any friends…" Sandra frowned slightly. Even though she just met the kid she felt real bad to hear that he didn't have any friends. I guess it's time to change that!

"Hey kid, can you come down here for a sec?"

"That depends; you aren't going to 'deck' me now, are you?"

"What's that?"

"Nothing, I'll be right down." Sandra watched as the boy skillfully climbed through the branches and down the rope in no time flat. The boy walked up to her. Standing at his full height, Sandra stood a good couple inches taller than him.

"Wow you really are small!" She said with a small giggle.

The boy pouted and blushed, "H-hush up you!" Sandra grinned at the flustered child before she held out her hand towards him. She cleared her throat.

"Hello there, my name is Sandra …Spicer. Starting today, you and I are to be the best of friends!" She said with a reassuring grin on her face. He stared at her hand for a few seconds before he grasp it in his. He grinned as well, his blood-red eyes bright with joy.

"I like the sound of that! Nice to meet you best friend Sandra."

"And your name is..?"

"Oh right, sorry! I'm your cousin, Jacob Spicer."

"SAY WHAT NOW!?"

The alarm on the microwave sounded, which Danni out of her thoughts. She pulled out Jack's now cooked ramen noodles and sat it on the counter-top. Her potato was the next be cooked but she decided that she would worry about her food after she gave Jack his. Taking the warm plastic bowl in her hands, while being mindful of the really hot spots, Danni proceeded back up the stairs towards Jack's room. Once she was outside the door she knocked.

"Jack, you up? I made you some ramen! Jack?" She opened the door and peered inside. The room itself was almost completely dark, save for the sunlight that shined through the closed shades. She spotted Jack in his bed, curled up and fast asleep. A smile graced her lips. The kid took my advice after all, she thought.

We sure have come a long way since that faithful day I had decided to become your friend.

Danni moved to close the door when a small whimper caught her attention. She turned her gaze back to the prone body in the bed. Another whimper, followed by small sniffling, came from the sleeping teen. Danni quietly walked into the room and next to the bed. She could see the tears spilling from her cousin's tightly closed eyes. Jack clearly was deep asleep, it would seem that whatever dream that he was having was causing him great distress. Letting out a silent sigh, Danni placed the bowl onto the nightstand and gently sat down onto the mattress next to her cousin. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair.

Jack's sobbing softened so Danni continued this action. In a soft voice she began singing. The song was a lullaby that her mother sang to her when she was but a child. The words to the song she could no longer remember, but the melody rang clear inside her head with each note. Back when she suffered from night terrors, that song would always help her fall back into peaceful slumber. Danni use to sing Jack to sleep when they were kids; much like her mother had done for her so long ago. Though, it had been years since the last time she had done this for Jack. I hope this still works.

Sure enough, once the last note had faded, Jack was no longer crying or whimpering in his sleep. He had a peaceful look about him which made Danni smile to herself. She patted his head and rose from her spot.

"Sleep well, baby cousin."

"This is getting ridiculous." Chase Young sighed as he, once again, had the joy of dealing with the Heylin witch. He glared at her from his position on his throne. For the past hour Wuya had been pacing around in the throne room, an air of uneasiness about her. While Chase had been curious as to why she was constantly moving about the way she was, he had chosen to ignore her to the best of his abilities. Sadly, it would seem that he would no longer be able to now that she was planning to speak to him.

"Care to elaborate on what is 'ridiculous', Witch?" He asked which finally caused her to still herself.

She glared but then said, "Jack hasn't been around for some time now. Usually, he would be here about this time of day going on about plans that could help us rule the world or show off some pathetic Shen-gone-wu he thought was impressive. Yet, why is it that he has chosen to stop his pathetic visits?"

"Why Wuya, is that a hint of worry I hear? Are you worried about Jack Spicer, of all people?" Wuya growled at the mocking tone that Chase had used. She turned away from the evil overlord.

"I am not worried about that scatter brained idiot! I simply feel…uneasy when I don't know for sure what he is up to." She said while she crossed her arms in a huff. Though her words speak otherwise, it was clear to Chase that Wuya was in fact worried about Jack. The witch may not admit it but I know she cares about the boy.

One of Chase's feline servants, a strong looking tiger, walked up to Chase. He announced to the evil monk that a visitor of sorts has arrived and he had asked what should be done.

"Let them in." The tiger bowed his head low and left the throne room. Wuya was puzzled by the confrontation.

Within moments, several warriors turned felines entered the throne room along with the visitor. The moment Wuya's eyes landed on the figure her eyes widened.

"You!?" A woman with long ebony hair and pale white eyes cocked her head to the side, a look of twisted glee upon her face as the Heylin witch noticed just whom their visitor was.

"Hello sister, I trust that you are well?" The woman said, a giggle escaping her lips. Wuya grit her teeth and glared at her 'sister'. Chase remained silent and observed the confrontation between the two.

"What are you doing here, Nomuri?"

"Oh come now, Wuya, surely I would need no other reason than to see my dear sister after so many years?" 'Nomuri' stated which only caused Wuya to seethe.

"You lost that right when you abandoned me 1500 years ago!" Nomuri frowned and let out a small sad sigh.

"You still hate me for that, don't you? And here I was hoping that you would find it in your heart to forgive me once I told you some interesting news." Nomuri turned to leave but Wuya called out to her, causing her to stop. A hidden sinister smile stretched across her face.

"Yes, my dear sister?" she asked without looking back at the other female.

"What interesting news?" Wuya didn't understand why but for some reason dread planted itself inside her stomach. Nomuri turned her head back and fixed her sister a sickly sweet smile that seemed way to out of place.

"Why the Heir's awakening of course."

Yeah, I decided to make this chapter a little longer than i had originally planned. So is it good? Is it bad? Review and let me know please!