Chapter 6: And I Still Love Him, I Love Him

The survey is now closed! Only one person voted but no matter! I will just steam ahead with one of my plans for the plot regardless. Thank you to whomever did cast their vote, it was greatly appreciated.

Warnings: Yaoi, Heat Cycles, discussion of Mating/Mates, Violence, depictions of Sexual Violence including rape, mentions of rape, detailed description of mental and physical abuse and mentions of it, there may also be mentions of some self-loving and some smut.

Today I have used a line from the National Anthem music video by Lana del Rey. As the whole quote is so fitting for this chapter, I have included it in the story.

Disclaimers: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of the characters from the show. I do however own my OC's.

#

Showing Anna and Nakira to the door, Jack smiles and waves them goodbye. As he closes the door he remembers that his Mother was hiding somewhere in the castle with Chase. He scratches the Lioness' ears with a smile as she leads him out to where they were talking in the courtyard.

Almost immediately, Jack can tell that there is something going on, the tense atmosphere making his skin prickle with goose bumps. The expression on Chase's face was unreadable to the young redhead, which made him nervous. What didn't help was the face his Mother was also pulling. She looked incredibly guilty and it did not change when she locks eyes with her son. "Oh Jackie, sweetie, I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."

Georgia stands and goes to him, placing a gentle hand on his back. "Let's go somewhere comfortable, maybe make a coffee and chat?" They leave Chase in the courtyard as they head to the kitchen. Not a word is spoken between them neither as they walk down, nor as they make their coffees and takes a seat opposite each other. "What's going on Mom? I have never seen Chase like that, what did you say to him? Why are you even here? You never bothered to get in touch or visit whilst I was in hospital." Jack finally breaks the silence.

Staring into the coffee with a look of even more guilt, Georgia takes a deep breath. "Look, Jackie, I'm not going to make excuses for not visiting or calling you. All I'll say is that... I'm a coward Jack. I couldn't forgive myself for what happened between you and... Him." She swallows hard. "I couldn't deal with seeing what he had done to you... what my bad parenting had allowed to happen. So I did what all good cowards do, I ran and hid." Shaking her head, Georgia runs a hand through her hair. "But that's not why I'm here. One of your Father's associates got in touch with me to say that it was time I faced the inevitable..."

Now Jack was paying attention. His Father, Hugh Spicer, had died years ago when Jack was young and barely had any clear memories of him. There were 2 memories about him that stuck out clearly; building a small, basic robot together and the funeral. He knew from the photos and portrait hanging in the main hall that he was spitting image of him. But his Father was much broader, muscular and intimidating in stature than Jack could ever hope to be. Not to mention ridiculously tall at a staggering 6ft5. "Someone who knew Dad got in touch with you? But I thought you said you didn't know anyone he had worked with or any of his friends?" He frowns. "There wasn't even anyone other than us at his funeral."

"Yes, well... I did it all with the hopes of protecting you from that... though it seems you were drawn to it regardless. From the sounds of it for quite some time too..." Georgia takes a sip of her coffee whilst contemplating how to go forward. "They got in touch with me as they had some concerns that you take after your Father in more than looks and that it was time to tell you the truth."

Slamming a fist down on the table in frustration, Jack almost growls at his Mother. "Stop using delay tactics! Just tell me already! What. Is. Going. On?!"

She jumps at the noise and stares at her son with wide eyes at the fury rolling off of him. "Okay Jackie, okay I'm sorry. I just don't know where to start... I guess the best place would be when I met your Father."

~ 30 years ago ~

Georgia flicks her dark blonde hair over her shoulder before tying it back in a ponytail. She was only 17years old, adventurous and a bit of a tomboy at the time. Most of her time was spent hiking and exploring the vast forests that lay behind her family home. Taking a deep breath, Georgia grins and begins running through the trees.

There is a woosh noise above, the young woman only sees a flash of red but it was enough to grab her attention. Chasing it deep into an as of yet unexplored area of the forest, Georgia ends up tripping over an unseen tree root. She ends up accidentally falling into a pit. Looking around, sore, bruised and definitely scraped, she realises it wasn't a pit but rather a large cave. With an extraordinarily large nest of some sort. Or several.

A large black dragon appears from the shadows and roars at her. Sheer terror freezes the young woman entirely, unable to even whimper. All she could do was lie there and stare at the magnificent and awesome creature before her.

An even louder roar comes from behind her and the black dragon starts backing off. Now able to move, Georgia looks over her shoulder to see a massive red dragon. Yet she no longer felt terror at all. Though she was definitely shocked, not only to learn that dragons were real but before her very own eyes the red dragon shifts into a young man. A very handsome, tall and smiling young man with blood red hair and eyes. He offers a pale hand to her, helping her stand. "I'm sorry, we can be a little testy when someone new and unannounced uh, 'drops in' on our nest. I'm Hugh. Hugh Spicer." With a charming smile, he places a kiss on the back of her hand.

Blushing, Georgia finds herself completely at ease with the young man, despite everything she had just experienced within a short amount of time. "I'm Georgia, Georgia Sommerfeld-Hart. Urm, you're a dragon." She blushes even more.

Hugh chuckles and nods. "Indeed I am. Yet, you don't seem that bothered. Come, why don't we leave here and go for a walk? You can ask me all the questions you like." He offers an arm to her, his other arm behind his back.

They walk and talk for a while but not about him being a giant, mythical and magical creature. Instead they just get to know one another, even playing a few games amongst the trees and in one of the rivers. But before long, Georgia realises that she has a few questions she needs answering about this whole thing.

"Who are you really? Why am I so comfortable with you? Why are you not threatening me like the other did?" Her big brown eyes stare deeply into his, looking for any reaction.

Hugh sighs and runs a hand through his luxurious scarlet hair. "I really am Hugh Spicer. I'm really a dragon. But we are born and live a good portion of our lives in human forms like this." He indicates to himself. "I am the leader of my clan. We're only a small one but very protective of each other. Which is why Nadia threatened you, she thought you were a threat to the nest and the clan. I stepped in because you're far from a threat." Now he blushes slightly, looking away awkwardly. He had no idea how to approach this. "You uh... You're special to me. Dragons have one and only one Mate for them. They're born every few generations or so. We can tell by scent and their reaction to our presence."

At first Georgia had struggled to accept it. But eventually she realised it was all truth, as she struggled to spend time apart from him after that initial meeting. Only a few months after meeting, they were inseparable. To the point that when Georgia's family moved for work, Hugh gave up leading his clan to follow her. He gave up everything for her and found work, quickly working his way up the ladder until he was earning more than her parents combined.

As soon as she was 18, Hugh proposes to her and they are married and Mated. Her parents adore Hugh, impressed at his quick rise into high society. They are dragged to countless parties and events. Soon they both begin changing, adapting to fit in the life they had started building. Georgia spends most of her time at these events with the other wives and soon gives up her old tomboy ways, needing to become more 'ladylike' for the sake of fitting in.

Unfortunately Georgia and Hugh are faced with devastation in their young lives and blossoming relationship when the young woman miscarries their baby conceived in the Mating. It was a brutal, bloody and heartbreaking moment. To the extent that Georgia, unable to face the possibility of it reoccurring, has the coil fitted to prevent any further pregnancies for 5 years following the incident.

When she has it removed, it doesn't take long for them to fall pregnant again, this time with Jack. The pregnancy is smooth, healthy and brings them both joy. For the first few years of their son's life, everything is perfect. They couldn't be happier, more in love with each other or their child. But life wouldn't let this stay. Jack is only about 5 years old, nearing 6, when Hugh's old clan contact him in desperation. They were under attack and needed their leader, the strongest of them, to help in the fight.

Nadia and her son Lukas brought Hugh home in a box. He had died protecting the clan. The threat had been neutralised thanks to him, meaning that the clan could live on. Georgia had known before they had returned home that he was gone. She had felt something inside her break, tearing through her very soul and devastating her.

Jack had been too young to understand, crying and wanting his Father. Nadia had tried to convince Georgia to return to the clan with them, offering protection for them. Which had only caused a vitriolic outburst from Georgia, she had just lost her husband, her Mate. Now her son would grow up without his Father because of the clan, because of what he was. Whilst it made sense what Nadia said, especially about the chances that Jack was like his Father, Georgia couldn't handle it. She'd had too much loss in her young life already. So she kicks them out and resolves to keep her son from this world, keeping him within the circle of high society instead. No, Humans weren't without their own dangers but it couldn't be as risky as what Hugh's world had offered.

Present Day

"And I remember when I met him, it was so clear that he was the only one for me. We both knew it, right away. And as the years went on, things got more difficult. We were faced with more challenges. I begged him to stay, try to remember what we had at the beginning." She smiles to herself sadly. "He was charismatic, magnetic, electric and everybody knew it. When he walked in every woman's head turned, everyone stood up to talk to him... He was like this hybrid, this mix of a man who couldn't contain himself. I always got the sense that he became torn between being a good person and missing out on all of the opportunities that life could offer a man as magnificent as him. And in that way I understood him." A tear rolls unchecked down her cheek as she speaks. "And I loved him, I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. And I still love him... I love him."* Georgia's voice breaks and she quickly tries to recover herself.

Mouth hanging open, Jack was completely speechless. He hadn't been expecting that. It was certainly a lot to take in. Especially to find out that not only are there more types of dragon than those like Chase or Dojo, but he was one. Possibly. And his Father had not only been one but he had been a powerful one, one that led his own clan of other dragons.

It all suddenly dawned on him why his Mother had also grown distant from him as he had grown older; looking more and more like is Father with each passing year. She had lost the love of her life. Plus they were Mates. From what little Chase had told him, it was like being soul mates. God only knew what his death had done to his Mother. Suddenly, he was struggling to be as cold or distant with her as he had been previously. Whilst it definitely didn't change the fact that he had spent a good portion of his life essentially on his own, he was more understanding of the situation now. "I... this is a lot to take in..."

Georgia sighs. "I wish that was all I had to tell you Jackie. I don't know the full details, I refused to speak to Nadia or any of the others from your Father's clan after his death but they tried to tell me about you. Or, rather, what you might be and things you may experience." She fidgets uncomfortably. "Something to do with you being his son, a hybrid and if you should find a Mate of your own. I thought nothing of it, other than to keep you away from that life, until I was approached by one of the others from the clan I hadn't met before. She told me that I needed to come tell you the truth, that you were in a lot of danger and would be in even more if you didn't know. She also said that it seemed that you had met your Mate also." At this, she smiles softly and gently at her son. "I'm not sure how I feel about it all, but it does seem that you have indeed met your Mate. So, it's time that you speak with your Father's clan and learn more about what you are."

"Oh... I mean... I..." Jack didn't know what to say. "I can't do this right now." He stands and runs off to his bedroom, locking the door. Almost hiding himself in the corner, Jack pulls the duvet off the bed and wraps up, sitting on the floor and trying to process all this new information alongside everything else going on in his life. Tears stream down his cheeks unnoticed by the young man deep in thought. Everything that had happened to his parents, that had happened and was happening to him, it was all too much right now. He could barely function as a normal human as it was, then Chase had presented him with the Mate thing, now his Mother had just unloaded a fuck tonne of heartbreaking information.

#

Chase had never met Hugh Spicer, though he had of course heard of him and had even spent some time with his clan, about 2 decades ago. They had tried to teach him more about his dragon nature but eventually he had left, unwilling to go along with how they lived their lives. Now he had no choice but to get back in touch with them, given the circumstances.

First though, he had to speak to Jack about it. He wondered how his young Mate was taking it all. Georgia comes rushing out to him, looking a little frantic. "Chase, I... he's locked himself in his room. I think I've made everything worse. Please."

That was all he needed to hear, he runs down to Jack's room and knocks on the door lightly. "Spicer, let me in." He commands, again trying to remain the Chase Young that Jack was familiar with, so he had some normality to grasp onto. "I'm not asking."

The lock clicks and Jack opens the door before shuffling back to his corner. Slipping into the room, the dragon shuts the door behind him and takes a seat on the floor next to him. On instinct, Jack rests his head on his broad shoulder, still crying silently. "I just... I just wanted to deal with recovery... getting healthy again so I could kill that bastard. Now all of this..."

Gently, but firmly, Chase grasps the pale young man's chin and tilts his head to look at him, wrapping his other arm around his waist. "Jack. You can handle this. You're just in shock. The Spicer I know wouldn't let this knock him down. He would stubbornly insist that he can handle it, no problem."

Jack stops crying, staring deep into the bronze eyes of the man holding him. Throwing caution to the wind, the redhead catches the dragon by surprise, kissing the older on the lips desperately. He tries to force his way past the tension in his gut, telling him that he was going to get hit (or worse), past the sorrow and confusion. Instead trying to focus on the feeling of Chase's lips against his.

The older can't help but kiss back at first, a soft growl escaping his lips as he does so. He soon pulls away from it though, if he hadn't been able to feel the tension in his young mate, the scent he was radiating would've soon put him off the idea. Jack was scared. That was not how Chase wanted this to go down. He wanted Jack to only ever associate his physical contact and affections with pleasure, joy and desire. "Not now, Jack." Stroking his cheek in a gentle caress, Chase wipes away the remaining tears on his face and does something he hadn't done since he was human. He pulls Jack into a platonic hug, just holding him with the intention of comforting him.

At first, Jack tenses but soon relaxes into it, crying into Chase's shoulder now and letting himself be comforted. Exhausted, he soon falls asleep the in the larger man's arms. Especially as Chase was running his long fingers and nails through his hair, gently brushing across his scalp.

Smiling to himself unknowingly, the dragon puts his young Mate in his bed, gently tucking him in with the duvet off the floor. He lets the Lioness back in to curl up next to him to watch over Jack.

#

Unsure of how long he had been asleep or what the time was, Jack stumbles out of bed after his nap, quickly remembering everything that had occurred leading up to him passing out. It sapped his energy just thinking of the various conversations he was going to have to have. His stomach growls loudly at him, forcing him to head down to the kitchen and face Chase (and probably his Mother).

Luckily, only Chase seemed to be about. Approaching the older, Jack fidgets nervously. "We need to finish our talk..." He bits his bottom lip as Chase just nods and leads him to a private and smaller study for them to sit and talk without interruption.

"Before we get into our discussion, I need to ask you Jack, do you want me to invite a member from your Father's clan to come and give you more information on everything?" Chase asks, watching his reaction carefully. It annoyed him that he didn't know as much as he would've liked regarding this subject. Truth was, he had had no interest in the whole 'Mates' thing when he had spent time with them. He was more interested in the power that came with being a dragon.

Jack just nods and wrings his hands nervously. "So, we're Mates. I'm probably a dragon too and someone in my Father's clan has not only been keeping an eye on me but thinks I'm in danger..." He can't help but snort at the latter. Like he hadn't been in danger whilst he had been with Andrew?

"So it seems." Chase answers plainly. "How do you feel about that?"

"Incredulous, if I'm honest. Chase, I've not exactly kept it to myself that I admired you pretty much my whole life... I never expected in my wildest dreams to actually get to be with you in any sort of romantic way. Now I'm apparently your one true partner? Your soul mate?" Running a hand through his long, silken scarlet locks, Jack sighs deeply. "It's... a lot to process... after everything I've been through over the past couple of years..."

They sit in silence for a moment. Jack is the first to break it. "So, does that explain why I keep getting these... flashes? I guess? I don't know what to call it... But since the hospital I've had these moments where I can smell everything. My heart races, I feel hot and your smell makes me feel... urm... excited..." He fidgets awkwardly, looking away as his face flushes almost the same colour as his hair. "In a way that doesn't make me think of my only experiences. The ones that kill it quickly, thinking excruciating pain is to follow."

Chase balks at this. So it was true then, Jack was a dragon like his Father. But not like Chase is, after all the older had gained his dragon blood through a demon deal. Which was why he was more like a giant lizard thing, than a traditional dragon like the members of Hugh's clan. It was interesting that Jack hadn't had any presentation of this side of him yet until the Mate bond between them had flared. Though these 'flashes' were to do with the Heat Chase was currently in due to this, rather than just being a dragon. And he wasn't quite sure how to explain that part of it. "We need to continue this conversation with someone present that understands more about dragon mating and how and when born dragons like yourself show their dragon side."

This was the closest Chase would ever get to admitting that he was out of his depth and knew nothing about what was happening. And that was driving him a little crazy. So, with a nod from Jack, the ebony haired man gets in touch with the clan, with a promise from one of the older dragons that someone trusted would be with them sooner than they expected.

Only an hour later and there is an urgent knock at the door. Together both men head down to open the door and frown almost simultaneously at the sight of Anna and Nakira stood grinning at them.

AN: *this is the quote from National Anthem.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been with this since the beginning, middle or recently taken up reading this. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these chapters and delving deeper into the universe I have created for this fic and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

If you want to let me know whether you did or not, drop me a review! I would appreciate any feedback on the story.