Cold

A near-death experience always breaks the ice. Implied Slash! Chack!

Warning: Cartoon-Slash! This fic contains shounen ai (Oh noes! The horror!). In other words yaoi… Yaoi Homosexual relationships. If you don't enjoy this, simply click the back button. Please and thankyou.

Rated: If anything… PG

Genre: Drama

Disclaimer: I disclaim Xiaolin Showdown. It's owned by its creator Christy Hui and Warner Bros! Cheers!

"Jack Spicer! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdo-"

"Damn it, Shorty. That line is getting so cliché it starting to hurt!" Jack's voice rose above the small yellow youth's. The pale teen smirked down on the young monk, who glared up at him, "Admit it, Baldilocks, the same spiel doesn't impress anyone." Jack grinned maliciously, while his thoughts and red eyes flickered momentarily back at the mess of gold and black metal, inwardly cringing at the sparking materials. The monks weren't making it easy on him today, not only had they done in all of his Bots, but they had found it in themselves to take out his transport.

Omi glowered up at Jack, hating the self-proclaimed genius more than ever before.
"Maybe it is time the trap was closed, Jack Spicer!"

If the three simultaneous groans from behind the monk hadn't made it clear, Jack's cruel smile grew in size,
"Oooh! Gold star Cheese-Puff, I almost felt that one," flushed and embarrassed the monk opened his mouth, intent on righting his wrong but- "Whoa there Shorty, don't strain that big head of yours. Just name your game so we can get on with our lives."

The yellow youth frowned, obviously stung by the older boy's words, his eyes darted about, taking in the flat landscape covered in nothing but knee-deep snow. Slowly a small smirk snuck onto his round head. Omi's black eyes glanced down towards the ground, gently tapping the surface as his element flowed beneath his feet.
"Very well, Jack Spicer. The challenge is this; whoever can remain on their piece of ice, wins. My Mantis Flip-Coin against your Monkey Staff."

Jack's eyes flickered to the ground, momentarily startled. Swiping his foot against the snow, he unearthed thick ice, and bellow the misted surface bubbles shifted below. They were on an oversized lake.
"I accept."

Neither hesitated,
"Gong Yei Tempai"

Loud, deafening cracks of thick ice shattering shook the warriors. Pieces of ice shifted apart into heavy drifting slabs, while the edge of the arena slipped away giving the pieces of thick ice movement. Jack knew this wasn't his forte, the ice constantly tipped to and fro, requiring the balance he so desperately lacked.

"Mantis Flip-Coin!"

Startled red eyes shot towards the voice, only for Omi to land on the edge of his slippery platform, jerking the ice, before leaping away again. Calling out the name of his Wu, Jack was just able to catch the edge of the ice with a hand before the slab slammed back into the water, rocking violently and threatening to throw him. Panting, the pale youth knew he wasn't going to win, long before Omi appeared again, smiling victoriously, this time literally knocking him off the ice with a kick to his stomach, driving the air out of him in the process.

The water was thick, like watery slush. So as Jack made impact on the surface, he sunk into the dark water that churned with watery ice. Instinct clawed at him, he raised one hand to swim upwards but only felt himself sink further. His helipack had suddenly become unwanted extra weight and his trench coat had grown heavy. Both were only succeeding in slowing him down. As easy as it was to snap the cords of his helipack, which sunk into the darkness below like a stone, it was a struggle peeling of his jacket, which clung to him, not wanting to let him go.

Without the extra layer Jack became more aware of the biting chill of the water. It was putting pressure on him, pressing small needles of ice into his skin. The coldness of the water was seeping into his body, mingling with his muscles and chilling him to the bone. The youth kept his eyes closed, trying desperately not to choke on the water and reach the surface.

It was at that point Jack's skull tapped a solid surface.

His eyes flew wide, hardly noticing the water burning his eyes. The Showdown's powers had ceased and returned the environment to its natural state. The youth wanted to scream in horror but kept his jaw locked and his lungs empty. His heart was already pounding painfully in his chest, straining for oxygen.

He then saw a glimpse of colour, a familiar smudge of yellow through the ice. He lashed out at the solid barrier before him, to gain the warriors attention, but the smudge of colour moved out of sight as Jack bounced deeper into the water. Kicking to return to the surface only caused tearing pain in his cold and cramping muscles. With his chest aching horribly and his head growing light, Jack made one last, illogical attempt to escape the water.

He opened his mouth to scream.

Instinct drove him to take a breath, his lungs at their limit and ready to burst. But, as predicted, no oxygen flooded his body, but water did. His body jerked, choking on the slush in an attempt to rid itself of the liquid, but couldn't.

The chill's grip strengthened, weaving its way through his insides and making his body shake violently. Finally Jack felt himself stop shaking, he could just make out the colour of the water around him, but darkness played at the edge of his vision, mocking and waiting to consume him.

Then, just as Jack's struggles turned to sluggish twitching, a loud crunch of ice jolted the water.

The youth made out a blur, which he assumed was his savour. A hand shot past the surface, latching onto his shirt but Jack couldn't find the energy to react. He was forcefully yanked from the water, the air burning his skin, before he hit the ice with enough force that he should have felt it.

For a long moment, Jack didn't move, he couldn't. He knew he should be breathing, but he was so tired. As the youth's half-lidded eyes flickered closed, the hand returned, this time catching his shoulder roughly and jerking him onto his side. The movement was enough to jolt Jack's lungs. Water spewed past his lips, before dragging in ragged gasp that hitched over droplets of water. The oxygen only made Jack dizzy; he roughly coughed until his lungs were clear before his tensing muscles grew limp and he slumped against the ice, breathing heavily.

Blurs before his eyes started to take shape, and as the colours cleared, Jack started to notice the hand was still on his shoulder.
"Spicer?"

The word bounced around in his skull, echoing in his water-filled ears. Shaking his head gently, trying to clear his head, Jack blinked slowly until his eyes finally focussed on a familiar pair of eyes. Jack didn't ask, or even consider why the everlord had saved his sorry ass. But Jack didn't care, he was grateful.
"Spicer? Can you hear me?"

The question took a moment to sink in, the youth blinked before jerkily nodding, this time croaking out a weak affirmative.

It was then that Chase's already steady feature grew sharp; he turned his golden eyes towards the sky, as if catching a glimpse of something of distaste, and frowned. Jack deliriously noted that the expression didn't suit the immortal warrior.

Chase turned his eyes back on Jack, but the youth didn't shift a muscle, too exhausted to move; only able to take in staggered breaths.

Chase would never admit it; but for the long moments that he had held himself back from saving Jack, waiting for the Xiaolin monks to leave, he had felt an inkling of dread in his chest. The monks had stood above the drowning youth, chuckling and dismissively climbing onto the back of that useless dragon. None had paused; none had even blinked at the soft sounds of struggle beneath the surface. But a movement in Chase's chest, a tightening of a sought, spurred him to the boy's aid.

When the Xiaolin Warriors were finally out of range, Chase teleported closer and didn't spare a moment to shatter the thick ice, not even pausing to notice the silence below the surface. Then, after fishing the youth from the water, the immortal had felt despair take hold of his heart and tighten its relentless grip.

For a long, drawn out moment, Jack hadn't moved.

Instinct had him jerking to boy to the side, hoping to re-spark the will to live. The everlord was almost startled by the consuming wave of relief he felt when Jack choked and hungrily drew in air.

Never before had Chase felt so disconcerted. He waited for the boy's heart to steady; taking an extra moment to make sure it was strong, before saying the boy's name. He wasn't surprised that Jack didn't even blink, exhaustion and terror was dripping from the albino's aura like condensation. He tried again, this time gaining a response, a hoarse, damaged sound that turned his stomach.

Then, hate boiled and bubbled up into his chest, startling the dragon-within awake, that squirmed violently, ready to burst forth. Chase, for the first time that he could remember, was struggling to keep his hold on the dragon.

Turning towards the direction of the retreating monks, and glared at the speck of green of the horizon.

He would take care of them in the near future.

Returning his gaze to the youth, Chase mentally noted that Jack had rid himself of his heli-pack and his beloved trench-coat to escape the freezing water.

Suddenly the immortal paused in thought; Jack wasn't shivering. Even Chase knew the boy's body had suffered extreme cold for an extended period of time; hyperthermia had its hold on Jack's body, freezing muscles and stemming the ability to shiver. If Chase didn't get the albino away from the cold, the boy wouldn't survive the hour.

The immortal didn't question his decision. He hooked his arms under the youth, lifted him to his chest and pressed him there to offer some warmth. Jack, still only half-aware of his surroundings, made a tired sound of surprise before letting his head clunk heavily against Chase's armour.

Within a second, both vanished and reappeared in the volcano-heated rooms of the immortal's citadel. A tiger was waiting, only slightly startled by its master's tag along. The immortal gave a silent order and the feline removed itself from the room.

Lighting the fireplace with a small nod, Chase slowly moved towards a large red lounge set before the fire. Another nod had his armour removed, replacing it with the soft blue material of a gi. The immortal shifted the youth as he sat before the fireplace, sitting Jack up in his lap. The albino was still half-asleep in his arm, his eyes fluttering open then slipping closed, as if knowing he shouldn't fall asleep. Soon the heat was penetrating Jack's chilled muscles, causing violent shivering to wrack his body, trying to overcome the shock of the sudden change of temperature.

The helpful tiger peered around the corner of the chair, on its back a neatly folded blanket was laid, waiting to be retrieved. Chase thankfully removed the blanket, and went about enveloping the shivering youth with it, before charming away Jack's sodden clothes.

A few moments past left the immortal feeling his wound-up muscles uncoiling and his hold on the boy softening. Jack's shivering had grown less severe and his red eyes were regaining their usual spark, although still half-lidded and exhausted. After a long silence, Chase noticed Jack's eyes flickering up to his face, blinking softly. The immortal frowned at the silence of the youth, never before graced with such in the boy's presence.
"Spicer?" Jack didn't make a sound, just gave a prompting nod, and Chase felt himself frowning further. "How are you fairing?"

The redheaded youth seemed almost taken aback by the softness of Chase's tone, or maybe even the question itself. The immortal admittedly understood the boy's confused gaze, as Chase was usually more than willing than to do damage to the youth. But he still felt irritated that the boy would think that he would go as far as letting the youth drown. "Answer me, Spicer."

"You… saved me." the words were soft, almost uncertain.

"Spicer…" Chase found himself growling and narrowing his eyes "Answer me. How do you feel?"

Jack paused, blinking softly as he gave a soft shiver, as if realising for the first time that he was-
"Cold?" the youth tried, a little shaken by the everlord's gaze.

Chase nodded an affirmative, raising an arm and coiling it around the youth and pressing Jack against his chest. If the boy had had any questions, the words were whisked from him, startled by the immortal's unusual antics. Although thoroughly lost, Jack found all questions draining away and a sudden tiredness coiling itself around his mind and dulling his thoughts. Then, as Jack's eyes began to flicker, a knowing hand carded his hair and rubbed softly, prompting drowsiness.

Watching as the youth nodded off, Chase leaned back against his lounge and felt a comforting tendril lap against his frayed nerves. Uncaring as to why he was so pleased that the albino youth was in his arms, Chase let the crackle of the fire, the warm weight in his lap and the sound of Jack's soft breathing to lead him to rest his chin in the boy's red hair and to close his eyes.

Soon both were oblivious to the world.

End

A/N: Fun little one-shot linked to a pic of mine on dA... Had fun. Hope it was worth the read!
Please review!