Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown

Epilogue

Love And Assumptions

Eighteen Months Later...

An evil smirk – the perfect blend of pride, smugness and classic Heylin 'charm' – spread across the face of the warlord as he witnessed his lover win, at last, a showdown against the Xiaolin monks; to add salt to their wounds, the monk Jack Spicer had defeated was Omi, who was equally, if not more so, as proud as Chase Young himself.

Spicer's grin widened as he proudly held the new shen gong wu, the Orb Of Tornami and the Golden Tiger Claws in his arms; he turned instantaneously to his watching lover, who gave him a nod of acknowledgement before disappearing into the sky as if he were never there in the first place. Jack was, naturally, used to this by now; Chase would stick around for the actual entertainment of the showdown occasionally, but he never stayed to witness the gloating that followed any of his lover's victories, which were not as frequent as either would have liked them to be. Chase was always too eager to return home to his daughter, never entirely content to leave her in the hands of his warriors, even if they did not possess the personal ability to betray him.

Jack added his trademark – no matter what Wuya said – "I'd love to stay and gloat, but I have evil to do" before departing; not that he was going off to do evil, per say, but rather returning to the domain of evil, the lair of Chase Young and, nowadays, himself and their daughter. Ever since her birth, Jack Spicer was officially the partner slash mate of Chase Young, and everyone who knew of their existence – at least, those who knew of their existence in terms of who they really were – knew that they had an eighteen month old daughter whom they adored, and who was continuously surrounded by the ways of the Heylin. Her parents, namely her father, made sure of it – her dad was less pushy.

Following Chase's blatant refusal to be called anything which resembled in any way the name 'mother', much to the disappointment of his doting lover, the two had decided that Chase would be referred to as 'father' and Jack as 'dad', so as to ensure there would be no mix up between them.

Jack headed back to his home – it still felt incredible to be able to call it that, considering the door had once been charmed to specifically crush him whenever he came calling, although that particular charm had long been removed – with no reluctance; Chase's amazing home had more appeal than his old 'evil lair' any day of the week, especially since he no longer had the Xiaolin monks bursting through the walls in order to torment him or steal back the shen gong wu he had stolen from them earlier. Jack had to admit it: even aside from the obvious, living with Chase Young had great perks.

Once inside the citadel, Jack stored the shen gong wu in the designated area – smug that he knew this even after all this time – and then proceeded to eagerly search out his lover and daughter.

The two were, as predicted, in one of the many back rooms, which was as richly furnished as the others – with a trickling, clear waterfall, a spotless stone floor, mahogany walls and antique furniture – but which had a surprisingly bright, homey theme to it; a necessity, in Jack's world, for the mental stability of their child, which Chase had agreed to after only minimal persuasion, although he had drawn the line at evil bunnies being painted along the skirting of the ceiling despite Jack's pleads.

Chase was sitting on a grand chair – at least three hundred years old, made from firm, fine wood and with a red padded cushion – and watching his daughter with attentive eyes. The small girl was presently staring with the awe that only a child could possess at a robotic teddy bear – made, of course, by Jack for her first birthday – as she prodded various buttons on the 'toy' and watched as it moved around with stiff limbs and made bleeping noises.

Her father watched this, with the patience that the warlord possessed around her and her alone; not even Jack could ever hope for Chase to be this patient with him. The small girl had her father – not that said father would ever admit it in fifteen hundred years – wrapped around her little finger, and she knew it; for a young child, she was rather intelligent, something that Jack took credit for and that Chase took pride in.

Since her birth, things had actually improved between Chase and Jack. That didn't mean that Chase no longer had bursts of anger which threw Jack across the room – often resulting in several days of whimpering, whining and flinching – or that he had suddenly transformed into a completely understanding individual; he had not. However, he made a conscious effort to strike out at his lover less and on the whole, with a few slips over the months, he was improving. And to his credit, the immortal had never once raised his hand to his daughter, although that did not mean he had never raised his voice.

Ebony Eternity Young was a remarkable person, even at a mere eighteen months. It amazed Jack that such a tiny girl – daughter to the dragon or not – could have such power over the mighty Chase Young, to the extent that he would not even consider hitting her. And he had to admit, Chase hit him less and less often, and he privately wondered – voicing his questions aloud would not help in the slightest – if, over time, those strikes would fade into a state of oblivion.

On the outside, Chase was the same as he had ever been: evil, cruel, demeaning and occasionally unbearable. However, Jack had the privilege of seeing him as no other but he and his daughter saw him. That is, as a father.

Chase's pregnancy was not discussed any more. If Ebony should ask – and indeed she would – as she got older, they would invent a story to feed to her until she came to an age where she could withstand and digest the truth behind her birth. Until then, they were content to raise their daughter with the ways of evil and, of course, with the sort of love that seems odd to those who are not Heylin; the Xiaolin monks would never understand Chase's method of parenting – Jack's was far softer – but behind all his strict codes and harsh words, Chase genuinely loved Ebony, more than anything.

He had never imagined that, after his change of heart and his first monumental taste of that soup, he would be able to love another so completely. But then again, he had never imagined that he would have the privilege of becoming someone's father, either, and here he was with a daughter over a year old and a lover to aid in her upbringing.

Ebony was not only a daughter to Chase; she was also a pupil. She would be, as she grew and became more attentive to detail, instructed in the ways of evil. She could be loved and taught as she grew and, with time, would become a prodigy; her father would accept no less, in his own words, although Jack privately knew that, no matter what choices Ebony made in her life, she would always be special to Chase.

/

Jack took his seat next to Chase and smiled at the warlord warmly, his eyes alight with love, desire and hopefulness; he wanted praise from his lover, or at least whatever the Chase Young equivalent of blatant praise truly was. He received it: Chase pulled Jack against his shoulder, and Jack lowered his head into the crook of the warlord's neck in acceptance of this acknowledgement.

Chase did not often ignore Jack – with high pitched whining and a natural obsession with touching his idol and lover, it was difficult to do – but the albino could not get enough of his lover regardless; he missed him whenever they had to be apart, and with the threat of Hannibal Bean and Wuya ever growing, those times grew more and more frequent.

Though Jack could not complain that Chase fought them while he was left at home like a housewife; it was not like that. Okay, Jack was quite often left behind – thought this was more for his own safety than anything else, considering his inability to engage effectively in physical combat – but on these rare occasions, Ebony was not with him. Chase felt the need to leave Ebony in hiding with his warriors or, if the situation were truly desperate, with the more than able Xiaolin warriors – who fell over themselves to care for the girl, ever hopeful that she could be led way from the ways of evil and towards the tendencies of good. If the threat was Wuya alone, without Bean, he even took Ebony with him once; it had been a quick fight, and he had then spoken to his daughter about the techniques he had used in the fight as though she could understand all that he had to say.

Most of the time, though, the threat was not so great as to draw them out of their lair – Chase's interest in the shen gong wu, which had been minimal to begin with, dwindled into the depths of nothingness, leaving Jack being the only one to regularly attend showdowns. Chase preferred to instruct and care for Ebony, to work on his sorcery and, of course, to train in his favour methods of fighting.

He had, within about four months following Ebony's birth, regained his impressive body. The training required for him to do so had been great, but with his persistence and his lover's encouragement, Chase had managed it within a shorter time period than expected. Of course, was that really surprising? After all, he was the great Chase Young.

There is a shrill shriek of delight from their daughter as she throws the toy across the room, its ability to entertain her lacking, and her parents grin together; she has a decent throw in her arm, for a young child. With the proper training, she will be able to throw a monk clear across the room with little effort by the time she is a teenager.

She raises herself to her feet, for she can walk, albeit a tad shakily, across the room easily enough; she can run, too, if she wants, although not for a great distance. Taking the necessary steps to reach her parents, chubby arms reach up in a plead to be picked up; her dad complies instantly, because although they will never admit it, the parents do tend to spoil her.

Chase smirks as Jack raises the girl squealing with delight high above his head, standing up in order to spin her around in a way that she adores.

"You spoil her, Jack."

"Me?" Jack snorts, for he has grown more and more confident around his lover. "You're the one that gives her everything she wants."

"Oh really? And who was it again that flew personally to Mexico City to obtain the perfect sort of material to clothe a doll that is not alive, just because he knew that Ebony happened to like the material?"

"What can I say? The girl's got taste!" Jack smirks proudly – no parent had ever looked so smug, it was indeed a new record. "Obviously, since she is the daughter of Jack Spicer, evil boy genius!"

An evil cackle fills the room, followed a girlish giggle which is a weak imitation of her parent's laugh – Ebony may have been the daughter of Chase Young and the so-called-evil-genius Jack Spicer, but she was still a child and did not have an evil laugh; she had the same cheerful chuckle that all children possess.

Chase rolled his eyes, sighing. He sincerely hoped that Ebony would not have her mother's sense of humour, for he was loathed to be around two people who found bodily functions and dull daytime television humorous. He could handle Jack, was used to him and his guilty pleasures, but he didn't want those specific qualities to be passed onto his daughter. If Ebony could have any of Jack's qualities asides from his eyes – hers were as red now as the day she was born – it would have to be his smarts; Chase himself was lacking in the technology area of ability, so it would be profitable to all if his daughter could inherit that from Jack, seeing as he hoped that she inherited agility and skills from he himself – and of course a healthy dose of the Heylin ways.

As the various fallen warriors roamed the palace in feline form, the small, odd family played together, enjoying the scarce moments when evil, threats and shen gong wu ceased to be of any importance to them and they just immersed themselves in the classic familial traditions of adoring their daughter and lavishing one another with kisses.

/

The four monks were stretching their aching limbs and re-bandaging their wounded egos, particularly the shortest monk – getting their butts kicked by Jack Spicer stung, especially when they knew that Chase Young and Wuya had both been watching.

"Jack Spicer has found much improvement" Omi remarked, massaging his temples.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I reckon it's livin' with Chase Young" Clay grumbled, folding his arms and laying his head on them. "He's gotta be teaching him somethin'."

Raimundo nodded in agreement but sighed all the same. "I'd be more worried about what he's teaching the kid" he said thoughtfully, feeling three pairs of eyes turn to him attentively. "If she turns bad..."

The sole female monk snorted and said, "I don't think there's any 'if' about it, Rai. Chase won't let her be anything else."

Raimundo and Clay nodded, and then the two of them and Kimiko turned in surprise to Omi, who was chuckling lightly. The small monk stopped and raised his head, smiling knowingly at his three friends.

"I think he will let Ebony decide for herself."

Three sets of eyes widened in surprise at Omi's statement, but he did not reply. Instead, he merely stepped inside the temple doors to get something to eat before continuing with some training.

The other three looked at each other and shrugged, not believing of the fact that Chase would actually let Ebony decide for herself whether or not she wanted to be good, evil or indifferent. They were entirely sure that she would, one day, present to them a great threat, and it was shame because – and they'd cared for her on two desperate occasions – from what they could tell, Ebony was a lovely child, considering her parentage.

But oh well. What could be done?

Little did they know, what went on behind the closed doors of Chase Young's lair, between the small family, was far from the horrors that they imagined. They imagined a loveless family in a strict regime and a poor child being brought up with abuse, which was why they had vowed to keep an eye on her.

They thought, to this day, that although Jack was true, Chase had no love in his heart for his daughter.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Note: For anyone wondering about the name Ebony Eternity Young, it was chosen for the following reasons. Firstly, we chose Young because Chase is the dominant one in the relationship and I think Jack would be proud to have his daughter share the name. The name Ebony Eternity was chosen because of the meaning. Eternity and Ebony have connotations of 'everlasting' and 'dark strength' respectively, so it's like a tribute to Chase's immortality and the fact they're Heylin and want their daughter to be evil.

Thank you for reading this. Please R&R