Disclaimer: I don't own xiaolin showdown. If I did, Chase would be groveling at Jack's feet.

Warning: Chase x Jack and probably bad grammar. English isn't my first language. If there's any mistakes, please feel free to let me know.

AN: My first in this section...

Summary: The real Jack Spicer wasn't what they expected.

Existential

The real Jack Spicer wasn't as tall, or gangly, or as loud as the one the public has come to know. He was a slender, delicate, small boy with a head of shocking white hair and big, solemn eyes. He hid behind the curtains, like the Grand Wizard of Oz, watching the outside world through the eyes of his first and fondest creation.

Jack Spicer One.

It started as a simple project. He set out to create the perfect companion because, simply put, there wasn't anyone near Jack's age with the intellect to keep up with him. There weren't many adults that could keep up with him either and adults, Jack found, didn't like being contradicted. They didn't like being corrected and they liked it even less coming from a boy who barely came up to their knees. By the time he learned to keep quiet, it had been too late.

He had already managed to ostracized himself.

The other children didn't like him. He looked weird. The way he spoke was strange. He was different and that made them wary. Jack remembered spending a lot of his childhood alone, just looking out the window. His parents were in and out of the country for most of his life. The nannies only stuck around long enough to make sure that he ate and bathe, but nothing else. No one paid him any mind. Even the servants went about their business as if he wasn't there. When he got older the companionship of his nannies, as little as it was, vanished.

No one really missed him when he disappeared one day to the underground basement of the manor.

It took one year, but all the effort and hard work was worth it. He proudly looked on as Jack One blinked for the first time.

He instilled his creation with every aspect he wished he possessed. The ability to expression emotions (though Jack One tended to be over dramatic at times). The ability to go outside. (His albinism, very much real, kept him shrouded in the dark). He even gave Jack One the ability to make his own decisions and in the end, Jack One became more human than the real Jack, who simply faded into the background.

Everything about Jack One was supposed to contrast against reality; from the eye-catching wild red hair to the goth like clothes.

The real Jack was content to remained in the shadows, never leaving the safety of his mansion. He never planned on revealing himself to Chase Young or the Monks. It was just unfortunate that karma and Jack One didn't feel incline to agree.

He looked up from his hidden lab when Jack One kicked down the door and hysterically came through.

"Jackie!"

Jack hated that name. After years of hearing it, though, he had grown accustomed to it. He stared at his creation and frown he when saw one of the Xiaolin monks coming in behind. Jack One grabbed his arm and tried to pull him out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked with furred brows. He dug his heels in and grabbed the table. The more important question was why was Clay there? Did that mean that the others were inside the mansion as well?

Clay looked bewildered when he saw Jack.

"It's Chase!" Jack One's voice grew higher in pitch and he looked desperate. "He's hurt!"

Jack released the table.

Despite being opposites, there were just some things he shared in common with his creation. His admiration of Chase Young was one of them.

"Where?" he asked. He followed after Jack One who led him to the living room with Clay following silently behind.

He walked into chaos.

The rest of the monks were there, gathered around a heavily bleeding and unconscious Chase who took up space on his living room couch.

Omi looked up.

"Ah, you would be the physician that Jack has spoken of?" the little monk bowed respectfully. "He is very hurt."

Chase was pale, paler than he was normally, and the blood wouldn't stop flowing. It seeped passed Kimiko's fingers as she tried to staunch the wound.

"No offense, but you look too young to be a doctor," Raimundo stared. "You're no bigger than Omi!"

Jack didn't take offense.

He gently shoved Kimiko aside and took over. "I have several doctrines, including a medical license."

While Jack One was off gallivanting for Wu, Jack had nothing better to do. Studying medicine was something he picked at a whim. He never thought he would have a use for it.

He also never expected that Chase would be his very first patient.

"What happened?" he asked.

"An exploding Wu-" Omi was cut off when Clay's hand clamped over his mouth.

"A car accident?" Kimiko suggested quickly.

"I know all about the Wu," Jack said. They stared at him as he glanced down at Chase. "He should be fine."

"With all that blood?" Dojo asked doubtfully from his place around Omi's neck.

"He's Heylin," Jack reminded them. "Look. His wounds are already closing. He's healing himself."

The sizable hole in Chase's stomach was already shrinking.

Jack glared at Jack One. All this time of being hidden and he had outed himself because Jack One was too hysterical to remember that Chase was practically immortal.

"Sorry," Jack One held up his hand in apology. "I thought he was seriously hurt!"

Jack felt exceedingly tired as the monks began their round of questions.

"You know about the Wu?"

"How did you know that Chase was Heylin?"

"Are you and Jack related?"

"What's your name?"

He and Jack One shared a look.

"I'm Jackson," he said reluctantly. "A cousin of Jack."

"Jack and Jackson," Raimundo gave him a sympathizing nod. "I've got a cousin name Taimundo."

"Yes, I can see the resemblance," Clay mentioned with a thoughtful look.

"Why haven't we've met you before?" Omi wondered. "How do you know about the Wu?"

"Jack and I don't have any secrets. We're best friends," Jack answered slowly.

"You could say we were made for each other," Jack One offered.

Jack inwardly cringed.

"I must say...you seem a lot more level-headed than Jack," Dojo remarked.

"Hey!" Jack One looked insulted.

Before anyone else could get out a word, a hand had reached out and snagged Jack. He found himself being pulled onto a firm chest as a nose buried itself into his neck.

Jack froze.

A mouth went to his ears and hissed. "Who the hell are you?"

Jack's heart thumped as golden-slit eyes opened. Chase grabbed the hairs on the back of his neck and tugged at it, demanding an answer.

"J-Jackson. Jack's cousin," Jack sputtered out. He had never been this close to his idol before. He found himself nervously trying to pull away.

Chase released him with a calculating look. "Jack's cousin?"

"Yes." Jack found himself hiding behind Jack One. "Do something," he hissed.

"Like what?" Jack One whispered back.

They both gave an unmanly squeak when Chase got up from the couch and loomed over them. Jack's knees trembled because Chase Young was decidedly much more intimidating in person. There was a moment of heavy tension in the room now that Chase was on his feet. The monks looked wary and Jack One looked nervous. Chase sneered a little before he vanished.

"Oh look, time for dinner," Jack One yelped. The grandfather clock in the living room chimed with a loud bell.

"Oh, dinner!" Omi rubbed his stomach. "I'm so famish I can eat a full house!"

"That's eat a horse, Omi," Kimiko corrected.

"Yeah, we better go before everyone at the temple gets worried," Clay said.

Jack had never been more relieved to see them head out the door. When they were gone, he turned to Jack One and crossed his arms.

"Aw, come on," Jack One pleaded. He doubled the sizes of his eyes (something Jack has yet to learn to counter) and his lower lip trembled. "I didn't mean to do it. I swear!"

And when his creation looked like that, sad, anxious, and genuinely sorry, Jack couldn't find it in his heart to stay angry.

"I guess you didn't do any real harm," he said reluctantly. He doubt the Monks or Chase would be back. Logically speaking, they didn't have a reason to.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Jack One began to follow after him.

"I'm tired." Jack wanted nothing more than to crash on his bed and just forget about the day.

"Ok!"

He wasn't surprised when Jack One joined him on the bed. He was a very touchy-feely creation who didn't find it uncomfortable in the least to place his arms around Jack's waist as they slip underneath the covers. Unbidden, Jack's hand went to ruffle Jack One's hair.

Jack One didn't have human warmth. He smelled of mechanical oil and metal and if Jack listened very carefully, he could hear the gears inside of Jack One's body shifting and moving. It was during moments of peace like this, with Jack One's head tucked into his neck, did the realization that Jack One wasn't real hit him.

Maybe...just maybe with all the bustle and hustle that the monks and Chase brought, the first contact he's had with real people in a long while, he feels a bit lonely now with just Jack One by his side.

"You ok?" Jack One asked. He picks up on Jack's mood and raised his head. Same colored eyes stared at one another.

"I'm fine."

And he was.

Maybe.