Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time

The title for the fic and the chapter comes from the song 'Lullaby' by Hypnogaja and is what inspired me to start writing this in the first place. As some readers may know this is my rewrite of the original fic (which I have taken down now) so I hope all my wonderful readers from before enjoy the changes and to those who are new to my fic and my work; Hello! Welcome! I hope you enjoy my fic and thank you for reading.

Warnings: Yaoi, Violence, mentions of rape, general unpleasantness to begin with.
Disclaimers: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of the characters from the show. I do however own my OC's.

Soon Jack would be turning twenty years old and he wanted to have achieved more in his life than he had. Not that twenty was old, he knew that, but given that he was an evil genius (he dropped the boy around his 16th birthday) he felt he should have more to show for his years of hard work and training. Yes, he was more physically fit and acrobatic, better at fighting and doing the showdowns but overall nothing had changed. He was still being moaned at by Wuya for not doing well enough, Chase still acted coldly to him although he had reluctantly started training him a few years ago. The Monks had been messed around with Jack one minute their friend, the next on the side of evil too many times and now completely ignored him unless they were in a showdown. He was lonely and Chase might bang on about Evil not needing friends but he had Wuya and himself. Jack had no one. The bright optimism and cheerfulness he had once had as a teenager had faded fast the older he got.

That was how he had ended up agreeing to go to one of his Mother's awful parties to try and make at least a friend. It was unlikely he knew considering he had nothing in common with the type of people that his Mother liked to socialise with or their adult children. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Unfortunately it also included his Mother dragging him out to go clothes shopping, insisting his usual outfits wouldn't cut it for tonight. So here he was, out in a shopping centre being made to try on outfit after outfit. He had made her agree that she could only pick out clothes of certain colours he had listed, any others would be outright rejected straight away.

Walking out of the changing room he looks up at his Mother and has to admit that this outfit did look good on him, it was one the personal shopper his Mother hired had picked out for him. At first his Mother had been unsure but now she saw it on her son she had to concede that it looked good. Although she wished she would cut his hair and stop tying it back in that small untidy ponytail and take out all those piercings out of his ears and then he would look so much more handsome. And don't get her started on his make-up. "You look so handsome Jackie. Even if you do look a bit... alternative..."

Shrugging, Jack looks at himself in the full length mirror. The pearl grey button up shirt was form fitting, sleeves rolled up to below his elbow, the top few buttons left undone to show off his now toned and muscular arms and chest. The jeans were a black skinny fit with a silver chain hooked from a belt loop on the front to one just above his back pocket. With these the look was finished with black combat boots, tied messily with silver studs on the heels. "Yeah I guess." shoving his hands in his pockets. "Can I leave in these if we pay for them? I can't be bothered to change just to get home and have to change again."

The shop assistant nods eagerly and takes the credit card from his Mother. If nothing else, Jack liked the shirt. It made him feel like his hard work hadn't been for nothing entirely, you could see the muscle definition and evident hours of time spent working out to get them so. Which reminded him, he needed to get more clothes for working out and training in, as well as some better leather armour to protect him in fights. Only a year ago he had discovered this fantastic bespoke tailor that worked with all materials a person could imagine and had readily made Jack some combat ready leather and Kevlar outfits without asking questions, he was being paid too much to care what a young man would want with a jacket that had special plating normally used in motorbike jackets that could stop something from stabbing through. He would need to stop by again soon to get some new stuff, as his usual coat was beginning to fall apart from the most recent showdown.

Tags ripped off the outfit and his stuff all bagged and ready to go, they head to the sports shop for Jack to grab what he needs before they can head home. He noticed that since he had changed into the new outfit more people were staring at him except the usual contempt and sneer was missing. Instead they were looking at him... almost appreciatively. Weird. Buying the bits he needs they leave and go home to prepare for the party.

~Ω~

Jack was already massively regretting coming to the party. Everyone was avoiding him like the plague and so now he was sat with a drink, he didn't know what it was called or what was in it but it was alcoholic and bright red so he was happy, waiting for the night to be over so he could go back down to his lab and try and forget this stupid idea of trying to make friends. Admit it, He thinks glumly, you're a freak Jack and no one wants to know you.

As Jack begins to think about which Shen Gong Wu would be best to use to destroy all these petty and pathetic people his Mother socialised with a very attractive young man, only a few years older than himself, walks over and smiles at him. "Hi, Jack right? I'm Andrew. Or Andy, if you want."

"Uh, hi." Jack blinks at him, stunned by his good looks and the fact he was talking to him. Honestly Jack didn't really know what he classified as sexually, he'd never been with anyone before and had never found the time to stop to think about it. Sure when he was younger he'd had a bit of a crush on Kimiko but that had faded real quick. If he had to say he'd probably go with that his gate swings both ways. "So, Andrew, erm, enjoying the party?"

He was flapping, he had no idea what to say that wouldn't make him run away. Laughing softly, Andrew shakes his head, his mahogany eyes shining with amusement. "Not really, sorry. This isn't my sort of thing... You know? My Father forced me to come tonight, hoping I'd find some rich young woman to snatch up. What about you? You don't look like you're having a good time."

"No, this isn't my sort of thing either. Not to brag but I'm a certified genius and these people are dull and stupid. All they want to talk about is the most mundane subjects and I can't suffer the way they look down on me because of my appearance." Jack sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I've just had a crappy night."

Smiling softly, Andrew puts a hand on his shoulder and rubs it comfortingly. Jack had immediately tensed up, expecting pain or an attack of some form, after all that was the only time people ever touched him. Yet it wasn't. It was nice and sent tingles through him making him flush faintly. "Don't worry about it, me too. Why don't we ditch this boring party and go somewhere a bit more fun? I think there's a Laser Tag place down the road, sound like your sort of thing?"

Jack wanted to pinch himself. Surely he had to be dreaming, this tall, attractive blonde man that looked like he'd stepped out of a Calvin Klein ad was asking him to ditch a boring party with stuck up rich assholes to go do something mildly violent and a hell of a lot more fun. There was no way this could be real, Jack just wasn't that lucky. "Fuck yeah." Jack grins and follows him eagerly. Dream or not, he was going to enjoy it whilst it lasted.

~Ω~

Honestly, Jack was sure it had been years since he had laughed last. He didn't even laugh when he won showdowns or beat the monks to a Shen Gong Wu anymore. Yet here he was, laughing and having the time of his life, using all his skills to his advantage to beat Andrew at a silly game of Laser Tag. As well as all the others that were there, a surprising number of other adults playing too instead of all children.

Aiming to fire at Andrew again, the taller man pounces on the red head and they laugh as they roll down the ramp Jack had been stood at the top of, landing in a darkened almost unnoticeable part of the course. Andrew was on top of Jack, both grinning and out of breath. Leaning down, the blonde surprises the genius with a kiss, his tongue running along the seam of his lips, begging for entry. Jack gasps softly, opening his mouth and moaning softly at the sensation. It wasn't perfect and they ended up biting each other's lips occasionally but neither man cared, Jack was swimming in hormones he'd never experienced before, enjoying his first kiss and Andrew was just pleased that he had read the other man correctly and hadn't scared him off. Moving down his lips, chin and throat, Andrew pushes his collar aside to leave a hickey on his collar bone where the shirt would hide it. Knotting his pale fingers in the soft blonde locks, Jack bites his lip to stop a moan and holds his head there. Satisfied that the mark would go a nice deep purple, almost black colour, the older man sits back and looks into the bright ruby red eyes. "So uh, I guess this means you'll date me right?"

Nodding eagerly, not caring how desperate he seems, Jack smiles and stands up with him to finish the round of Laser Tag. They didn't have long left and then they'd have to head back to make sure they were back before the party was over and their parents realised they had left. Until Andrew had gotten his dream job he pretty much relied on his Father's money so he had to keep him happy and do as the man wanted even if he was a 24 year old man, an adult by all accounts and capable of earning his own.

This was how Jack's relationship with the only person who had shown him true kindness and interest had begun, an event the man would never forget as it was the start of the best year of his life that lead to the worst year of his life, and nearly dying.

~ Ω~

At training with Chase the next day, Jack was all smiles and eager to do all the tasks set, not complaining once. Which had the Dragon Lord very suspicious, watching the young man with narrowed bronze eyes. Wuya walks over and runs her hand along his shoulders and stands next to him. "Do not touch me again, Witch." Chase growls at her.

Wuya sighs and keeps her hands to herself, watching Jack with him. She had been trying to get into Chase's bed but it had yet to succeed. The younger more powerful man simply had no interest in her at all it seemed. As the time rolls around when Jack would normally finish training, Chase raises an eyebrow as the man goes to leave. "See you tomorrow Chase, Wuya." He grins, looking excited.

"Why have you stopped Spicer? I didn't say the training session was over. Did I."

Jack just shrugs, he really didn't care about the training today. He had arranged to meet up with Andrew again today once he was done here to go out on a proper first date. "I don't care Chase, I have plans." The insolent tone makes Chase's eye twitch. "As I said, see you tomorrow." Before the Dragon Lord can punish the pale man for speaking to him thus, Jack had his heli-pack on and was flying hastily out of the building.

Grinding his teeth, Chase decides he sincerely doesn't like this change in Jack, even if a part of him was pleased to see him in a better mood and putting more effort into his training.

~ Ω~

It started off small, with Andrew simply manipulating Jack into wearing clothes he thought were more 'appropriate' for him and even persuading him to stop wearing his make-up and goggles. Reluctant at first, Jack had soon kept to it when he was kissed with pure unadulterated desire when Andrew had seen him dressed as he wanted. It was nice to feel desired after all. The sex was fantastic that first night too, going several times before falling asleep together in a content messy heap. Because of this Jack's Mother had quickly accepted Andrew as a her son's boyfriend even though she was never at home to actually see them together.

Eventually Andrew had wormed his way into Jack's heart and head to the extent that he even managed to convince him to give up building Jack Bots or use his heli-pack, telling him that he was concerned for his wellbeing and it broke his heart to think of the love of his life using something so dangerous, not that he doubted Jack's abilities but he simply wouldn't sleep well knowing that there was always a risk with them.

Again, Jack had been reluctant but he had gone along with it because he loved Andrew. They had been together so long, it was hard to deny him anything he wanted. Besides it made him happy seeing him so grateful when he went along with it. Then things got worse. Jack had had to use his heli-pack to go train at a specific location with Chase and Andrew had found out.

Arriving home exhausted and worked harder than ever, Jack puts the heli-pack back into the box and seals it up and freezes when he hears Andrew clear his throat from behind him. "Andy, before you get mad, I needed it for my training with Chase. I had to fly up to meet him on a mountain and-"

Slapping him across the face, Andrew's temper flares and he begins to slap and punch Jack several times until he was bruised and bloody. "I told you to never use this again. And who is 'Chase'? Why are you meeting him on a mountain?"

Later, Andrew had begged forgiveness, tears streaming down his face and on his knees. He claimed that he was just so concerned that he had lost his temper and he'd never do it again and begged for another chance, that he was madly in love with Jack and sometimes it blinded him but he'd better for him. Jack, desperate to keep the only friend and lover in his life had forgiven him. They had fantastic slow make up sex in his lab and then a few more times in bed, going until neither could physically go on. It was as Jack lay boneless, swimming in the pleasant after-glow that Andrew rolls on top of him and looks down at him seriously. "If you love me Jack, if we want this to work out then I need you to promise me that you'll never meet up with that Chase guy again and I want you quit that job whatever it is you're doing with the 'Heylin' or whatever."

It was hardly like Jack had a choice, he felt pressured with Andrew on top of him like that whilst he was so vulnerable to give him whatever he wanted regardless. So he agrees and sends a message to Chase to never contact him again and sends him and Wuya all his Shen Gon Wu the next day.

The Monks had simply believed that Jack's disappearance was due to him going off to train more intensely over the months and many Shen Gon Wu appearances that he had not been at. Though it had confused them that they had seen Chase and Wuya but not the genius. It was when they were at a shopping centre to buy new clothes, having grown out of their old clothes, when they had spotted him again for the first time in almost a year. They had all ended up staring in shock at the young man. He had definitely not been training up from the look of him. It was almost impossible to recognise him anymore without his usual style of clothes, goggles or make up but it was definitely him. But that wasn't what had changed drastically about his appearance. It was the fact that all the muscle he had worked so hard to tone and build had vanished, his face and body noticeably thin and gaunt. His clothes hung off him, much too big. Once bright blood red hair was now dull in colour and clearly not healthy anymore.

Unable to do anything but watch him from where they stood, they had witnessed him leaning on Andrew and kiss him softly before leaving with him.

Andrew had Jack under his thumb now, he had practically starved the young man to get him to lose weight and try to develop a more 'feminine' slim figure. There was nothing feminine about his incredibly thin figure but it wasn't really about that. Andrew knew Jack was strong, definitely able to beat him in a fight if it ever came to that. So he had to change that, he needed total control over the man. And now he had it.

One night Jack had somehow managed to really piss Andrew off to the point where the man had not only beaten him half to death but then proceeded to rape him aggressively and several times until the young man was bleeding and screaming his throat raw. Storming out and leaving the young man in a broken mess in their room he had gone out to a bar to get a drink to sooth his throat which was sore from shouting at Jack, telling him how he deserved everything he had dished out the slim man and that if he ever tried to leave him he'd kill him in his sleep.

Desperate and knowing now he really had to get away, Jack had managed to drag/crawl his way down to his lab and send a call to Chase desperately. But he was losing a lot of blood fast, and already weak from being so thin and frail he passed out before the Dragon Lord could answer.

"After all this time Spicer what do- Spicer?" Chase frowns, looking confused as no one was there. That was when he spots Jack passed out naked on the ground, looking practically dead he was so thin and covered in so much blood. "Spicer!" Leaving hastily, Chase runs faster than he had ever run before to get to Jack's house and gathers him up in a sheet before taking him to a nearby hospital. Wuya had watched in shock as he had run out, wondering why the Dragon Lord had run to the aid of a young man he clearly found irritating and had been extremely pissed off with for throwing back Chase's training sessions back in his face.

But he hadn't thought, he had just seen Jack lying there dying and had reacted. For whatever reason he wasn't prepared to think about yet, he cared about the wellbeing of the young man and hadn't been willing to let him die like that. So here he was, pacing in the waiting area after being seen to by a doctor himself, having been covered in Jack's blood when he had arrived they wanted to check him over too. They had insisted that if he wanted to wait for Jack he would have to change into some scrubs, his clothes too soaked in blood. Donned in green scrubs, Chase growls to himself silently. You better live Spicer.

AN: So there you have it, chapter one! I decided to expand much more on the original first chapter to show Jack's relationship with Andrew in greater detail and more insight on why Jack stayed with him.

Please let me know what you thought, Reviewers get cookies! ;)