Neutral Ground

Title: Neutral Ground
Rating: PG, kissing
Disclaimer: None of the characters contained in this work are mine. All appear without permission.
Pairing: Eventual Jack/Clay
Notes: Feedback is appreciated, as always. This is my first attempt at fiction in this particular genre. Feel free to critique or praise. Lastly, thank you for your time.


It was a soft, warm night. The moonlight darted through the wispy clouds; acting bashful and playing hard to get. The melodic calls of nature were all around as a quiet figure wandered the courtyard. Despite his aura of placidity, the Xiaolin monk of the earth was on constant alert. Clay had "volunteered" for the first shift of night patrol. After their most recent battle, it was discovered that the alarms throughout the grounds had been tampered with. So now, they were being forced to have regular patrols. The first had originally been assigned to Raimundo but after much prodding the brazillian boy had managed to exasperate Clay into agreeing to a switch. The young monk now found himself beginning to regret the offer.
He had been at it for a few hours but to him, it may as well have been a lifetime. He stopped near the entrance gate and slumped against the wall in complete boredom. Clay glanced around, desperate for some relief from his stupor. He looked at the ground and noticed a good sized branch that had fallen from one of the cherry trees that surrounded the temple grounds. Clay calmly pulled out his pocket knife and sat down before reaching over to drag the branch over. He pulled out the blade and soon set to work whittling something out of the piece of timber.

Clay had been carving for about 15 minutes when a soft noise from the other side of the wall caught his attention. He was on his feet in an instant. With the sort of ability that comes from being trained as a xiaolin warrior, Clay flipped backwards onto a thick branch and leapt over the wall. He fell to the ground without a sound and did a quick scan. He could just make out a shadowed silhouette crouched underneath a low hanging tree. He approached with caution, his every nerve ending on high alert.
As he got closer, Clay could make out the sounds of muffled sobs. He was able to recognize them right away.

"Spicer." He hissed angrily.

The boy sitting at the base of the tree snapped his head up and stumbled to his feet.

"What in tarnation yah doin' here?"

His clenched his hands into fists. Rocks began to swirl around his curled fingers until they enveloped his entire hand. His eyes went white and the ground rumbled in response to his fury. It was enough to throw Jack off balance and he clutched the trunk of the tree for support.

"Wait, please. If you promise not to pulverize me, I'll tell you why I'm here. Then, I'll leave."

Clay growled. "Ya got five seconds, Spicer."

The other boy nodded his head rapidly while continuing to lean on the tree.

"I'm here because...well....I didn't have any place else to go." He whispered with a hint of shame in his words.

Clay gave him a wary look as he continued. "Chase ran me off. He said he has no use for a pathetic boy who's only use is creating toys that are good for being destroyed. That was uncalled for. I work really hard on my Jack-bots and then he just...-"

The earth began to shake again as Clay attempted to reign in Jack's rantings. The younger boy gave him a sheepish look and sputtered.

"Right, right, getting off track. Anyway, this was the only place I could think of to come and...vent. Seeing as to how my lab was kinda totaled!"

He threw a glare in Clay's direction but a raised eyebrow quickly had him backing off. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he attempted to look at everything but the Dragon of the Earth. Slowly, a few tears tracked down his dirt covered face and fell to the ground. To his astonishment, Clay discovered he had felt it when the moisture fell. They weren't tears of fear or false leadings, these were caused by genuine pain.
Suddenly, rocks began to float and circle Jack's legs as Clay's protective nature began to take hold. Large boulders shot up and formed a wall around the two boys. Spicer looked around nervously, feeling trapped. He backed up as far as he could against one of the large rocks and was shocked to find it gave easily at his touch. He turned around and pushed against it with his hand. Again the rock slid back without resistance and he turned a confused gaze to Clay.
The monk relaxed his clenched hands and the pieces of rock covering them tumbled to the ground. His eyes returned to their normal sky blue. There was a sad look in those deep azure orbs but as he looked, Jack could find no pity. Only a sympathetic understanding. There was also something darker, slowly fighting its way to the surface. Jack swallowed hard, an odd mixture of fear and arousal vied for dominance in his body. Despite the unease he felt the boy knew he was free to run at any time.
He watched Clay carefully, always keeping space between himself and the larger boy. The monk allowed himself to be scrutinized, standing stock still while Jack's scarlet eyes swept up and down his frame. They stood staring at each other for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Jack broke the silence with a question asked in a watery voice.

"What are you gonna do to me?"

Instead of answering, Clay began to advance on the wiry youth. Jack flinched but stood his ground; resigning himself to whatever fate was dealt him by one of his greatest adversaries. He swallowed down the pasty goo that was stuck to the roof of his too dry mouth. It oozed down his esophagus, before slowing to a stop halfway to his stomach. His eyes were on fire from the mixture of salt and dust on his skin. It was making it difficult to clearly see the boy circling him like one of Chase's jungle cats.

Clay moved with certainty and leisure, making it a point to absorb everything he could about the slight creature quivering in front of him. Before he could think about what he was doing, the young monk reached out and laid a gentle hand on the pale shoulder of the boy. His daddy had shown him this technique long ago; used when breaking horses. That is what Jack Spicer reminded him of, a wild skittish colt. The boy was all angles and awkward limbs. Beautiful in his own right.
With almost painfully slow movements; Clay began to let his hand drift over the cool skin of the young inventors arm. There was a twitch every so often but the Texan was careful to never break contact. He kept his eyes locked with Jack's and cautiously brought his other hand up to brush against the boy's neck. This resulted in a hard flinch and Clay let the fair-skinned youth pull back. Keeping his arms outstretched the earth warrior waited patiently for Jack to accept his touch.

There was a long moment of uncertainty from the pallid boy before he inched forward, coming even closer this time. Mere inches separated their bodies now. Clay graced his rival with a soft smile as he continued his soothing petting. Eventually, he felt the fine muscles beneath his hands relax. It wasn't much longer before Jack was leaning against him, his sharp face burrowed into one of the monk's meaty shoulders. He shuddered and more tears began to soak the soft material of Clay's top.

"It's alright, Spicer. Ah got'cha. Cain't guarantee we ain't gonna be enemies 'gain after tanight. Foh now though, jus' let me take care'a yah."

He felt a nod against his chest and he wrapped an arm around the thin waist to pull the almost too-small frame closer. Jack felt like he was being engulfed. Still, he couldn't help but feel a sense of security. Here it was warm and quiet, the only sounds being that of Clay's slow breathing and strong, steady heartbeat. The combination was hypnotic and Jack reluctantly pulled away before he made the mistake of drifting to sleep.
He turned a fiery gaze up at the larger boy and gave him a questioning look.

"Why are you being so nice? I thought we were, you know, bitter enemies amd all that."

Clay sighed and threaded his fingers through Spicer's bright auburn locks.

"It's how mah daddy raised me. Tough but fair. Yah never kick a man when he's down. Time bein'... you and me, we on neutral ground."

"What about your friends? Won't they freak when they find out about this?"

Clay simply shrugged. "Way ah see it, this ain't none 'o their business."

Jack was about to respond when the sound of shouting stilled them both.

"Clay! It is time for me to take over!"

It was Omi. Clay shook his head and released Jack from his grip.

"Guess that's mah cue. Ah'll be seein' yah 'round Spicer."

He turned to leave, the boulders quickly sinking to the ground around him. Suddenly, there was a hand on his arm and he was spun around. He was prepared to get angry but a pair of lips pressed against his effectively stunned him into silence. He wasn't given any time to respond before Jack pulled away and took off into the pre-dawn darkness. Clay was left standing silent, trying to pull together what just happened.

"Clay, there you are. Your watching is over, you can go and punch the wheat now my friend."

The earth dragon smiled and turned to the small monk. "Ah think ya mean 'hit the hay' little guy."

"That is what I said." A brief look of confusion screwed up Omi's face. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Clay chuckled and patted Omi's bald head as he walked by. "Nothin' ta worry about pardner. Have fun."

With that parting comment, the hulking Monk strode back through the gates for some much needed rest.

=============================================================================================================

"Were you successful?"

"Yeah, the big lunk bought it. A couple more visits I think I might be able to-"

"It would be best to be sure. You are on your last graces with me Spicer and failure will not be tolerated."

Jack frowned and cringed away from the harsh tone of Chase Young.

"Got ya."

Spicer was careful not to flinch when he felt a firm hand at the back of his neck. He offered no resistance when he was pulled into a rough kiss and was pushed away just as forcefully.

"Just remember to whom you belong. If you are successful I might see my way to making you a permanent around here."

Chase's voice was lurid and this time Jack couldn't help but cringe. He nodded and slunk away to the relative safety of the outside caverns. Only after the massive doors were closed behind him did he let out a sigh of relief.

TBC...hopefully.