Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

So, apparently the only films the computer had access to were training videos and educational documentaries of the history of the Star Farer Armada, it's political relations, and information on the different alien ethnicities that the Armada had ever come into contact with.

Needless to say, Zane was the only one still gung-ho for a movie night at the moment.

Kai's ultimate movie night was postponed until he and Jay could figure out how to program or smuggle an actual movie worth watching onboard.

And in the meantime…

Things were quiet. Painfully so.

Orders from the CO's had their trajectory programmed into the computer, setting the ship essentially on autopilot, as they maintained some kind of grid pattern. Not an official mission, but something to do that would also help prevent another attack like what happened with the Hasperions. Patrol, the CO's called it.

Patrol in Ninjago was never this boring.

Jay had run out of original pranks a week ago and everyone else was doing their own thing. Kai was supposed to be studying. But staring at a screen, reading tiny words and watching monotonous videos made his eyes cross and his head hurt after the first few hours.

He was burnt out. How punny.

He was sick of studying, sick of going through the motions, trying to wrap his brain around medical terms, learning to use his equipment and procedures, and how in the blazes does a person's body work like that?!

Yeah, he was bored.

Kai really needed a change of pace. But what could he do? He wasn't Jay, he wouldn't go around the ship to find someone willing to donate a minute of their time. He didn't want to interrupt if anyone was doing anything worth doing.

And so, Kai is currently 'familiarizing' himself with the phalanx regenerators, stacking them like a house of cards, but kind of in a pyramid shape? Whatever, it didn't really matter. The biggest takeaway was stacking the things really wasn't as easy as it looked and after a whole fifteen minutes (his attention span for something so mundane wasn't so good on a great day, so, yeah, this was considered a feat) he was finally getting somewhere-

"What an interesting exercise."

Kai's hand jerked and his carefully assembled tower thingies started to crumble, even as he launched forward, scrambling to gather everything before the whole thing collapsed. He didn't do much good, his attempts only scattering the regenerators further.

"My apologies."

Kai bit back an expletive as he twisted to face Zane, still awkwardly bent over the table with his arms hemming in the runaway regenerators.

"I did not mean to startle you," Zane finished."

Kai huffed in agitation. His knee jerk reaction was to snap at the master of ice, and he narrowly managed to keep from doing just that.

"Warn a guy next time," he grunted instead, swiftly turning the regenerators on end so they wouldn't roll anymore.

Zane stepped forward to help.

"I got it," Kai waved him off, fixing the last few of them.

Zane stepped back smoothly, tucking his hands behind his back. Kai scowled at how comfortable the nindroid appeared to be in his long sleeve blue uniform. It fit him well… but Kai still felt painfully self conscious in his own. It just wasn't something he'd wear. Ever.

Kai scooped the regenerators off the table, and dumped them in their drawer. He then plucked the few that rolled to the floor and did the same.

"That does not appear very sanitary."

Kai's scowl deepened.

"It's fine."

Zane's eyebrow rose.

"Are you-"

"I'm sure, Zane. I've been meaning to clean their drawer anyway. I'll sanitize them later."

He really hadn't planned to, but the moment Zane mentioned sanitation, a voice kicked into gear in his head, scolding him for his lack of cleanliness with 'vital medical equipment'. He vaguely acknowledged it belonged to the bland instructor in his educational vids.

Now, he would sanitize them later, no matter how the thought of one more mundane task grated on his already volatile mood.

"Is there something I can help you with, Zane?"

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot."

You're a nindroid, Zane. You have perfect memory.

Kai bit his tongue before the words escaped.

"I came to ascertain how comfortable you are in your role as doctor." He continued. "How well have you progressed through your educational material?"

Half way would be generous.

"You know, Zane, ever since you've taken the role of Science Officer, your vocab has grown." Kai continued before Zane had a chance to respond. "I'm about half-way through, I think." Kai glanced at his monitor. "Most of the material is common sense, especially because I've treated my fair share of minor injuries and illnesses, but there's a lot to memorize, and the alien material is downright confusing."

"Have you enabled your AI, yet?"

Kai blinked.

"The computer."

"Like the computer, yes, but not the ship wide AI," Zane explained. "Your medbay should be equipped with an AI to assist in the diagnosing and treating the patients."

Kai… hadn't known. It hadn't been anywhere in the material he'd already covered, and definitely not in the 'Familiarizing Yourself with Your Workspace' where it covered every inch of the medbay and its contents.

…Thinking back, though, Kai was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep halfway through that vid.

"I didn't know," Kai admitted, heat rising to his cheeks. "Guess I'll have to back through the material and look into it."

"You could do that," Zane agreed. "Or Jay might be able to assist in it's activation. He would likely know how to operate it, having much more insight on how this ship runs than we do."

"I'd be asking to get pranked," Kai snorted. "Jay's bored. Asking him to activate an AI would be like dangling an irresistible carrot in front of his nose. No, I'm not letting him anywhere need my AI. He'd probably program it to do something stupid."

"However, regardless of whether the AI is activated or not, are you confident in the knowledge you have already learned?"

Kai frowned. Why was Zane pushing this so hard?

"When it comes to aliens? No, I'm hopelessly confused. But with humans? Yeah, I'm pretty confident. There's only so many ways to stitch a wound or set a bone."

"But there are a hundred ways to inflict a wound or break a bone."

"True. But the bone always needs setting and the wound always needs stitching."

Zane sighed, shaking his head lightly.

"I just want to be sure you aren't caught off guard if an emergency arises."

He doesn't think I can do this.

Well, he wasn't the only one with doubts. It wasn't like Kai had a choice, though. These were the cards he was dealt and he was going to play them.

And he sure as blazes wasn't going to fail them because he hadn't studied as hard as he should have.

"Zane, I've got this," Kai put forth his most confident smirk. "I'm good. And it's not like I'm not studying. I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm doing."

Zane frowned.

"Okay," he allowed. "So long as you are confident. But if you ever feel like you could use a second opinion or need any assistance-"

"I know who to call," Kai dismissed. "Thanks, Zane."

"No need to thank me," Zane denied, turning for the door. "I must take my leave. Some reports need filing and other responsibilities require my attention."

"See ya later, Zane."

"You as well, Doctor."

Facing the door, Zane never saw Kai's expression drop into an uneasy frown.

Doctor. Who was he kidding? Doctors required years and years of schooling and practical training, and that was for humans alone. He'd only been studying for a few weeks. His only experience came from patching himself up as a kid and from treating a few scrapes and bruises as a 'Hero of Ninjago'. None of that really amounted to any true experience.

He wasn't ready for this kind of responsibility. What were the CO's thinking.

Zane or Nya would have been way better options for his position, not that he could perform half as well as them in theirs.

49.5 percent compatability.

Forty-nine point five percent. The number alone mocked him.

He wasn't the right person for this job.

But he was the only person for this job. He had to make it work. His team was depending on him to know his stuff.

It helped that he hated flying blind, not knowing what was up ahead and he hated feeling useless just because he didn't know what to do.

His gaze trailed back to his monitor.

Kai couldn't fail them.

It was all the incentive he needed to pull up a chair and dive right back into his studying.

/-/-/

Cole was innocent in all of this, honestly. He hadn't started it, he'd just been a victim of the age old mishap; he'd been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Taking a break from his studies, he'd wound up in the mess hall, snacking on a bowl of Cheerios that tasted like dust in his mouth (just knowing the food was cloned ruined his ability to enjoy it) when Jay launched his way through the doors, his hands already held up in surrender. His eyes were wide, his mop of curls bouncing wildly.

This can't be good.

"Okay, hear me out."

Definitely not good.

The gleam of mischief in the lightning ninja's eyes did not sit well, and Cole had to quell the urge to pull up stakes and run before he got caught up in whatever the blue ninja was planning.

It wasn't more than twenty minutes later that everything went to pot. He should have listened to his gut instinct.

"To be fair, I never thought this would actually happen." Jay shouted above the whir of machinery. The pair of them were crouched behind an overturned table. How, Cole wasn't sure. He'd thought they were welded down, but maybe they were just bolted…

He blinked, his gaze whipping around to pin Jay, having finally registered what the blue ninja said.

"You didn't think what would happen," Cole demanded incredulously. "You didn't think that attaching water cannons to the food replicator and programming it to target and assault us with high velocity pudding wouldn't blow up in your face?!"

"Our faces," Jay corrected, ducking a little lower as a stream of pudding sailed over his head. "Your stuck here, too. But no, I was talking about ending up aboard a real life Star Vessel!"

"We've been aboard for nearly a month now! You're only just realizing it's a Star Vessel?"

"No, I'm trying to tell you-"

"I'm not listening to you-"

"What is-? Gah!"

Nya had the unfortunate luck to have been the first person to experience a high velocity blast of pudding straight to the chest. For whatever reason, she'd ended up entering the mess hall. Now, she was a casualty. It blasted her right back out the doors she'd just entered from.

"Nya! No!" Jay cried dramatically, eyes wild. He whipped around, the pot on his head nearly flying off as he faced down his opponent.

"Nobody touches Nya, you collection of spare bolts and cracked washers!"

Sinking further behind the table with a sigh, Cole drug a hand down his face. He was so done with all of this.

With a mighty cry, Jay launched himself over the table they'd been hiding behind, sprinting towards the cannons like a lunatic, no weapons besides the ladle in his hands.

The master of lightning deftly dodged any and every attempt the cannons made to mow him down. Left, right, duck, right. He leapt high, swinging his ladle up over his head to bring it down in a crushing move. The barrel of the nozzle turned, its laser targeting system finding its home on Jay's chest…

Jay was a goner for sure.

Cole was already prepared to drag Jay by the leg to the infirmary whether he was injured by any of this or not, just to give Kai something to do. Surely the medbay had restraints-

The laser flickered out.

The whir died down as the machine was turned off, the nozzle falling into a resting position. It moved just in time to steal Jay's target.

He had nothing to swing at.

His ladle hit empty air, throwing him entirely off balance. Thanks to his advanced ninjitzu training, he managed to twist like a cat and land on his feet. He was still off balance. He stumbled backwards, arms and the ladle he had a death grip on pinwheeling, until artificial gravity won the day and he ended up plopping on his butt.

Cole glanced over the table, staring at Jay, about to launch another barb in his direction.

The words melted off his tongue.

Where Jay should have been grinning, excited and bouncing to his feet for round two, he just sat where he was, gaping at something past Cole.

Cole turned.

It was Lloyd, his hand still stretched to the master control on the wall where he'd disabled the food replicators.

And he looked livid.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jay scrambled to his feet.

"Nothing, Lloyd, you know, just trying something out, testing-"

He cut off, noticing the ladle in his hand. He dropped it like it was scalding hot.

"-our, uh, reflexes and, uh, abilities to adapt to new and unlikely situations-"

"That's what the training deck is for." Lloyd said curtly.

"Well," Jay stammered. "Y-Yeah, but there aren't any food replicators-"

"The way that deck is designed, you know good and well there could be." Lloyd's eyes narrowed.

Cole expected Jay to come up with some other excuse, like he normally would, but the blue ninja just fell silent.

Nya appeared at Lloyd's shoulder, frowning.

Lloyd didn't notice.

"Walker, we've been over this." Cole and Nya's eyes met, Nya mouthing 'Walker?' "This is your last warning; stop misappropriateing the equipment of this vessel, or I will write you up. You understand me?"

Jay dipped his head in a shallow nod, avoiding Lloyd's gaze.

"Yes, sir."

It was supposed to a be a joke. 'Sir'. When Lloyd first became the official face guy of their team (thanks to one of Dareth's promotional gimmicks), Jay would tease him all the time; yes, sir, no sir, in two shakes, sir!

The teasing lilt to his voice was missing this time.

Cole stood, snatching the pot off his own head.

"Ease up," Cole offered. "We were just-"

"Having fun, breaking things, making a huge mess, I know." Lloyd cut him off. "I can see that. Now you're going to go through this room, top to bottom, and scrub it. And, no, you do not get to use the cleaning drones."

Lloyd spun on heel, sidestepping around Nya.

"Lloyd-" Cole tried for the last time.

"It's Captain." Lloyd threw over his shoulder. "And when you're done here, you're on monitor duty for the next four hours."

Then he was gone.

Cole gapes after him, wondering what in the underworld just happened.

Jay, for his part, shuffled mechanically forward, grabbing the table they'd been hiding behind and righted it. He left towards the back of the room, heading for one of the few replicators he hadn't messed with, and started tapping away at the codes.

Nya made her way to a different replicator, one untouched by Jay, punched in an order and found a relatively clean table, her mug of coffee nestled between her hands.

That's about when Cole's brain came back online.

"What was that?"

He didn't have to elaborate. They knew what he was asking.

"You haven't noticed?" Nya raised a brow at him, taking a light sip from her brew.

"Noticed he's become a self important jerk? No."

"He's not acting like a jerk," Jay offered Cole a rag and a small spray bottle of cleaner. That must have been what he'd been reprogramming the replicator for and Cole's not going to get started on how disgusting of a thought that is, that cleaner can come out of their food replicators, because he has bigger fish to fry. "He's acting like a captain."

Nya and Cole turned to him.

"Explain," Nya prompted.

Jay sighed, and started scrubbing at the pudding-covered floor.

"Fritz Donnegan's story began with himself being a lone samurai, saving space on his own, for the most part. In one of the more recent movies, he ran across a threat bigger than he could handle alone, so he gathered a collective, and helped found the Starfarer Armada."

Cole… vaguely recalled seeing that movie. He'd been more interested in trying to toss and catch the popcorn in his mouth.

"Donnegan didn't want to sit the sidelines, so he got in as a captain. He started training recruits and it wasn't long before he had a ship and crew of his own." Jay swapped his rag, spraying the floor with the cleaner. "That first year, he made a ton of mistakes. He was pretty lax as a captain, 'cause he wasn't used to being in that kind of a leadership role. He got to know his crew and interacted with them like they were family." Jay's hand drilled, his expression darkening. "One of his crew members was killed on a mission. A really close friend and he blamed himself. He changed after that, growing more distant from his crew, more of a stiff authoritative figure than a friend."

"So, you're telling me Fritz Donnegan is Lloyd's idol?" Cole sputtered. "That's stupid. Those were just movies!"

"Look around you," Jay bristled, throwing his arms out, slinging some pudding off his rag at the sharp movement. "If this is all real, the stuff of comic books and movies, why can't the storyline be real, too?"

"It really doesn't matter if they are real or not," Nya pointed out. "Lloyd thinks they are."

She wasn't wrong. As long as Lloyd took Donnegan's character development to heart, nothing they said would change his mind. Assuming he'd even listen to them in the first place.

"All I've got to say," she absently swirled the black liquid round and round her cup. "Is he'd better come to grips soon." Her mug hit the table with a resounding thunk.

"I don't like seeing him like this."

"Seeing who like what?"

They turned in time to watch Kai step through the door, his eyes immediately assessing the room.

He whistled appreciatively.

"Wow. What bomb went off in here?"

Nobody had the chance to answer, not that anyone wanted to.

The ship wide com crackled to life.

"Everyone report to meeting room 1b," Lloyd's tone brooked no argument. "We have something we need to discuss."

/-/-/

Zane frowned at the files in his hands at the sound of the announcement. A meeting? Since when had Lloyd started calling meetings over the com?

In the two other meetings they'd hosted, Lloyd had seeked them out individually, given them the time and place, checking in with what they were up to while he was at it. Last time, Zane had engaged with him in a discussion over the merits of educating themselves on flora used traditionally as medicine by the indigenous species of given planets. Today, Zane would have enjoyed sharing his wealth of records pertaining to the variety and diversity of the local flora and fauna of Treg II, a planet they were plotted to pass within the next thirteen hours. Lloyd wasn't all that interested in the science of it all (something Zane was dedicating all of his energy into learning) but he often had input on when or where in Fritz Donnegan's story a certain plant or an animal came into play and the space hero's experience with it. It usually put into a whole new light whatever Zane was studying.

With a sigh, Zane replaced all of the documentation into their respective folders and organized them neatly on his desk. This would have to wait, obviously, but he hoped whatever Lloyd wished to talk about did not steal from his return to it later.

Straightening his sleeves, the nindroid stepped out of his study.

"-guys, seriously! Just tell me already!"

"Not right- oh, hey Zane," Nya greeted.

The group of them- Nya, Kai, Cole and Jay- had turned a corner and were now walking briskly towards him. Kai, the source of the question earlier, was appearing increasingly frustrated.

"What seems to be the problem?" Zane inquired, joining the group on their march to the meeting room. Kai, who'd been hanging back, tossed the nindroid an exasperated look.

"Something went down in the mess hall, and they won't tell me anything!"

Zane frowned, his curiosity and concern equally peaked.

"What occured in the mess hall?"

"There's not really time to explain it right now," Jay stated, taking the final turn down the last hall leading to their meeting. "But if you're still interested after the meeting, I'd be glad to have a lengthy discussion with both of you." He stopped close enough to the automatic door to open it, but didn't step through. He turned back to Nya, gesturing her forward with a slight bow and smile.

"After you, my lady."

She strode past him with a roll of her eyes, trying to disguise the fond smile teasing her lips.

Zane followed the group in, noting how they dispersed evenly to either side of the table. Lloyd was already there, sitting at the head, scanning through something on a holographic screen.

He glanced up as they entered.

"Thank you for responding so quickly," he offered as they all took their seats. He shut down his holo-screen and leaned forward, hands folded on the tabletop.

"I've just received the parameters of our first mission."

Zane waited for everyone to start talking, throwing out a million questions like they would for any other mission, back in Ninjago. Regardless of who was presenting, too, since they all had a hand in picking out and gathering Intel from time to time.

The resounding silence was thick with tension. The only one who bothered to open his mouth to ask something was Kai, and a sharp look from Lloyd immediately shut him down.

Zane pegged Lloyd with a concerned, studious look. Perhaps he'd spent too much time in his office and not enough time mingling. Something was clearly wrong, here.

"We're to travel to Tribuna and invite onboard a Yokein delegate, who we will then escort back to her home world, Yokei."

There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed and processed this information. Then, something must have clicked, because this triggered a round of excited chatter even sharp looks from Lloyd could not kill.

"Do you think someone else from Ninjago could be coming?"

"If it's Dareth I'll wring his neck-"

"It's supposed to be a girl-"

"Who could it be-"

"Would it be someone we know-"

"Just by our luck this far, we could use all the help we can get-"

Zane didn't contribute, instead choosing to watch Lloyd. He watched his brother's face turn from annoyed to an offended scowl at the last comment.

"Guys." He was ignored. "Officers!" He barked.

The room went silent.

Lloyd went around the table with his gaze, giving everyone a warning look. Zane wanted to ask what they'd done wrong. But he didn't know much pertaining to this abrupt change in behavior. Perhaps it would be best to continue to observe.

He wisely kept quiet.

When Lloyd looked to him, the Green Ninja's gaze softened.

Then he was addressing them again.

"Look, regardless of whether it's someone from Ninjago or not, we're treating this seriously. I'm not taking any chances."

Kai glanced at Jay, who wouldn't meet his gaze, then back at Lloyd.

"What does that mean for us?"

Lloyd's brow rose.

"It means we're preparing to bring a Yokein Ambassador onboard." He pulled up his screen again, tapping several buttons. Chimes rang through the room as more holo-screens popped up, one in front of each of them. Zane's had a priority one order alert.

"I've sent all your orders through the channels so it would go on record. Feel free to read them if you want, but it will just be a repeat of what I'm about to say."

"Cole," he turned to the earth ninja. "I want you to brush up on Yokein customs and their dialect. You're job will be to help the Ambassador in any way she needs once she's onboard. I want a report on Yokein etiquette on Zane's desk within the next thirty-six hours."

He went around the table, giving everyone his full attention as he handed out his orders.

"Nya, I need you to set a course for Tibuna and chart a course for Yokei. We're due in Tibuna in seventy-two hours, account for that with cruising speed, I want to be there a couple hours earlier. Be sure to avoid any magnetic fields and nova's while you're at it; the space around Yokei is notorious for them."

Nya's jaw ticked at the insinuation that she didn't know how to do her job thoroughly, but she didn't say anything.

"Kai, brush up on your Yokein biology. If something goes wrong, I want us to be ready. She won't die on our watch."

Kai blinked in surprise, like he never even considered the possibility.

"Zane, you're on teaching all of us the customs and manners we'll need to keep up good political relations. Of all of us, you're the most particular about finer details and points, and I know you can handle this."

It was a logical decision. Zane had been helping everyone to learn their stations and crew roles these last several weeks. He would handle his orders well.

"Jay, do a once over on the ship, make sure all systems are in peak condition and the transporters are bug free -we don't have room for a predicament like in issue 46."

The lightning ninja cringed. Now Zane was curious as to what had happened in issue 46.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

There were a few looks of inquiry shared across the table, but no one voiced anything.

"No, sir," Jay replied, and Zane blinked at the lack of sarcasm in it.

Lloyd just nodded.

"Alright, then. This meeting is adjourned."

Chapter Text

Three days. Seventy- two hours.

It seemed like plenty of time. And it was, sure, for tuning up some equipment or brushing up on the cultural traditions of an alien race.

Kai hadn't stopped since the meeting was adjourned. Unless one counted the mandatory lights out, shutting down all his tech and forcing him to rest for seven hours out of every twenty-four hour period. And that two hour window he had to attend Zane's presentation on how to and how not to address a Yokein. Kai liked to think that slight change in subject from anatomy and physiology to culture and behaviorisms helped stretch his brain a little. He left that meeting with a headache and notes on his tablet that sounded like a neanderthal had scratched them out.

But seriously, alien biology was freaking confusing. Yokeins were humanoid, yes, and they had muscle and bone and blood, check the boxes.

That's where the similarities to human biology, anatomy and physiology ended. Kai felt like he was chasing his tail, trying to wrap his mind around a biological system that made no sense. And the longer he studied it, the more his head hurt and his frustration built.

If he kept going like this, he might actually spontaneously combust.

Not that he had a choice, of course. It's been seventy-one hours. Kai can feel the deadline creeping up and… well, the thirty- second scroll to the bottom of the files on his tablet attested to just how far he had to go. He had the basics, he was pretty sure, basic anatomy, common ailments both in travel and space travel, the most life threatening ailments and injuries. But he still had yet to-

"Kai."

"Gah!" He scrambled to catch his tablet before it hit the floor. His temper flared when it did. If it got another crack in the screen, Kai would definitely be exacting justice on whoever's idea it was to interrupt-

"Oh," his train of thought derailed. "What's up, Nya?"

She huffed, crossing her arms, trying to go for frustration. It didn't quite hide the worry and concern in her gaze.

"I called your name five times before you heard me."

He blinked.

"Oops. Guess I was focused."

She gave a small sigh.

"Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure," Kai frowned.

Nya came forward to lean against his desk.

"It's about Lloyd."

Ah, a sore subject as of late.

"What about him?"

Her eyebrow rose.

"You haven't noticed anything… off, about him?"

Well, he had, but he failed to see how that was his problem.

"Yes? But he's a captain now. He has a lot to worry about, he's probably just stressed-"

"Kai."

That was the tone of voice she liked to use when she felt he'd said something incredibly stupid.

"What?" He snapped in frustration.

"That doesn't excuse his behavior."

"Stop talking to me like I'm five, Nya. I know it doesn't excuse his behavior. What could I possibly do about it?"

"Talk to him."

"Sis, the kid can't even stand to be in the same room with me, much less talk. He's been avoiding me since the whole incinerator incident."

"Kai," she huffed. "From a sibling standpoint, he respects you, looks up to you as his older brother; he'll listen to you."

"Need I repeat myself," he said wryly. "The whole 'incinerator incident' kind of discredited me. Besides, I think you meant Cole, or maybe Zane. They're a little less 'childish'." He made air quotes with his fingers.

"Kai."

"Nya." He met her exasperated tone. "He won't listen to me."

"You haven't tried."

He technically had… kind of. Kai wasn't stupid, he knew the kid was avoiding him. Kai thought that if he picked up on all of this Starfarer stuff, proving that maybe he could be decent at all of this and adaptable to boot, the kid might start listening to him again. Might start respecting his opinion. But Kai, since the incident, hadn't made a direct effort to talk to the kid so technically Nya wasn't wrong.

His silence was as good as a confession.

Nya bent to pick up his tablet off the floor- oh, he'd nearly forgotten about that- wiping at the screen like there might be dust on it which would be ridiculous, the cleaning drones kept the medbay spotless, and that included Kai's office.

"From a Starfarer officer standpoint," she continued, handing him his tablet. No new cracks that he could tell. "You're the only one that can stop him."

Kai was taken aback.

"Stop him?" He asked, incredulous.

Nya looked dead serious.

"This isn't the Lloyd we know, Kai. You have to talk to him, see where his head space is at. If this whole captain thing is too much, you could put him on a mandatory medical leave."

"Right," he scoffed. "Because that's the absolute best way to mend a relationship. Put the kid in time out."

Lloyd would hate that.

"I would rather have a Lloyd who can lead us than a Lloyd who sees us as potentially expendable."

What.

She turned to leave, but now Kai had questions.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

She paused at his door.

"Ask Jay; he knows the whole story and could explain it in a way that won't tick you off. Look," she turned back to him, and now he could miss the worry deep set in her aqua blue eyes, "just talk to him okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, worry bleeding into his expression. "But you don't really think it's that bad do you? Lloyd would never think that."

Nya turned back to the hall.

"I really hope I'm wrong."

And this all lead to Kai spending his last remaining hour on the approach to Tibuna searching the ship for his little brother. He could have spent it getting that much more acquainted with Yokien diseases and reactions to homesickness, but no, his little brother had worried his little sister, and now he had to go prove to himself that Lloyd was alright, Nya was just reading to far into things.

Of course, if Lloyd had been on the bridge, in his quarters, or literally anywhere a captain typically would be on his own ship, Kai might have found him, settled this quickly and still spent some extra time with his medical studies. But the kid didn't seem to be anywhere, and asking the computer just went to prove that the piece of crud was on the Green Ninja's side.

"The Captain does not wish to be disturbed."

"Medical override, identification Head Medical Practitioner Kai Smith, code…" he took a second to scroll through all the codes, there was a ridiculous amount of them, "...35787."

"Medical Override declined. The Captain does not wish to be disturbed."

That code was supposed to be for accessing the Captain in case of him having been compromised due to suspected illness or injury. According to his code book, it couldn't be declined. Kai wasn't sure how Lloyd had figured out how to hack the ship and disable certain codes, but once Kai gave the green bean a piece of his mind, he was heading straight engineering and getting with Jay on this. Maybe they'd get Nya and Zane involved, just to make sure it was Starfarer-Nerd proof.

By some luck, Kai turned down a hall, one with a couple of meeting rooms and what was essentially a lounge but with a big window so people could watch the stars roll by. It wasn't really a window, just a screen, but Zane assured him the view was real time and accurate. Kai might have went on, but he saw the door clicking shut just as he turned the corner.

Curious.

Then he remembered how much Lloyd liked the view of the stars. Maybe he was avoiding his own quarters because Kai had the ability to override the door now. Kai went in, relieved the door was unlocked.

Lloyd, who'd settled on one of the couches, whipped around to see who had entered and it was the first Kai had seen of him in days. Oof. The kid looked rough. Kind of. His uniform was perfectly pressed, sure, his hair combed neatly and out of the way. He was put together in that respect, but he looked so tired, with dark smudges under his eyes and his face pale.

All a testament to how invested this kid was. They hadn't even made it to Tibuna yet and it looked like he'd come and gone several times over.

Lloyd's eyes narrowed at Kai.

"Can I help you, Practitioner?"

Kai raised a brow.

"Since when do you call me that?"

"Would you prefer Head Medical Practitioner?"

"No."

"Doctor it is, then."

"I'm n-," Kai had to cut himself off. He could address this all later. "Lloyd, I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I've been here," he gestured to the room around him and Kai called bull.

"Look, I'm going to cut to the chase," Kai sighed. "The others have some concerns-"

"They think I'm sick?"

"What? No, no, they-"

"They think I'm hurt?"

"No-"

"Then I don't see why it's any business of yours, Doctor."

Kai's hair started to smoke as his temper flared. Lloyd's dodging often had that affect on him.

"They're concerned about your mental state."

Lloyd frowned.

"I don't know that I've done anything-"

"Cut the bull, Lloyd," Kai gritted. "I've stood here all of two minutes and even I can tell their concerns are warranted."

"What have I done?" Lloyd demanded levelly. "I'm commanding this ship, following orders, keeping the peace when the crew has disagreements," Kai refused to acknowledge that jab, "and I'm doing everything in my power to keep things going smoothly."

"But you're not, Lloyd. You're picking on the crew like they're subordinate and not part of a team-"

"This isn't a team, Kai!" He snapped. "I'm the Captain. Everyone is subordinate."

"Lloyd, you've always been the leader," Kai seethed right back. "Title or not, we've always turned to you but we're still a team. And we're a flaming good one because we work together."

"That's not how this place works."

"Why not?"

"It's just not! Here, someone's always in charge, because if you get too many opinions in it, things go wrong. Things take too long to decide and people die."

"No one's died, Lloyd." Kai scoffed.

Lloyd's face reddened in anger.

"Not yet. And if it's up to me, I'd like to keep it that way."

"How do you know what you're doing is that right way?"

"It's the only way," Lloyd stressed. "I have to stay objective. Out here, nothing is certain, anything could happen! I'm not even sure we're going to survive this and the chances of all of us surviving is even less than just one of us and I have to make decisions that can save the most of us. I can't get emotionally compromised. Some of us going home is better than none of us getting home."

Kai was startled by the outburst, his temper calming with realization.

Lloyd wasn't power hungry. He wasn't going overboard because he wanted to.

He was doing it because he thought he had to, to protect everyone. To keep his team safe.

Lloyd was scared.

Kai could see it all over his face.

"Lloyd-"

"Captain to the transporter room. We'll be in range of Tibuna's atmosphere within seven minutes," came Zane's voice over the intercom.

Zane had the absolute worst timing.

Lloyd changed liked Zane's voice had flipped a switch. His expression shuttered, a neutral mask falling and concealing his openness.

He shoved his way off the couch and straightened his uniform.

"I'm due in the transporter room, Doctor," Lloyd said, like Kai hadn't just heard exactly what Zane said. "Have you finished familiarizing yourself with Yokien biology?"

"Anatomy and physiology." Kai corrected.

Kai's hope rose when a bit of Lloyd showed through the mask, even if it was just the roll of his eyes.

"And you sound like a doctor already," the green bean shook his head. "You didn't answer my question."

Kai was severely tempted to fib a little because, yes, technically he was familiar with it, if being exposed to it was close enough. But he knew what Lloyd mean, and with the young captain's volatile emotions, he figured he'd better not push him.

"I'm not as familiar as I would like to be," Kai admitted.

Lloyd frowned and Kai hated the look of disappointment that flashed in his eyes.

"But I have an AI assistant," Kai quickly added. "I'm planning to keep studying through the duration of this trip, but I'm pretty sure the assistant will help make up for anywhere I'm…lacking."

The frown lessened somewhat. It didn't leave.

"You might want to go back to your studies, then."

"I'd rather walk with you to the transporter room, if it's all the same to you," Kai crossed his arms.

"I don't need your company," Lloyd said, stepping around Kai. "If you remember from Zane's debrief, Yokien are very introverted. Only Zane and I will greet the delegate."

"And that suddenly means I can't walk with you? It's not like I'm planning to go in or anything."

"That would just be a waste of time when you could be studying," Lloyd waved him off dismissively. "Best of luck with your studies."

Lloyd stepped out of the room, shoulders straight but head bent as if the weight of the world rest upon him alone. The door shut behind him.

Lloyd never looked back or he might have seen the anger simmering in Kai's eyes, in the ticking of the muscle in his jaw. Maybe he'd see the hurt too, if he looked hard enough.

Kai waited a moment before stepping back into the hall himself. Lloyd was already long gone.

Kai just made his way to the medbay, wishing that his uniform had pockets that he could shove his hands into to hide his fists. He had to make do with stalking down the hall to work out some of his frustration.

Lloyd was right. That was the worst part. Kai couldn't waste a minute on anything else, he had to study as much as possible. His role was a crucial one and he couldn't rely on an AI for everything. If it malfunctioned and he treated a patient wrong, that would be on him for not knowing better. The AI was a tool not a crutch.

Kai tried to let go of the shame and anger churning in his gut, stirring his fire to be uncomfortably warm. Lloyd was only telling the truth, why couldn't he just let it go?

He stopped in the middle of the hall and took a slow, deep breath, through his nose and out his mouth. He had to remind himself he was working hard and effort typically meant results. He'd be okay.

Everything would be fine.

Man, if the delegate really is someone from Ninjago, Kai hoped it was Skylor. She could always balance his mood like no one else.

Kai started walking again, imagining trying to explain this entire circus act to his girlfriend. Ironically, in his head, she takes it all in stride.

/-/-/

"Oh, for the love of the FSM," Jay wheezed. "These vents are smaller than I thought."

"Keep going," piped the tiny voice in his ear from his comlink. "You've already gotten this far."

"Yeah," came the other, deeper voice. "No point in turning back when you've come so far."

"I'd find that encouraging," Jay huffed, dragging himself forward another couple of feet, "but I know you really just want the feed and I'm collateral."

When they came out of Zane's debrief on the Yokien, Nya, Cole and Jay had all been disappointed to find that they wouldn't be allowed to greet the Ambassador; Lloyd didn't want to overwhelm her. Well, Cole and Nya both had running bets that the Ambassador wasn't, in fact, alien, but another abducted person from Ninjago, and on who they might be. Jay was technically in on it too, but part of the deal he made when he offered to climb into the vents to livestream the arrival of their guest was that should he be wrong, his debts were forgiven.

"Get moving," came the first voice again, Nya, "they're prepping the transporter."

Which she could see on her console on the bridge. But that was another thing, off topic but totally relevant; it wasn't Jay manning the transporter when it totally should be. He was the Lead Engineer, the one that had spent four and a half hours doing maintenance and running diagnostics to be positive the transporters were in perfect operational shape. Jay had worked so hard. So what if Jay had preprogrammed the system for an auto lock on the biosignature of their guest with a recall command? Zane was going to be the one toggling those controls for its maiden test.

And Jay might be a little salty about that, but he knew it was totally warranted.

He shoved himself further through the vents, grateful he wasn't claustrophobic as he curled his shoulders in and they still knocked against the walls as he moved forward. On the plus side, this ships vents were made of the same metal as the rest of the ship and were shock absorbent, so he wasn't banging around and making a ton of noise like he would have had he been in Ninjago. On the downside, he'd meant to bring magnets so he could just zip around, but in his excitement to see who the Ambassador might be, he was halfway through the vents before he realized he'd forgotten them. This would have been so much easier otherwise.

There was a corner up ahead, but unlike most Ninjagoan ventilation systems, which were square, this one had a nice curve rather than the typical shaped corner. Jay acknowledged it's amazing craftsmanship as he kept moving forward, using his toes to push as he simultaneously pulled himself forward on his forearms.

"Jay, you're moving too slow," Nya said. "Go faster or you'll miss it."

"This isn't exactly as easy as it looks, Nya," he huffed, but drug himself forward noticeably faster.

"Says the guy who claims he can fly through his engineering tunnels with the greatest of ease," Cole said dryly.

"Julius Tubes, not engineering tunnels, and at least those are bigger."

"I'm just hearing excuses."

"Stop insulting my skills, or I'm going to conveniently forget to turn on the camera," Jay threatened.

He could see the vent in front of him now, the one that rest directly over the transporter control panel. From there, they'd be able to see the transporter clearly.

Just a few more feet to go.

"Transporter is ready," he could here Zane from inside the room as he got into position.

"Energize," came Lloyd's command.

Jay could see Zane moving the controls, could hear the whir and whine of the transporter activating and working it's magic-

"The camera, Jay!"

"Oh, shoot," he scrambled to set it up, pointing the small camera through the grate and punching in codes at record speed to activate it through his gauntlet.

"Keep it down," Nya warned. "Lloyd might hear you."

A fair warning.

Two more taps and the camera was online and streaming live.

"You guys have the feed?"

"Yep."

"Looking good on my end."

Perfect, because the delegate was starting to re-molecularize on their side already.

Jay could already tell it wasn't a Ninjagoan.

She finished materializing, and waited the extra two seconds on the transporter pad for the all clear.

Jay had a clear view of her.

While she looked humanoid enough, there were distinct differences. Her flawless skin was unnaturally pale, some of the skin around her eyes and her lips tinged blue. Now, that could be make up, but Jay wasn't so sure. Her pink hair was in thin braids down her back and she had jewels of a large blue in pink stone set into the tips of abnormally large, pointed elf ears. A thin silver veil was arranged to cover most of her face, but Jay could still tell she had pure, deep navy blue eyes, that were wide in her face. Her clothing was exotic and unlike anything he'd ever seen, both baggy yet form fitting at the waster, the material plain yet a satiny looking texture.

At least she didn't have any extra arms and she only had two eye stalks poking out from the hair above her ears swiveling back and forth to keep and eye on everything.

Jay tried not to be ooged out, because this was another sentient being and she deserved respect, but she looked straight up weird.

"Aw man," Cole sighed.

"I was really hoping for Pixel," Nya admitted. "If this really was fake, she could probably help us escape."

"It's definitely not looking all that fake anymore," Jay pointed out unnecessarily.

"Ambassador," Lloyd stepped forward and gave a shallow bow, careful to keep five feet between them and avoid direct eye contact as Cole and Zane had shared. That and not to use their name, they often found it too personal and would get offended if an outsider called them by name.

"Welcome aboard the NSV Exploration. I am her Captain and this is my First Officer, also my Science and Weapons Officer." He gestured to Zane.

So far, Lloyd was performing flawlessly. He'd definitely practiced all of this in the mirror.

"Gratitudes, Captain," her voice was so soft, Jay could barely hear it. "I am pleased to meet you. However, I expected to meet your whole crew? There are only six of you aboard this vessel, yes?"

Lloyd nodded.

"We didn't want to overwhelm the moment you boarded, Ambassador." He was thinking on his feet now, Jay could see the way he shifted nervously. "But if you would like to meet the crew now, we can show you to a meeting room and introduce you before we show you to your quarters?"

Crap. Crud, crap, fudge cakes.

"Gratitudes, Captain, for your considerations. I would prefer to meet them sooner."

Jay cut off the feed and stuffed the camera into his pocket. He had to get out of here now. He started shoving himself through the vents.

He was supposed to be in engineering right now, which was just a hyper-lift away from the meeting rooms as compared to where he was right now.

"Go, Jay, go!"

"Run, Jay!"

"Hurry!"

"Would you guys be quiet? You're not helping!" Jay hissed at the chanting. "This is not as easy as it-"

"Command Crew to Meeting Room 2a. Command Crew to Meeting Room 2a.". Zane's voice intoned.

Crud. He was going to be running late, and hopefully, they didn't really notice the cosmic dust on his uniform. Man, he really wished he'd remembered those magnets.

/-/-/

Nya shut down her monitor as she heard Zane's voice call over the intercoms for them to head to the meeting room.

"See you guys there," she clicked off the comm and hopped to her feet.

She was glad she'd dressed appropriately today, in her crisp work uniform, from her gold top to her pristines black slacks. At least the female uniforms were just as functional as the males uniforms here. Of course, she'd have liked to have pants with pockets, but hey, she could make do.

She left the bridge and made her way to the meeting room. As she passed the mess, she caught Cole leaving, having stashed his tablet somewhere inside, no doubt.

Nya kept walking, Cole keeping step beside her.

"Think he'll make it?" He mused.

Nya shrugged.

"For his own sake, I hope so."

"Because of Lloyd?"

"Yeah."

"Right. Did you talk to Kai?"

Nya figured he had a right to know how that conversation went down. After all, it had been a collective decision between Nya, Cole, Jay and Zane to approach Kai. Her brother didn't know it, but he'd been elected their representative for the crew in regards of helping their little brother get his head on straight.

"I did," she said. "He said he'd talk to him."

"Has he already?"

"Talked to him? I don't know, I only talked to him an hour ago and he was still stressing out over his orders."

Cole frowned.

"He was supposed to be learning about Yokien biology, right?"

"I think so," she said. "But he said he still had a ton of material to cover."

Cole nodded.

"Between you and me, I think he got the short straw in all of this."

"With him getting medical officer?" Nya asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"It just doesn't seem fair to him," Cole shrugged. "The rest of us got positions we already have experience in, and it wasn't much of a jump to adjust and learn the new stuff. But Kai has to learn a bunch of things from the ground up in weeks where it would take others years, maybe even decades. Who in the underworld thought throwing someone into a position that could cost someone their life without the proper training was a good idea?"

"If anyone can do it, Kai can," Nya bristled. "He's dedicated and he'd never let anything go wrong if he could help it. He likes to be prepared."

"I'm not saying he can't hack it, Nya. I'm just saying it isn't fair to him."

She couldn't argue that. It wasn't fair to expect so much from him, but what could they do about it?

They weren't far from the meeting rooms now and they still haven't seen any sign of Jay. He was probably heading back to his room, at least he could get changed, but then he really would be late. Seriously late. Late enough that she was starting to worry for his safety.

"I hope he makes it," Nya sighed.

"Jay? Come on, he's the master of lightning. Besides that, he's a ninja, he'll make it just fine." Cole smiled.

As if to prove him right, something rattled in the wall next to them, growing louder and louder with huffed curses punctuating some of the movement. It sounded like it was coming from the vent.

Something slammed into the vent cover and it flew off, landing in the hall with a thump. Jay's head poked out and he spotted them, grinning.

"This the right place?"

He took Nya's responding eyeroll as a confirmation.

"Cool! And I'm not the last one here!" He shoved himself out of the vent, squeaking when he overcorrected and sprawled on the floor. "Oooh, ow, that's gonna bruise…"

Cole stepped forward to help him up and Jay feverishly dusted himself off.

"How do I look?" He straightened his uniform over shirt and held his hands out in a what-do-you-think motion.

"Less than presentable," Nya stated, lips pursing, because he was. What would Lloyd do if they weren't pristine when meeting the Ambassador?

She frowned at herself. When did she start worrying about Lloyd punishing them so much? Lloyd wouldn't do something like that to them.

"Welp, Zane never said anything about Yokien being germaphobes," Jay shrugged, cutting off her thoughts. "Besides, he just called me up from engineering. I wouldn't be worth my keep if I was presentable." He tapped at something on his gauntlet, then slid the protective cover over the screen. He spun towards the meeting rooms. "Come on, let's not keep the Captain waiting."

The Ambassador was seated on a chair in the room when they entered, exchanging light conversation with Lloyd and Zane when they entered. This meeting room differed from others in the way it didn't have a large table with chairs and holo-monitors around it; it was much closer to being like a living room with comfortable furniture arranged in a rough circle around a small coffee table. It had a much more relaxed feel to it.

Nya frowned when she noticed Kai wasn't here yet. The medbay was even closer to these rooms, what could be taking him so long?

Lloyd stood as they entered, moving to introduce them.

"Ambassador, this my Helmsman," Nya gave a respectful bow, "my Lead Engineer," Jay grinned as he bowed, "and my Communications Officer," Cole's smile was softer as he folded his bulky self into a bow.

"I'm fond to meet you," the Ambassador said kindly. "I am gratitude to know you. I will feel more secure in the knowledge you operate this vessel."

It sounded like a compliment, so they took it as one.

"Thank you," Jay gushed. Nya nodded and Cole elected to just smile.

The ambassador gracefully eased herself to her feet.

"I would like to retire to my quarters now," she shifted.

"My Medical Practitioner is on his way if you would like to wait a few more minutes," Lloyd said, but already stepped forward like he anticipated leaving.

She shook her head. "My sorry, but I would like to retire now. Perhaps I will meet him later."

"Of course, Ambassador," Lloyd stepped past his crew, leading the way. Nya, Cole and Jay were sure to step back out of her way, Nya frowning as she passed. "Right this way."

The Ambassador kept a good five feet between them as she followed him out of the room.

"Sooo, can we go?" Jay asked once the door had closed.

"What was that?" Nya demanded.

"She reached her socializing capacity," Zane stated.

"I know that, but she was the one to ask to meet us all, and she couldn't even wait a couple more minutes?"

"Her socialization capacity isn't just about the amount of interaction, Nya, it's about the time frame and a number of other factors as well. Yokien can experience an extreme level of anxiety to a detrimental degree if they exceed their capacity," Zane informed.

"I know that, I've heard this lecture before," Nya huffed. "It's just weird for her to push to meet all of us then only meet some of us."

The door slid back open and in speed-walked Kai, flushed slightly from the exertion.

"Sorry, I got caught up in something," he glanced around the room. "Are we still waiting on Lloyd?"

Nya glanced at the others.

"No, he just left."

Kai frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The Ambassador wanted to meet us, but she reached her social capacity before you arrived and requested to be escorted to her room."

Zane's explanation was clinical, but Nya almost wished she'd slapped her hand over his mouth, that wasn't the way to tell him.

At Kai's crestfallen look, she regretted not doing anything.

"Oh, okay," Kai tugged at the hem of his shirt. "Do we need to stay, then?"

"We were about to leave," Cole piped up. "I'm heading to the mess for some fake ice cream, anyone want to join me?"

"Lloyd never said we had to report directly back to our stations," Zane mused. "I will join you."

"Count me in!" Jay grinned, jogging to the door.

"I could use some ice cream," Nya said slowly, studying Kai.

Her brother noticed her frown and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'd like to, but I was in the middle of reorganizing the medbay when I came and I need to finish that before dinner."

"Come on, Kai," Cole dropped a hand on the master of fire's shoulder. "It's been a long time since we've hung out. Might do you some good."

That was the wrong way to put it, as well meant as it was intended. Kai liked nothing less than someone implying he wasn't okay. Especially when he was on edge, which he definitely seemed to be.

Kai must have already talked to Lloyd. Something must have gone down, Nya just didn't know what it could have been.

Kai scowled.

"Look, I've got some work to do," he said stiffly, shrugging out from under Cole's hand. "Come see me if someone's hurt, otherwise, I'll see you guys at dinner. Maybe."

"Kai-"

It was too late. He was out the door and gone.

Nya made to follow, then thought better of it. Kai would probably just get offended if she tried to follow him now, after Cole had inadvertently suggested Kai wasn't doing well. He could snap, and she didn't want that. She'd check on him later.

"So, ice cream?" Jay's eyes sparkled at the thought.

Nya nodded and followed the others out of the room, but the idea didn't sound as good as it had a few moments ago.

Chapter Text

The one thing that really sucked about the whole stuck-in-Starfarer situation, and Jay would argue really the only thing, was the lack of free time.

Seriously, with such advanced tech, couldn't the engineers have also come up with some kind of maintenance system to do the routine boring stuff? Cause that's all Jay seemed to do: boring routine maintenance. The system and mechanics were saturated with sensors, sure, but all they were good for was screaming at him from his gauntlet to let him know things in their vicinity needed fixing. And if that wasn't enough, he still had to come behind the sensors and check every last one of them, in the gargantuan shop, to make sure they were still in peak condition.

Ninja work was never this demanding.

But it also made him quadruply thankful whenever Nya offered to lend him a hand. Of course, getting to hang out with her was nice too, but the help. Maybe she really was an angel. In those moments, she was a godsend.

Ooh, that's a good one. He filed it away to try out later.

Now, Nya didn't know the tech as well as Jay, but a sensor was pretty much a sensor wherever it was made and she could test them with the best of them. She'd built dozens of them from scratch for her samurai suit alone.

She was more than capable.

Jay leaned back against his desk, tinkering with a buggy sensor, while Nya banged away in a Julius tube, knocking a wrench against the walls in an effort to help Jay guide her.

It had sounded like a good idea at first. Then another sensor gave a shrill beep from his gauntlet.

"Woah, Nya, you're hitting the wall too hard." He said into the com on his gauntlet.

"I'm not hitting the wall too hard," she practically growled. "Where's the next sensor."

Ooh, she sounded mad. Maybe he shouldn't have accepted her offer when she was obviously... tense. Upset, maybe.

"Well, it was about twelve feet ahead of you, but now it's behind whatever panel you just tapped with your wrench."

There was a muffled swear from her open com and the screeching sound of a stubborn panel getting yanked out of place. The beep silenced a moment later, a flashing LED of orange on his gauntlet letting him know she'd removed the sensor.

"Where's the next sensor?"

Her sharp tone almost had him spilling the beans immediately. But then he glanced down at the sensor in his hand, still broken and silently promising him it would be at least half an hour of delicate work before it would even consider functioning again for him to change his mind. He really didn't need anymore broken sensors to deal with.

"Do you mind just bringing that one back?" he quickly followed with, "I could really use your opinion on this one."

There was a frustrated huff.

"Jay-"

"Please? I've got it wired right, but it's still not coming online."

Her only response was the shuffling and minor pings of sensors as she came back out of the Julius Tube. She had to crawl to her feet, dusting off and straightening her uniform; which, thank the FSM had pants, because some of the earlier comics had the female officers in the skimpy skirts and Nya would absolutely hate that.

She stood and strode forward and Jay's breath caught at just how beautiful she was. Her ebony black hair was pulled into a ponytail, just a few strands loose to frame her face and bring out the absolute blue in her eyes-

She was scowling though. Jay hated to see her scowl.

Nya offered her hand, palm up. Jay placed the sensor in it.

Frowning down at the device, she turned it over in her hands. Finding the wires Jay had obviously crossed incorrectly, her scowl deepened.

"Jay. What is this?"

"A broken sensor."

"Jay-"

"Nya."

She blinked, taken back at his pleading tone.

"Why are you so upset?"

Nya scoffed.

"I'm not upset."

She turned to dive back into the Julius Tubes, but Jay's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Nya. I know we've all been super busy, but we were doing so good before we ended up here. Talking to each other, opening up, not burying our emotions." He drew her back around to face him, his gaze searching hers. "Please tell me what's wrong."

She scoffed again, but it wasn't dismissive this time. It sounded concerningly wet.

She stayed silent for a long while and Jay was suddenly concerned she would just brush him off.

"It's Kai."

The words were soft, like anything that Nya ever says is bothering her are, but he caught them with practiced ease.

Jay could understand her concern. Ever since that nightmare incinerator/pajama debacle, Kai had retreated from the rest of them. He never seemed to leave his quarters or his office anymore, always staring at that blasted computer. The last time Jay had seen him, Kai's eyes had been so blood shot Jay thought he might have pink eye. He might have even lost weight, now that Jay thought about it. Kai just wasn't his cocky, hot-tempered self.

"He won't talk to me," she sighed, her head angling away from him so he couldn't see her face. "He just locks himself in the infirmary. He shuts me down when I try to talk to him about it. I want to help, but I don't know how."

"He's a grown man, Nya. If he wants space to figure this out on his own, that's on him."

She shook her head.

"I get that. I just hate feeling helpless."

"There's not much we can do," Jay said. "I mean it's not like we can study for him or anyth-" his sentence cut off in realization.

Nya glanced back at him and he could see the tears forming in her eyes. He winced, guilt eating away at his insides. Her brow furrowed at his expression.

"Jay?"

"...okay, hear me out." He held up his hand placatingly. "There actually is a way we can help him out."

She perked up immediately before dimming when she realized he still looked guilty.

"Jay?" Her tone was harder now.

"The medbay is equipped with a holographic AI. It's designed to help diagnose and treat patients using a StarFarer database containing anything and everything the Armada has recorded on every alien species it's come across." He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "I might have reprogrammed it a few days back to do the macarena and answer any questions with 'Pikachu'."

Oh, snap. She was hard core glaring at him now, the kind of glare that made him start to fear for his life.

"Come on," he said quickly, turning away, "let's go activate it and I'll fix it and maybe- aghhh!"

His feet slipped out from under him. Maybe he'd stepped wrong, or slipped on a discarded tool, he wasn't sure. One second, he was firmly walking on the clanking metal paneling that made up the floor and the next, his world flipped upside down.

"Jay!"

He expected to smack his head against that same cold, hard metal floor. Imagine his surprise when he hit the floor and his head wasn't ringing from smacking a hard floor.

...in fact, the floor was kinda warm, and comfortable...

"Owww..."

"Nya!" Jay realized, scrambling off her as quickly and gently as he could. He turned, still on his knees, his eyes searching for injuries. "Are you okay? I fell on you!"

"I noticed," she grunted. She gingerly eased herself up and Jay scrambled forward to help.

That's when he noticed a darkening red spot above her eyebrow.

"You're hurt!" He reached for her wound, tracing where the red disappeared beneath her bangs in case she was bleeding.

He frowned, tracing his fingers across her forehead in the other direction before she jerked back and away with a hiss.

"Ow, Jay!"

"Sorry," he snatched his hand back, his eyes clouding with worry. "It's just- you're really warm. Like, you might have a fever."

"I just hit my head," she snapped, rubbing the sore spot, "it's probably swelling."

"Are you-"

"Jay," she shoved herself to her feet, Jay scrambling to his feet after her. "I'm fine, let's go."

"Maybe we should have you checked out-"

"Perfect! We're going to the medbay anyway. How convenient." She said dryly.

"Nya-"

"Jay," the childish whine in her voice took him off guard. "Can we just go? We can have Kai check me out or the AI when you finish repairing it if you think Kai can't do a good job."

Jay blinked at the insinuation.

"Woah. No. I'm sure Kai can do a good job, okay?" Maybe she'd hit her head harder than he realized. His concern spiked. "But you're right, we should get there as quickly as possible." He started herding her towards the hatch to the upper decks, "Kai will be so happy to have the AI to help him and we'll get you checked out and we can all be relieved that you're actually perfectly fine and Kai can finally get enough sleep and all the sensors will repair themselves- well, actually, that last one might be a little unrealistic, but-"

"Jay, you're rambling."

"I'll stop when we get to the medbay-"

"My head hurts."

"Maybe we should walk a little faster."

/-/-/

Cole didn't care what anyone said; he would never get used to fake Cheerios. He still shuddered when he took his bowl out of the replicator, still warm. Cheerios were cereal, cereal was not supposed to be warm. The most unnatural part of it all though was how quickly it chilled off, like he'd poured real milk from an actual fridge in it to make the perfectly balanced breakfast.

He got nauseated just trying to avoid thinking of how many alien chemical reactions it took to do something like that.

He sat at the table dejectedly, poking at his fake bowl of Cheerios with his spoon. He was starving, but he wasn't having much luck convincing himself that taking a bite was a good idea. Maybe he should have just went with the lasagna again.

The door to the cafeteria hissed open and Cole turned in relief. He didn't really care who came through the door, any distraction was more than welcome.

Zane's uniform looked as crisp as ever as he stepped into the room, looking around. Cole waved a spoon at him when Zane finally looked his way.

"Hey, Zane. Were you looking for me?"

"I was. Your monitoring systems need recalibrated. Jay is busy repairing sensors, so I thought I would offer my own assistance."

Cole glanced down at his pitiful cereal. He could leave it now and have no regrets, but he hated to waste food without a really good reason.

"Is it something that needs done right away?"

"Within the next three hours, give or take," Zane stated. "It's primarily maintenance to guarantee peak performance of our communications systems."

Cole hummed, stirring his cereal absently. It would taste fine. It would taste just like normal Cheerios and he was hungry. He just needed to eat it.

"Cole?"

Cole glanced up from his meal. Zane eased into the seat across the table from him.

"Yeah?"

"I also wanted to ask your opinion of the delegate."

"-whats-her-name? What about her?"

"I am not sure," Zane folded his hands on the table, his thumbs twiddling anxiously. "I sense that she is not being entirely honest with us."

"About what?"

It didn't make much sense. What could she be dishonest about? All they really knew about her was straight from Starfarers directive. Even if she did lie, it wouldn't amount to much.

"I do not know." Zane shook his head. "I just know she felt... Untrue. Perhaps ingenuine?"

"Well, that's an introvert for you. They build masks to display for when they socialize."

Zane didn't look convinced.

"This felt deeper than her mannerisms." Zane frowned for a moment, being sitting back with a sigh. "I am not sure, maybe I am reading too far into all of..."

The cafeteria door hissed open again. Zane's sentence trailed off at the sight of Lloyd entering.

Cole instantly knew something was wrong. Lloyd was a mess.

At the very least, he hadn't combed his hair. It was greasy and matted on one side. His uniform looked rumpled and weird, the collar on his green shirt way too high- wait, did he have it on backwards?

The biggest give away was the fact the Lloyd skipped into the room. Like a kindergartner on their way to recess.

The green ninja didn't even acknowledge the gaping Cole or Zane as he skipped over to the replicator- oh, Lloyd's feet were bare, too- and jabbed at the buttons, selecting a coffee. There was a sugar option and Lloyd hit the button. Over and over and over until the replicator threw an error for exceeding the necessary limits of sugar for homosapiens.

"Lloyd?"

The boy in question jumped, whirling around. When he spotted them, his mouth stretched in an exuberant toothy grin.

"Hey, guys," his finger punched at the button absentmindedly and the replicator gave a whir as it began its sequence. "Whatcha doin'?"

Cole glanced at Zane, relieved to see his own level of concern reflected on the nindroids face. So he wasn't imagining this; Lloyd really was acting...different.

"We were just conversing," Zane said slowly. "I was sharing my opinions on the Yokein Ambassador."

Lloyd's sugar-coma inducing beverage finished materializing and he shoved the door open to snatch it up.

"Yeah, she's great, isn't she? Sooooo nice." He took a long swig of his drink, before turning back towards the door. "Anyway, see ya!"

Before Cole could even consider stopping him, Lloyd was out the door and gone.

Zane stared after him.

"What was that?" Cole asked.

Zane shook his head.

"I am... uncertain."

"That's not normal."

"No, it is not," Zane agreed.

Cole stood, feeling justified to abandon his faux cheerios now.

"Go check on the others and keep tabs on him. I'll go get Kai."

Zane nodded and they left, splitting up in the hall, all thoughts about the strange ambassador forgotten.

/-/-/

Cole's step was swift as he marched towards the medbay. It really was amazing how quickly he and the others had taken to learning the layout of this maze of a ship (and what a world of good You-Are-Here maps did, even if they were made with space crayon). In minutes, Cole could confidently say he was strides away from the closed door to the medbay.

...the sounds of yelling from inside made him question his directional skills. Then he recognized Kai's yelling over the tropical music and realized he was likely at the right place, just at a bad time.

Too bad Cole couldn't just put this off until later.

The moment he stepped within the doors' sensor range, it slid open flawlessly. The serenity of the movement completely clashed with the chaos happening within the spacious room.

Kai was near the back wall, smashing buttons on a console and yelling incoherently. Cole could make out Jay and a variety of threats of bodily harm between the growls even as, in the foreground, the image of a non-descript, emotionless hologram of a man ran through an energetic dance.

Ah, the Macarena. A pleasant memory of his childhood, learning that dance. Until his dad made him run through it a hundred times, sometimes without the music, just to practice memorizing dance sequences. It was bittersweet after that.

"Ay, Macarena, AYYAYY."

"TURN OFF, TURN OFF YOU BLAZING THING, FREAKING JAY-"

The smart thing to do would be to leave. But Lloyd's wellbeing was on the line. If Kai ever found out Cole hadn't told him just because he'd wanted to give Kai some space...Cole would very well be a goner.

Whelp, hopefully someone would recognize his sacrifice, maybe say a few kind words at his funeral besides 'he'll be missed, he was the best Cheerio supporter of us all'.

"KAI?" Cole hollered over the din. "KAI!"

The red ninja-now-doctor spun when his name finally registered, his over grown and not gelled spikes flopping over his eyes like poorly cut bangs.

"NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME. IF NO ONE IS DYING, COME BACK LATER."

"KAI, IT'S LLOYD."

"I'M SERIOUS, I'M AN INCH AWAY FROM COMBUSTING. LEAVE NOW, OR LOSE YOUR EYEBROWS!"

Cole just shrugged at that. He'd already tried. He could go catch up with Zane and they could check in with Kai later, when he had this... situation under control.

Cole turned to leave.

"WAIT!"

A hand, almosting scorching hot, landed on his arm, effectively stopping him. Kai was close enough now that they no longer had to shout over the performing AI. Kai leaned in closer, worry evident in his pinched expression.

"Did you say Lloyd?"

"Yeah."

Kai's grip didn't loosen. In fact, he used it to steer Cole back out of the medbay and into the hall, where it was much more quiet when the door hissed shut between them and the music.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest.

"What's wrong with Lloyd?"

"I don't know," Cole ran a hand through his hair, wondering just where to start. "He's acting really weird."

Kai stared at him expectantly.

"And? That tells me nothing."

"That's not enough?"

"No," Kai huffed. "I can't even begin to guess what's going on if all you give me is he's 'acting weird'. That literally means he's being anything but himself, which he already is with this whole captain kick he's got going."

"He wasn't acting all that captain-y when Zane and I just saw him in the cafeteria."

Cole went on to explain what he and Zane had seen, the skipping, the sugary drink, the giddy energy.

By the end Kai just blinked at him. Cole wasn't sure if he looked relieved or disturbed.

"Maybe this isn't a bad thing."

Cole frowned, taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe this is him finally letting the whole strict-captain act go."

"He was acting like a five year old."

"Maybe he's compensating for just how stuck up he's been these last weeks."

"Do you really believe that?"

Something stuttered in Kai's expression, the hope in his eyes dimming.

He sighed, rubbing at his forehead.

"No. I don't."

A horrible idea struck.

"You don't think he had a psychological break, do you?"

"FSM, I hope not," Kai's hand moved to pinch the bridge of his nose against an oncoming headache. "I'm a doctor, not a therapist."

Cole opened his mouth to comment on how ridiculous it was that, for all of StarFarer's foresight they couldn't have considered their crews mental states and provided support them accordingly, when his mouth shut at the sound of rythmic pounding echoing down the hall.

"Is that-?"

"Someone's running," Kai stated, looking both alarmed and curious.

The halls in the Exploration were long and slick, nobody ran down them for safety reasons, if nothing else.

Something was wrong.

Kai was five steps ahead of him, striding for the halls intersection, but just short of it when a desperate looking Nya came skidding around the corner. She zeroed in on Kai and he barely had a moment to open his arms before she slammed into him.

Cole rushed forward, but Kai managed to catch her and she heaved in breath after breath. Kai was obviously in big brother mode, scanning every inch of her for injury. He zeroed in on a red mark near her hairline and tried to reach for it, but he couldn't get an arm free to do so.

"Nya? Nya, what happened?"

She gulped a breath, her grip like iron on Kai's forearms.

She muttered something, and it wasn't much more than a gasp. Cole didn't catch it, but Kai suddenly paled, his stare sharpening down the hall she'd just come from.

"Where?"

She swallowed another breath.

"E-Engineering."

To Cole's utter shock, Kai yanked himself from Nya's grip and dashed around her, running full speed. She stumbled forward and Cole stepped forward to help steady her.

She glanced up at him and she seemed to be doing better. She'd regained some of her breath.

Had she run all the way from engineering? Up the stairs? Why hadn't she taken the lift?

She must have seen the confusion on his face, because she offered him the same explanation she'd uttered to Kai.

"It's Lloyd."

/-/-/

Kai tried to lose himself in his strides. In the slapping of his boots on the floor and the pumping of his arms as he pushed himself faster. The niggling dread that had started to take root when Coke had come to him was now a sprouted thorn, aching and impossible to ignore.

It's Lloyd.

Kai hadn't seen terror in his sister's eyes like that for a very long time.

He skidded in front of a lift, jamming at the button.

It was completely unresponsive.

He waited a whole second before he dove at the stairwell door and reckless flew down the stairs, taking them three, two, five at a time when he jumped and rebounded off a wall. He had four flights to descend to get to the upper most levels of engineering and his internal clock told him he had zero time to waste.

His momentum sent him into the center rail. He braced against it with his hip and slid past six more stairs. It was moments like these when he was incredibly grateful for his ninjitzu training. Balance, speed, and parkour were the only reasons he made it down the stairs in less than two minutes.

He burst through the door and hurdled onto the engineering deck. And instantly cursed himself for not getting more details from Nya. Lloyd could be anywhere in engineering and Kai didn't have time to search the entire area.

"Kai!"

Kai whipped around. Jay was glancing at him around a doorframe, trying not to take his eyes off of something in the room, waving to the red ninja distractedly. Judging by the other boys pale worried face, Kai was pretty sure he'd find the kid in there.

Kai was right behind Jay in a heartbeat, brushing past him-

Only to be greeted by an empty room.

Kai whirled on Jay, ready to rip him a new one for wasting his time, when Kai finally noticed Jay was looking up.

Kai followed his gaze.

His stomach bottomed out.

The green ninja spotted Kai from his precarious 20 foot perch and waved at him with a wide grin.

"Hi, Kai!"

Zane, who was stealthily scaling the monitors Lloyd was perched on, sent Kai a quick glance and a sharp head shake.

He didn't want Lloyd to know he was coming for him.

Even from where he stood, Kai could see something was really wrong with his little brother. Lloyd's hair was matted and smashed flat on one side in one of the worst cases of bed head Kai had ever seen. His uniform, usually so crisp, was stained on one side and the material had a gash in the front on the other, like he'd gotten hung up on something and just pulled himself loose. His face was a brilliant red like the worst case of sunburn ever, and his eyes moved around, only pausing to focus for a second on anything before moving on.

Kai could practically sense the fever from here. FSM, this wasn't good.

"Hey, bud," Kai called back, his words slow and gentle. "What are you doing up there?"

Lloyd's face twisted into a pout as he aimed a glare at Jay.

"He kept trying to take my new friend away, so I had to get out of his reach. He's so grabby, he didn't want to share!"

The younger boy then turned to the gauntlet on his arm, leaning close to whisper something Kai couldn't catch. Kai could hear the Computer's tones responding, but still couldn't catch any context to their conversation.

The whine in his voice was way out of character. Kai could see what Cole had been trying to say earlier.

"He took my gauntlet," Jay quickly explained, his voice a hushed whisper from the corner of his mouth. "He rerouted a lot of the programming and locked me out. He thinks computer is his new friend and I can't fix anything without the gauntlet."

That sounded like a security risk, to give one device that much power, was Kai's first thought.

"How bad is it?"

"He's locked down most of the floors and the lift," Jay admitted. "But most of the ships functions can be accessed by the gauntlet and he has enough programming skills and intel on this ship that he could do a lot of damage."

A serious security risk.

"How much?"

"Worst case? He could open all the bay doors and vacuum any floor that's not locked down into open space."

Blazes.

Zane kept up his silent climb, nearing the top. They would need to distract Lloyd so Zane could get the gauntlet away safely.

"Hey, Lloyd."

The green ninja straightened and perked up like a puppy, fixing Kai with a wide stare.

"How well do you really know your friend?"

Lloyd frowned at him, edging forward and Kai's heart skipped a beat. The kid was already too close to the edge.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, do you know their name?"

"Yeah," Lloyd grinned, holding his gauntleted arm out to Kai. "Kai, meet Computer!"

"Hello, Kai," came a tiny voice from the infernal device.

"Hello, Computer," Kai tried for conversational, but even he could hear the thread of anxiety in his words. "Has Lloyd told you his favorite color yet?"

Zane was nearly to the top now, his hand disappearing over the top edge of the monitors.

"He has not," the Computer pleasantly replied.

"It's yellow," Lloyd grinned. "I liked green, but it got old."

"What about you computer?" Kai inquired, trying not to stare at Zane sneaking up behind their little brother. "What's your favorite color?"

"I like the stars," the Computer poetically intoned. "What color are the stars?"

Kai blinked at the answer as Lloyd hummed.

"The sun's a star and it's yellow. Your favorite color is yellow, too?!" Lloyd sounded like the Computer was offering him an early Christmas.

"I suppose it is," the Computer genially agreed.

Zane made his move as the computer answered, using her voice to cover his movements.

It only half worked.

Zane's arm wrapped around Lloyd's chest, taking the kid completely by surprise, even as his other hand deftly snatched the cuff off Lloyd's forearm.

"Hey!" Lloyd squealed desperately. Zane tossed the gauntlet down to Jay who snatched it out of the air. Lloyd gave a sharp buck as Zane did so, taking the nindroid by surprise and allowing himself to slip out of Zane's grip-

And over the edge.

Kai lunged forward.

Zane managed to catch Lloyd's arm before the green ninja could fall very far, but not before a hollow think resounded. Lloyd's hair rebounded off the edge of the monitor. He went boneless, dangling in Zane's grip.

Lloyd.

Kai stopped beneath Lloyd, his arms reaching up.

"I've got him."

Zane sent him a look over Lloyd's shoulder.

"Kai-"

"This is the fastest way." Kai would take no arguments. "I'll catch him."

To blazes with a fifteen foot drop. Kai would catch him easily.

Zane didn't try to argue further. He eased Lloyd down as far as he could, shaving another five feet off the drop. Kai was just a few feet shy of being able to reach his brothers bare feet.

Zane let him go.

And Kai caught him.

Kai swept an arm under Lloyd's legs as he fell, reclining Lloyd easily into his arms. He kept Lloyd tight against his chest, away from the floor as the weight Kai had braced himself for still sent him to his knees. Pain flashed up his legs from his knees, but Kai ignored it in favor of visually examining his brother.

Lloyd looked even worse up close.

This close, Kai could easily identify the stain on Lloyd's shirt as vomit, between the stench and a similar stain on the boy's chin, that part was easy. Kai could feel the high fever through Lloyd's uniform, and the bump on his head didn't look serious at all. With the fever, it probably hadn't taken any force at all to knock the kid out. There was no wound beneath the uniform tear and Kai couldn't see any other stains to denote an old or bleeding wound.

Lloyd's breathing was shallow, huffy pants, his pulse faster than it should be.

But that was all Kai could tell. He just ran down here without even stopping to grab his handheld scanner. He had to get Lloyd to the medbay so he could get something more conclusive.

So far, though? It looked like Lloyd was sick. Very, very sick.

Kai glanced up, the words to ask Jay for his help on the tip of his tongue. But Jay was busy, completely engrossed in that stupid gauntlet, typing like crazy. Kai's ire rose and he wanted to snap at him that Lloyd was more important than some stupid tech when he finally recognized the anxiety lining Jay's expression.

Right. He was probably chasing down and fixing whatever Lloyd had done on it. Speaking of Jay's unhealthy attachment to the gauntlet...

"How the heck did he get his hands on it in the first place? This thing's practically welded onto your arm every time I see you."

Jay looked sheepish, but didn't glance up from his feverish typing.

"I don't take it with me into the bathroom; it's unsanitary." He defended.

"So you just left it out?"

"Oh, yeah, I left out on a table purposely, knowing Lloyd was out of his mind and would snatch it while I stepped away."

A comeback was on the tip of tongue, but Lloyd took that moment to groan in his arms. Right. Now was not the time.

"Is the lift unlocked?"

"Almost," Jay mumbled, a definitive beep echoing from his gauntlet a moment later. "Yep, there we go."

The thud of something hitting the metal floor echoed around the room and Kai glanced up as Zane reached his side.

"Zane-"

"I will take him," Zane was already gathering the gangly teen into his arms, heaving him up into an effortless cradle. Kai followed him up, shoving the aching of his throbbing knees to the far corner of his mind. He could check himself out later.

"Kai."

Zane hurried out of the room. Kai paused at Jay's call, turning back.

Jay looked up from his gauntlet, catching Kai's gaze. Kai could sympathize with the worry and longing there.

"I have to stay here to fix everything he tamped with. I'll be up as soon as I can, but it'll take me a few hours at least. Could you...?"

"I'll keep you posted," Kai nodded.

"Thank you," Jay's words echoed after Kai as the red ninja sprinted after Zane and his new patient.