Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What even Is fugi-doves deal with you? Why is he so obsessed with specifically you?” Cole asks. They are currently both in Cole's cruiser, racing out towards the outskirts of the city where the so-called “stress call” came from. The people who called sounded more annoyed however than panicked. That's usually the case when Fugi-dove is behind it.

“I mean, can't really blame him,” Jay says smugly from behind. The snort Cole lets out at that receives a light hearted punch to his shoulder. “On a serious note though, I have no clue man. If you ask me, I think he is just a fan turned nut case.”

“Maybe the man's got a crush” Cole pipes up which causes Jay to huff. Without even looking back Cole knows for a fact that Jay Is rolling his eyes.

“Hope not, the guy gets on my nerves enough as It is” Cole only hums in response. Cole begins bobbing his head to the music as he makes a turn. Dessert is the only thing surrounding them. Why fugi-dove would be all the way out here, Cole has no clue. It's not like there is anything of value here. “Why did you decide to tag along anyways? If you think I'll need backup you're highly overestimating Fugidove. And honestly insulting me, not as a hero but as a person.”

“Eh, bored I guess? Also would be fun to see the guy annoy you” Cole smirks.

“What? Jealous that you're not number one in that regard anymore?” Jay shoots back. Cole meets his eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Wow your words wound me bluebell. Maybe I should take some notes during this confrontation” Jay lets out a groan and Cole tries to ignore the way his cheeks warm up as he feels Jay's forehead hit his back, even more so when it stays there.

“Since you are tagging along, can't you handle him instead?” Jay asks, almost whispers given the close proximity between them.

“What? No, this is your mission! Fugi-dove asked for you specifically” Cole glances at the rearview mirror, only Jay's curls are visible since his head is still glued to Cole's back. However when Jay raises his head Cole quickly everts his eyes back to the road.

“And when did we start listening to the villains?” Jay asks and, point taken.

“So what, you're just gonna sit on the sidelines and watch?” Cole jokes.

“Preferably in the car, yes”

“Jay! Are you kidding me?” Cole can't believe Jay. Or actually he can, because It's Jay but still!

“What? I don't wanna listen to him babble on and on-”

“-rich coming from you” Cole interrupts.

“Hey at least what I have to say is interesting!”
“Arent you the main thing Fugi-dove talks about?” Jay lets out an offended sound before stuttering out a response.

“Y-yeah but- That's not the point!- UGH! WIll you just do it? Please” Jay whines before he begins to annoyingly shake Cole's shoulders. Cole only rolls his eyes.

“Fine! If you buy me a piece of cake on the way back” Cole huffs out and he almost regrets not stalling his response for a bit longer as Jay's hands leave his shoulders.

“Yes! Thanks man!” Jay grins brightly and Cole can't help the smile that tugs on his own lips, especially when Jay pats Cole's shoulder. “Youre the best!”

“And don't you forget it” Cole huffs. “Look at that, we are already here!” Cole announces, hitting the breaks as he parks a bit away from the gas station. He presses a button that opens up the roof of the vehicle, exiting it quickly.

“Ill be listening on the comms!” Cole watches as Jay takes the driver's seat.

“I thought you didn't want to hear his voice?” Cole scoffs.

“No but I want to hear yours” Jay says as he fumbles with the car's tech. Cole ignores the way his face once again heats up.

“Why not just use your ear piece?” Cole asks as he watches Jay switch it out.

“Because why do we have these installed in the car if we are never gonna use them?” Which is kinda valid. “Now hurry!” Jay waves his hands, motioning for Cole to get going.

“Fine, fine, be right back” And so Cole is off. Jogging towards the gas station.

“-ole. Cole you hear me?”

Cole presses his earpiece. “Yes I hear you Jay. Aren't you the one who made these?”

“I think Zane made yours? It's so long ago I honestly can't remember.”

Cole hums. He quickly stays close to the wall when he reaches the building.

“You know you don't have to sneak right? It's Fugidove” Jay laughs and Cole immediately lowers his shoulders.

“What If he has hostages?” Cole asks and he can't help but look back at his cruiser as if he and Jay are having a face to face conversation.

“It's fugi-dove Cole! He Is harmless! The only thing he has damaged was a shelf once and my patience.” What patience? Cole wants to quip in but ends up refraining from it. He still can't help but feel unsure about lowering his guard. In the end Cole decides on not giving Jay an answer to instead take a glance around the corner and through the window.

Its…

Empty.

Not a single person is inside.

“Jay, the gas station's empty. You think he is waiting in the back?” Cole whispers over the comms.

“Umm maybe? That's kinda strange. Fugi-dove isn't one to hide. Maybe he is using the restroom?” Jay chips in. And then a crunching noise is filling Cole's ears.

“Jay! Are you eating my chips?!”

“No…” Jay answers and it's quickly followed by a rustle.

“You are unbelievable,” Cole huffs, pinching his nose in frustration.

“The manager of the gas station will probably give you a bag for free once you are done” Jay dismisses and another crunch is heard.

“Okay but I don't want to hear you munching in my ears thanks” And just as Cole says that It's followed by Jay oversaturatingly eating a handful of chips.

“Okay that's it. Im coming back and-”
“No! Sorry! Sorry! I'll stop” Cole huffs before turning his attention back to the mission.

“I'll head to the backdoor” Cole says, turning around and quickly, but cautiously making his way over there.

“Cole I think you are taking this a bit too seriously” Jay deadpans, Cole ignores him.

Cole quickly turns the door handle and pushes it open.

“Thats weird, shouldn't that door be locked?” Jay's voice pipes in. Cole however doesn't answer in favor of staying silent. He sneaks into the back room of the gas station. It's packed with boxes and item-filled shelves. The room is relatively small so he quickly spots the hostages. They are all crammed into the corner of the room. A voice causes Cole to quickly take cover behind a shelf.

“He should be here any minute now! He is usually quicker than this, I mean he is the master of lightning after all! Maybe he got stuck in traffic or something” Thats Fugi-dove alright. He seems to be pacing the room… Fanboying. “You know Jay and I once-!”

“I don't care!” A different voice barks out and Cole could swear he heard Jays breathe hitch over the comms. Then the room is filled with silence.

“Cole…” Jay whispers over the comms. “I-Is there someone else there?” Why does he sound so shaken up? Cole takes the initiative to answer Jay when fugi-dove begins speaking again.

“Yeah.” He whispers. He tries to find a crack between the items on the shelf so he can sneak a peak at them. Cole however only manages to spot Fugidove, who is currently watching the security cameras.

“Im not really sure why it's taking Jay so long right now, at this point we are usually already engaged in an awesome battle.”

“Prehaps he is already here” The deep voice answers. It irks Cole how he can't manage to spot the guy's position.

“Cole” Jay's voice comes in, and his tone is totally different from earlier. “You need to get out”

“What?” Cole answers through the comm as his eyebrows furrow in confusion. What Is Jay on about? He just got here!

“Cole, listen to me you need to-”
“You are not the blue ninja” Hearing the husky, deep voice from behind him startles Cole, quickly causing him to turn around. Dark sinister eyes are what he is met with.

Noise is heard on Jay's end as well that Cole vaguely registers. Is this an ambush? Is Jay getting attacked? His thoughts quickly vanish though to keep his focus on the situation at hand. That's also when he notices that the guy in front of him does not have any legs… but is instead floating in the air with orange smoke trailing down to the floor. He is taken aback by it but quickly shakes it off, eyes hardening.

Fugi-dove quickly rounds the shelf too, spotting Cole. “Ah! I see! Jay must have brought back up knowing that he would be facing me! Fugi-Dove!” The man obnoxiously loudly yells.

The stranger however looks at Cole with disinterest but there is still a sort of glint in his eyes that Cole can't put a word to. Cole is already in a fighting stance fully intending on fighting these guys when all of a sudden the stranger laughs.

It's sort of unsettling.

“What's so funny?” Cole asks, glaring at the man.

“Last time I saw you, you were a ghost. It's a pity you're not anymore, would have made it a lot quicker getting rid of you” Coles confusion is evident if there is anything to go by the smirk the man acquires at his reaction.

Cole Is about to ask what the fuck he is going on about but before he can the door is being slammed open and all eyes turn to Jay standing in the door way. And Jay's eyes only glance over Cole and quickly sets their sight on the stranger. The reaction is immediate. Cole doesn't even have time to blink as Jays lightning zaps right past him, aimed at the floating man.

However… It missed and the stranger is nowhere to be seen. The shelf however became the victim of Jay's lightning, causing it to scrape against the floor as it fell over. The loud noise causing the silence that followed to be deafening. Even fugi-dove Is silent, his eyes blown wide. Jay quickly rushes over, grabbing hold of Cole's hand and dragging him out.

“Woah! woah! Jay, wait up!” Cole halts them to a stop but before Cole can say anything more Jay speaks up.

“Cole come on!” Jay yells, his hold on Cole tightening and he tries to continue to drag him, while frantically looking around them.

“Jay! What's going on?! What are you doing! What about the hostages?!” Regardless of Cole's words, Jay doesn't let up his persistence in getting Cole moving.

“Cole, you need to listen to me right now alright?! We need to get back to the monastery right fucking now!” Jay spits.

“Jay we can't just leave-”

“SHUT UP!” Jay yells and it's only now Cole notices Jay's trembling hands. “You don't understand! What we have to do right now is get back to the others! I'll explain-”

“HEY!” Fugi-dove yells, now having joined them outside. “What are you doing Jay?! I'm still here!”

Just as Cole is about to turn back to Jay, paying Fugi-dove no attention, orange flashes before him and the next thing he knows he is no longer holding Jay's hand. Panic fills Cole as he frantically turns around trying to spot Jay. He was just here! A breath escapes him when he instead spots the orange man over by the gas station wall, holding Jay up by the throat. Cole is about to rush over to help him when a weight is pushed onto his back.

“JAY is usually the only one worthy of fighting me! But-” Cole quickly swings Fugi-dove off of him, knocking his breath out as his back hits the ground. It was mostly a reflex and Cole lets out a sympathetic hiss as a tiny bit of guilt strikes him. It's quickly forgotten however as Cole quickly fixates his eyes back on Jay causing him to be witness to another powerful surge of lightning being thrown towards the stranger. And that's when Cole realizes that…

Jay isn't holding back.

Another powerful lightning blast is sent and it actually causes Jay to stumble back from the impact. The stranger however disappears again… into thin air. This guy can teleport?! When Cole looks at Jay again their gazes meet as Jay is rushing over.

Automatically Cole takes a step towards Jay, trying to push his confusion away. Jay grabs Cole's hand right away as he closes the distance, quickly dragging Cole towards the cruiser once again.

“Change of plan. Cole. I need you to listen carefully-” Jay talks fast as he says this and Cole tries to keep up as well as he can. “You need to take the cruiser back to the monastery, once there call a meeting and tell Nya that Nadakhan Is back. She-”

“Nadakhan? Back? Jay I dont-” Next thing Cole knows is that he is no longer facing Jay. The next thing he registers is that his cheek stings. The third thing he registers is that Jay is now holding his face and staring into his eyes with seriousness written all over his face. Their faces are so close that if the situation was different Cole's cheek would be red for a whole different reason than it is now.

Jay had slapped him.

“Get to the monastery. Tell Nya that Nadakhan Is back. Got it?” Jay's voice leaves no room for arguing but the question automatically leaves Cole's mouth.

“What about you?”

“I'll be here when you get back with backup” And maybe it's the stress of the situation or the confusion Cole is experiencing but he doesn't notice Jay's lie. Instead he nods at Jay and the next thing he does is sprint towards the cruiser.

When he looks to the rear view mirror and sees lightning flaring behind, he only steps on the gas pedal harder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Cole's cruiser slides to a stop in the secret base in such a haste that it leaves trackmarks in the floor, puzzlement and a bit of irritation causes the onlooking nindroid to raise his eyebrow. However when the Earth Ninja stumbles out of the vehicle in such a hurry that his foot gets stuck and ends up bodyslamming onto the floor, It's quickly replaced with worry and a sinking feeling in his stomach. Zane quickly leaves whatever he was tinkering with uncaringly to instead hopefully learn what's the reason behind Cole's distress.

“Cole what's-"

“ NYA! “ Cole screams. It echoes off the walls and Zane steps halt in surprise at his outburst. Cole quickly gets back on his feet and his eyes don't take long before finding and landing on Zane. “Where Is Nya?” However, just as quickly as Cole had turned to Zane, he turns away in favor to yell out her name again which is accompanied with frantic steps and closed fists as he makes his way towards the elevator. Zane quickly snaps out of his surprise to keep up with Cole.

“She was in the living room last time I saw her” Zane quips in and he just barely makes it into the elevator doors as Cole spams the button. “Whats going on?”

“ I don't know !”

What?

“What?” Zane asks, puzzled once again. Cole lets out a frustrated groan as he grips his black hair, the aggression doesn't seem to be directed at Zane though.

“Doesnt this elevator go any faster?!” Just as Zane Is about to ask another question the doors ding open and Cole Is already out and about. The two are in the living room in seconds with Cole slamming the doors open.

"- WHA-! What's your problem man-?!” Kai yells out, dropping his controller from the fright and clutching a hand to his shirt.

“Where Is Nya?” Cole asks, unfazed and uncaring about scaring Kai. The sudden seriousness causes Kai to stumble over his words.

“Kai!” Cole snaps.

"C-Courtyard!" Kai points and when Cole quickly leaves, Kai sends Zane a questioning look. The Nindroid only shrugs before following after Cole. Kai too leaves what he was previously doing to pursue finding out what the hell Is going on.

“NYA!” Cole yells and as he makes it outside her eyes are already on him given the commotion he is causing. Her and Lloyd seem to have paused in a sparring session.

“Whats going on?” She asks, turning her attention towards the three ninjas but Cole is the one her eyes settle on.

“ Nadakhan ” Cole sees how her figure immediately freezes up, shoulders tensing as he says the name. Her eyes widened in shock and — Yup —- that's the same fear Jay had in his eyes. Cole didn't think his worry could get any worse but upon her reaction the knot in his stomach tightens. “Shit, fuck. I- Jay Is alone with him right now- He told me to come to you and tell you that Nadakhan Is back-”

“ Jay Is alone with him?! ” Nya interrupts, panic is evident in her voice. And oh man the knot in Cole's stomach only seems to worsen.

Cole gulps before giving her a single nod in response.

“What Is he thinking?!” Nya's hand makes it to her forehead as her eyes end up staring tensely at the ground. From an outside perspective it looks as if she is trying to wrap her head around the situation. Still not having fully grasped Cole's words.

“Who is this Nadakhan guy?” Kai steps forward and asks but the only ones who seem to hear his question are Lloyd and Zane, while Cole's eyes keep staring intently on Nya.

“I need to get back-! -We- need to get back!” Cole hurriedly exclaims. Nya's expression looks conflicted at Cole's words but he hardly has the time to process it before he is turning around, heading towards the door he busted out of just mere seconds ago. They have to get back to Jay. If they leave now then-

“No”

Cole's hand stops midway of opening the door. Turning around he sees that Kai and Zane had both been following him but… Nya hasn't moved at all. Neither has Lloyd who is standing next to her glancing between the two with furrowed brows.

“What do you mean no? Jay he is-! He is fighting this guy! And from the way you reacted to his name he is obviously dangerous!” Cole cries out, frustration lacing his voice.

The previous fear and uncertainty that was showing on Nya's face has now been replaced with seriousness and determination. It doesn't deter Cole at all however. His best friend is in danger, dammit! And it's his fault for crying out loud!

“We are wasting time just standing here! We need to get to Jay! If this Nadakhan guy is as dangerous as you two make him seem to be then we need to get back to Jay right now! He needs backup!” Cole's voice is firm and loud. He isn't sure why Nya isn't on the same page as him but it doesn't matter. He is dead-set on going whether she or the others are coming with him or not. He is not gonna abandon his best friend.

“Jay told you to leave him there for a reason! Going back there now would be a waste of time and going in unprepared of what we are about to face is what's truly dangerous” Nya argues, her words coming out direct and clear. “Let's go to the kitchen. There is a lot I need to catch you guys up on-”

“That can wait!-” Cole snaps, fists tightening and patience wavering. Why isn't Nya listening to him? Does she not care about Jay in the slightest?

“No! It can't. If you rush over there now, Ninjago Is as good as doomed!” Nya ends up snapping back with clenched teeth. Her and Cole are glaring at each other and just as Cole Is about to argue back Lloyd speaks up.

“Arguing Is what's wasting time. Nya” Lloyd turns to her with worried eyes. “If Jay Is in danger, why do you not want us to go and help him? Are you telling us that this guy Is stronger than all of us together..?” Lloyd's voice is laced with worry and his question causes the same emotion to spread through the group while Cole's expression stays unchanging, fuming.

“I- ugh! I- No. Its just-” Nya can't seem to get her words out right, stumbling over them in frustration. Then she lets out a heavy sigh and her shoulders slump. She looks at them all before seeming to make a decision. “We can go help Jay… But only on one condition."

The others are quiet and Nya takes their silence as a sign for her to continue.

"Nadakhan is very manipulative and, though I hate to admit it, clever. We have to all stick together alright? No one goes wandering off alone cause being alone with him means-" Nya halts herself from finishing that sentence as her eyes land on Cole and Cole finds himself biting the inside of his mouth as his guilt grows. "Just, stay together alright? And this part is very very fucking important. Do not-" Nya emphasizes the words. "-wish. Don't even say the word wish, alright?"

At this everyone seems confused and Nya let's out a sigh. It's exhausted and dejected.

"I'll explain everything later but you guys have to promise me these things okay? Do not wander off alone and DO NOT wish. Nadakhan is a djinn. He can grant wishes but he always twists them for his own gain. So promise me. Promise me you won't wish for anything" Nya stares at them, almost with a pleading look and after a while they all seem to nod which causes Nya to shake her head in refusal. "Say it. I need you guys to. say. it."

"We promise" They all say, some speaking over others but nonetheless they all agree to it.

"Alright then." Nya walks past the group and she is the one to open the door. However her footsteps halt in the doorway. Turning back towards the others with saddened eyes. "And… I want you guys to also prepare yourself that…"

"Jay might not be there when we arrive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of a sudden, the hair on Jay's neck stands on end, his breath hitching. His previously cheerful mood, gone in an instant.

That voice… It… It couldn't be. No… He must have misheard it.

But even as he tells himself that he cant seem to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling that has settled in his guts, nor can he ignore the fact that his hands are now clammy and have a slight tremble to them. Fucking hell. Even though it's probably just his head messing with him or maybe- maybe he had just heard someone who just sounded very similar to- to him, Jay's mouth is speaking before he knows it.

“Cole…” Jay whispers over the comms, his eyes intently staring a hole into the gas station, as if the wall would break under his gaze. “I-Is there someone else there?” His mouth feels awfully dry as he tries to swallow.

“Yeah.” Cole whispers back. While Jay takes in his response he also tries to listen intently to the conversation in the background. His senses are now fully on alert mode. The chips he had previously been eating tossed aside, having spilled out onto the seat and car floor.

“Im not really sure why it's taking Jay so long right now, at this point we are usually already engaged in an awesome battle.” Fuji-Dove's voice comes in. Jay can't even find It in himself to be annoyed at it. His anticipation of the other party is killing him. He needs to hear that voice again. Just to confirm that It isn't who he thought It was. Who he can't help but think it is.

“Prehaps he is already here”

Cold utter fear spikes Jay. And then something else hits him. Something that amplifies it ten times.

Cole

“Cole” Jay's speaks into the comm. His hand gripping it urgently. “You need to get out”

“What?” Cole replies.

“Cole, listen to me you need to-”
“You are not the blue ninja” He knows. Nadakhan has spotted Cole. He has-

Jay slams the button for the roof to open. Something pulls and snaps as he rushes out. Some part of Jay's brain vaguely registers that it is the car's head set. The rest of his brain is screaming at him to get to Cole. That Cole Is in danger. He Is running as fast as he can but It somehow feels so slow.

His brain conjures up the most awful scenarios but when he makes it to the building his brain almost becomes completely blank. Slamming the door open, Jay's eyes first set their sights on Cole. Seeing that he is okay, Jay does not waste any time letting his eyes linger, quickly finding the offending object to his nightmares.

It's instinctual, letting the blast fire off from his finger tips. Survival instinct If you may. And though Jay knows Nadakhan didn't get hit by it, he doesn't let that deter him. He quickly scans the room and upon seeing that Nadakhan has not reappeared in here he rushes over to Cole, grabbing hold of his hand and maybe a little bit too harshly drags him out of the building.

“Woah! woah! Jay, wait up!” Cole halts them to a stop that causes a panic to rise in Jay.

“Cole come on!” They can't stay here! They- They need to get back to the monastery! Nya! Nya and the others! Shit, fuck! The others don't know! They don't - about- about Nadakhan! Nadakhan! Nadakhan could come from any direction! He could be anywhere! He is probably watching them right now! He cant- Jay wont let him whisk any of them away!

Jay unconsciously tightens his hold on Cole's hands. His eyes frantically searching the dessert around them.

“Jay! What's going on?! What are you doing! What about the hostages?!” He can't see Nadakhan and Cole still isn't budging regardless of how hard he pulls!

“Cole, you need to listen to me right now alright?! We need to get back to the monastery right fucking now!” Jay snaps in Cole's face and Jay can see how Cole isn't taking in his words. He isn't taking him seriously.

“Jay we can't just leave-”

“SHUT UP!” Jay yells, his aggression only grows as Cole doesn't even seem to be meeting his eyes. “You don't understand! What we have to do right now is get back to the others! I'll explain-” He tries desperately but his words are cut short as Fugi-Dove's yell interrupts him.

“HEY! What are you doing Jay?! I'm still here!”

And that was all it took. That one second of distraction for the orange smoke to appear before him. He doesn't even have time to react as his hands are pried off of Coles. The impact of a body slamming into him takes his breath away and the hands that find themself around his neck keeps him from getting it back. The feeling of losing his footing and falling disappears too quickly, causing him whiplash. Next thing he knows his back is crashing into something hard and his feet are lifted off of the ground which confuses him since wasn't it the ground he was about to slam into? His hands instinctively go to pry and claw at the hands strangling him. His head is pounding in his ears, or perhaps that's his heart?

“Suprised to see me funny man?” Nadakhan whispers in his ear and Jay tries to get away from it the best he can but the panic in him makes it hard. He can't think. All he manages to do is trash around and it isn't doing shit! The grip on him tightens and Jay digging his nails into the offending hand seems to do nothing to stop it. “This time, Im making sure to get rid of you first”

Nadahkan's words somehow help Jay snap out of it, if just a little. Nadakhan is saying something but in favor of concentrating Jay can't seem to hear it. Static fills the air between them and in the blink of an eye Jay lets go of his powers with all his might. An electric blast shoots out from within him in every direction. And this time, Nadakhan wasn't able to dodge it.

Jay falls to the ground, gulping in as much air as he can. Sweet trickles down his forehead, landing on his hand. He immediately goes to stand up, not wanting to leave any opportunity for the djinn to strike again. However his vision swims and darkens for a second, the familiar feeling of fainting causes fear to course through him. His feet stumble but he quickly is able to stabalase himself with help from the wall of the gas station. When did they get so close?

He snaps his eyes up to the djinn who seems to have been able to recover from his blast.

The bastard has the audacity to smirk at him. It's blood-curdling.

Jay quickly fires off another blast of electricity in the djinns direction but Nadakhan manages to teleport before it can reach him. Jay stumbles away from the structure he has so far been supporting himself on, frantically turning around trying to spot his tormentor.

Somehow, the fear has completely left Jay's body and been replaced with burning rage and resentment. He doesn't try to stop it as he feels his body and powers getting fueled by it. Instead he embraces and entertains it. All those days on The Misfortune Keep. All those beatings- the torture he was put through. The starving, the teasing- the humiliation.

When Jay spots a speck of orange from the corner of his eye he fires off all of these pent up emotions that have somehow made it back to him. The power behind it is so intense that even Jay flies back from It, luckily landing on his feet. When he lifts his gaze to look for the djinn once again he instead meets eyes with Cole and that snaps him out of his frustration, but only because his worry for the other returns.

Jay quickly breaks off into a run towards his friend. His best friend who Is wearing that dumb, adorable confusion on his face. Jay would have teased him if it was under better circumstances.

This time, Im making sure to get rid of you first

Jay grabs Cole's hand right away when he reaches him, quickly dragging Cole towards the cruiser once again. His hand Is warm in contrast to Jay's cold one.

“Change of plan. Cole. I need you to listen carefully-” Jay begins, feeling himself lick his lips as his nerves seem to return to him. He really hopes he's making a smart decision here — No -– He knows he Is. It will give Cole time to reach the others. Enough time for Nya to explain everything. Jay won't let history repeat itself. He won't let Nadakhan hurt Nya or the others. Not again. Never again. Jay tries to push away the fear he feels crawling up his throat “You need to take the cruiser back to the monastery, once there call a meeting and tell Nya that Nadakhan Is back. She-”

“Nadakhan? Back? Jay I don't-" Jay Isn't thinking when he does it. Maybe it's the frustration from before that's still lingering or the overwhelming worry that Is heavy in his gut or the fear - the fear that comes from the fact that Nadakhan Is back. The fact. Because this isn't a dream. Nadakhan is here. He is truly back and- Jay quickly makes himself snap out of it and grabs hold of Cole's face. Jay pushes away the immediate guilt he feels when he sees that Cole's cheek is red under his hand and it's because of him.

Jay takes a deep breath before staring intently into Cole's wide eyes.

“Get to the monastery. Tell Nya that Nadakhan Is back. Got it?” Jay observes Cole when he says it, making sure that he actually is listening and taking in Jay's words.

“What about you?”

Jays cheeks warm under the question.

“I'll be here when you get back with backup” The reply comes out automatically. Cole doesn't know anything about Nadakhan so If Jay were to say anything else that wasn't what he just said, Cole wouldn't leave. He would be stubborn and stay because he is so caring. Too caring for his own good. Too caring for his own profession.

Cole nods and Jay lets go of his face. He hates how the warmth leaves his hands as he does so. Then Jay watches Coles back for hopefully not the last time— No, not for the last time— before turning around himself. He Is not too surprised when his eyes meet with the djinns.

Jay immediately goes into a defensive stand. The action causes a dark laugh to erupt from his opponent. Jay ignores it. At least, that's what he likes to believe, when in reality his fists tighten and his teeth clench down involuntarily. Rage flooding his veins.

“Where Is your friend heading to?“ The djinn smiles mockingly. Jay takes the time to inspect the djinn seeing as he isn't attacking just yet.

Nadakhan's attire is the same since last time Jay saw him except maybe for some small details and — he doesn't have the sword, Jay now notices. The sword that had captured sensei Wu and Kai and Zane- Nadakhan doesn't have it on him! At first that fact cheers Jay up but it somehow is still replaced by dread. Why doesn't he have it on him? Is someone else wielding it? Jay doesn't let himself ponder on it for too long. Instead of answering the djinns question, Jay decides to ask his own.

“Where is your crew?” And the blue ninja is so thankful for the fact that his voice comes out clear and firm, not shaking or stuttering as he had feared.

Just as Nadakhan opens his mouth to answer, Jay sends lightning his way. It isn't as strong as the earlier ones but he was hoping to perhaps catch the djinn off guard. He doesn't however and the djinn of course teleports away.

The djinn appears to Jay's left and Jay quickly fires off another tiny blast, causing the djinn to reappear elsewhere.

“You really don't have any manners do you Junkyard boy.” Jay can't help but smile at the clear irritation in the djinn's voice. Jay was always great at getting on Nadakhan's nerves, something he actually holds pride in, even though it usually led to more trouble than it was worth.

“A junkyard Is better than being homeless. Aren't you going to answer my question? Thought you loved talking about yourself!" Jay scoffs, It however causes him to wince as his sore throat flares up in pain. Jay had been too swept up in the rush of everything around him that he hadn't noticed up till now what the strangling from earlier had done to his throat. He bets it will bruise if his experience on the misfortune keep has taught him anything. The amused grin that befalls the djinn causes Jay to unconsciously clench his fists tighter once again as anger flares up in him as well as… embarrassment. He wants nothing more than to wipe that disgusting grin off with his fist.

“You really think I would recruit those imbeciles back after they betrayed me?” Nadakhan laughs loudly, his smoke trailing off and disappearing in the air behind him as he circles around Jay. When he gets a little too close for Jay's liking, Jay raises his hand in warning.

“So what? You turned to Fugi-Dove for help?” Jay scoffs and once again winces at the pain — He really gotta stop doing that. “Thats pathetic, even for you.”

Nadakhan shrugs. “He Is just a pawn, A tiny nail If you may in an intricate machine.” Nadakhan Isn't looking at Jay anymore, his back being slightly turned and exposed, but Jay knows better. He knows that Nadakhan's guard isnt actually lowered. That's why Jay's eyes won't go astray, not even for a second. He watches Nadakhans every move, from how his arms cross over his chest to how his smoke sways beneath him. Nothing around them matters as of now. Nadakhan has his undying attention. “He has his uses.”

“Getting me alone being one of them? Didn't really go as planned, did it?” Despite trying to uphold his confident and cocky exterior Jay can't help but lick his lips, a nervous habit that does not go unnoticed by the djinn.

The idea of what the outcome would have been If he had gone alone, If Cole hadn't tagged along. Would Jay have walked right into Nadakhan's hands? No… He… He wouldn't have. Fucking hell. Who Is he kidding? He would. He totally would- Shit! Jay was even teasing Cole earlier for taking the mission seriously! What If Cole had listened to him?

“You are alone now aren't you?” Nadakhan's words are laced with satisfaction and smugness. Jay's jaw clenches from hearing it which causes the djinn to prosper in his misery even more.

“Thats because I made the decision to be alone with you! I had control over it! Not you! I still have control over it!” Jay lashes out. And the silence that follows does nothing to calm Jay's beating heart nor does the amusement he sees in Nadakhan's eyes. Nadakhan's eyes are mocking him, they are squaring him up.

"We're not alone though, my friend” Nadakhan states, his expression now stoic, causing Jay's skin to crawl at the quick switch up. Jay glances around them and he is only left with confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Jay asks warily.

Upon Jay's question Nadakhan reaches into a tiny leather pouch that he has strapped to his waist. He seems to be observing whatever it is he pulled out of it with boredom before throwing whatever it is to the ground between them. Jay watches the green thing with uncertainty.

Then…

The thing twitches.

“Is It a worm..?” Jay glances up at the djinn suspiciously, not making any move to get closer to whatever the thing fidgeting on the ground is.

Nadakhan laughs at his question. Jay doesn't grasp what he is finding so amusing.

“Why don't you go and take a look? He Is harmless, always has been, If that's what you are worried about '' Something In Nadakhan's eyes tells him that it isn't a trick of some kind, so with hesitant steps and a hand out stretched in warning for Nadakhan, Jay makes his way over to the worm whatever thing.

He crouches down and picks it up with careful hands. It wiggles in his hold but he still can't figure out what it is so with questioning eyes he looks back at the djinn for some kind of explanation.

Nadakhan Is grinning widely from ear to ear, and though it's unsettling Jay Is mostly just puzzled.

“Its Clancees finger “

Jay freezes. His whole body stills as his face pales at the djinns revelation. It's as if a bucket filled with ice water has been dumped over him.

“Clancees…” Jay mumbles in disbelief, his gaze not daring to leave the djinns gleeful one but he doesnt have a choice. He needs to confirm that what he is holding… What's currently wiggling in his palm can't possibly be…

It Is

There is no denying it. It's a finger- Clancee's finger. And it's somehow still moving — Still alive.

“I-” Jay cant get a word out, his fleeing eyes find their way to Nadakhans. He isn't sure why, maybe in a silent question since his mouth doesn't want to cooperate with him. Why? Does he not have any remorse at all?! Clancees was his friend wasn't he?? Jays sure of it! The whole crew were friends, at least at some point! But that doesn't seem to be an issue for Nadakhan. It shouldn't surprise Jay but it still somehow does.

Nadakhan's booming laughter echoes in his head even as it comes to a stop.

“What? You asked where my crew was didn't you? There is your answer!” Nadakhan hollered, his sharp canines being put on show with how far his grin stretches over his face. Jay's inability to speak only seems to spur the djinn on. “Did you want to say hi to Dabloon or perhaps Flintlock instead? I thought you liked Clancees, you seemed to bond so well on the misfortunes keep”

Jay's hands are shaking, his mouth hanging slightly open. This Is Insanity. Jay looks down at his palm once again. Jay isn't sure what he thought of Clancees. The guy didn't indulge in beating him up like the other pirates had but he also never tried to stop it or intervene. Clancees was the kindest one there but that wasn't really hard to beat. The pirates were ruthless and found amusement in his torment. They would cheer whenever he got knocked down or let out a scream of agony. Clancees would only look the other way. Jay isn't sure if he likes the guy or hates him, maybe neither. But one thing is for sure, Clancees didn't deserve this.

Watching the green cold limb flail around in his palm makes him sick to his stomach so instead Jay closes his fist gently, exhaling as he puts the finger in one of the pockets of his gi. If he gets out of this mess Jay will honor Clancees with a proper burial. That he swears.

“Clancees had his uses on the ship, now however? He is as good to me as he is dead”

“Are you going to kill Fugi-Dove now too?” Jay's eyes are fuming. He wouldn't let that happen. Even though Fugi-dove Is a pain in Jay's ass, he isn't evil. Yes, he does petty crimes but he has never seriously injured anyone or put them in any real danger.

“No. He is still useful to me.” Nadakhan replies, floating around Jay, circling him oh so slowly. Just like how a predator does its prey. Nadakhan might believe this chit chat has Jay dropping his guard but he would be mistaken. He knows Nadakhan's tactics, his way of stalling and distracting until the perfect opportunity to strike is. Jay knows Nadakhan. He wont let himself be swept up by anything the djinn says, knowing that his words are said with the intent of riling the ninja up. Jay's eyes are zeroed in on him. His senses are on full alert because he knows better than to underestimate Nadakhan.

“Gonna use his feathers for bedding? Lord knows you will need it if you are gonna sleep out here” Jay jokes and the twitch in Nadakhan's eyebrow is enough of a reaction for him to continue. “Or maybe you need a new fancy quill” Jay laughs.

However, Nadakhan chuckling along with him only brings him discomfort. A frown is formed on the ninja's face.

“The biggest use he has Is actually

you underestimating him”

A snap of a twig has Jay spinning around, sending a powerful surge of electricity at Fugi-Dove. When Jay turns around to face Nadakhan again a fist Is what he is met with. It sends him toppling over but he doesn't fall to the ground thanks to the hand that comes to grip the front of his gi. Jay's head is spinning and he thinks blood is leaking from his nose if the metallic taste in his mouth is anything to go by. Lips graze his ear and it causes an uncomfortable shiver to escalate down his back.

"I'll admit. I was surprised to see you not cowering in fear at my arrival. But It delights me to see that you are still the same weak boy I scarred.”

Jay lets go of another powerful outlet but the djinn isn't caught in it. Having lost the support Nadakhan's hold had on him causes Jay to stumble backwards and of course that's where Fugi-doves unconscious body had to be laying resulting in Jay tumbling down to the ground as well. The disorientation makes him nauseous and he tries to get a grip on himself but time is never in his favor.

Nadakhan's hands are quickly on him again, lifting him up by the hem of his gi. It is short lived though as Nadakhan grabs hold of his arm and hoists him up only to throw him over his shoulder causing Jay to slam back down on the ground. The impact causes the air to leave his lungs. As he is trying and failing to inhale basic fucking air, Nadakhans Is towering over him, grabbing hold of his locks and pressing his head into the ground. The pressure hurts but Jay knows Nadakhan isn't using his whole strength because then Jay's head would be nothing more than a bloody stain on the ground.

“Im going to give you 3 options” Nadakhan whispers in his ear and it sends shudders down through his body. Not to mention how hard it is to concentrate on the man's sultry voice when all Jay is trying to do is get some air into his lungs. For now the ragged and uneven inhales are the only way he manages, his heart feeling as if it's gonna jump out of his chest with how harshly it's pounding. Jay tries to move, because his head is screaming at him to do so, but is quickly restricted by the djinns arms. One harshly twists his forearm at the attempt causing a cry to erupt out of Jay. “1; I kill you right here, right now”

The only thing Jay dares to do is breathe. The more he does it the easier it seems to get, ignoring the painful flare in his throat as well as the burning sensation in his chest.

“2; I'll take my time taking everything away from you.”

Nadakhan's breath tickles his ear. Jay's fingers twitch as he tries to summon his powers, charging it up. Wanting nothing more than for the djin to get. the. fuck. off.

“3;”

2

1

“You join me”

…

…

…

What?

“What?” Jay's voice comes out raspy and a bit funny sounding since his cheek is still firmly pressed to the ground.

“Join me. Join me and I will grant you wishes without twisting them. I'll grant you everything you have ever wanted. Popularity, riches-”

Jay's laughter cuts the djinn off.

“Ah yes. Because Ninjago getting destroyed Is everything ive ever wanted. You hurting my family, forcing Nya to marry your old ass-” Jays arm twists harshly and he lets out a yelp but it only halts his sentence, not silencing it. “-I would rather kick the bucket then help the likes of you. I swear this to you Nadakhan, Over my dead body I'll never let you have ninjago. I'll never let you turn it into Djinnjago. I'll make sure you never step a single foot on Djinnjago land ever again if it so-”

Crack

The blood curdling scream Jay lets out echoes through the dessert. Jay's thumb having been snapped like a twig now hanging limply from his hand. Jay can't see it but he can quickly feel the sensation of blood seeping through his gi not to mention the nausea that follows from the pain.

“Prehaps I'll make the decision for you then” Nadakhan hisses in his ear and the millisecond Jay feels the grip on his head press down he lets go of the juice he has been charging up. Electricity flies out of him in every direction. The pained cry that's heard from behind Jay causes a sick satisfaction to blossom in his chest. Having now been released from the djinns grasp Jay quickly stumbles to a stand, his flailing thumb making blackspots appear in his vision. Jay doesn't let that deter him however, so when he is back up on his feet he doesn't waste another second before turning around and sending another powerful blast towards the djinn, making sure to use his good hand. The djinn disappears but Jay catches the sour look on his face before it's evaporated by orange smoke. And god does Jay recognize those eyes.

Those eyes have never revealed anything other than pure bloodlust. However, regardless of how frantically Jay looks around him, Nadakhan can't be spotted. A minute goes by, and then another. Jay doesn't want to let down his guard but more pressing matters are coming to light. His hand. It's bleeding a lot and though the sight of his bone sticking out, having severed his skin causes bile to rise in his throat he can't leave it unattended for much longer. He needs to stop the bleeding. Jay rips off a piece of his gi, contemplating his next move. It's dirty but it's gonna have to do for now. He will have to clean the wound later so as to not get an infection. Jay then glances up to the gas station. They must have a med kit there, right?

Jay takes a deep breath before carefully lifting the hanging thumb and without thinking too much about it, quickly pressing the cloth to the opening. Stars dance in his vision but he doesn't let up the pressure despite how much it hurts. The metallic taste returns to his mouth as he punctures his lip with his teeth. Taking deep breaths trying to stabilize himself. It doesn't hurt, It doesn't hurt. He repeats to himself before making the decision to continue forward, making his way to the only building within miles. Hoping that destiny is kind enough not to let him bleed out in the middle of nowhere, all alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cole catches the others up on the situation but doesn't participate further in conversation, too caught up in his own head. Driving the cruiser feels like it's never ending which is so strange given that when Jay was with him the ride to the outskirts felt so short. He can't help but notice the details now in the car that he had missed previously. How the chips Jay had been snacking on lay scattered over the seat and floor, giving off a crunch whenever Cole would accidentally sit or step on them. It does not bother him much however, if only the circumstances were different then he would be fuming at Jay. He would rather have it that way. Him and Jay fighting like usual about things that don't even matter in the long run, things they can laugh about when it has passed.

Seeing the snapped headset Jay was wearing previously only leaves a frown on Cole's face as does Jay's own earpiece that is laying discarded in the back seat.

Because why do we have these installed in the car if we are never gonna use them?

Coles fists tighten around the steering wheel. If Jay still wore his earpiece they would know if he was still okay or not. They would be able to communicate with him. But no, he had to take it off because he wanted to use the tech in Coles cruiser. He had to because he hates when tech that's fully functional is tossed to the side collecting dust. And Cole hates that he finds that side of Jay endearing. He hates it, he hates it, he hates it.

“COLE are you listening!” Nya's voice breaks his train of thought.

“What? What is it?”

“If you are not gonna pay attention then we should just turn back” Nya's irritated voice comes in and Cole can't help but click his tongue.

“No, I'm listening now alright?” They all make a turn.

“Cole lay off with the attitude" Kai angrily scoffs and Cole has to bite his tongue from replying.

Before they left the monastery they informed Wu on what was going on. Nya said it was crucial as to not repeat previous events. Cole really cant wait for this all to be over so he can understand what the fuck Is going on.

“Guys we are almost there, please stop bickering” Lloyd's voice comes through.

“I'm not bickering, I'm just making sure everyone is cautious!” Nya's voice comes through. “Cole, keep your priorities straight alright?”

Cole nods, but quickly realizes that the others can't see that so he mentally slaps himself before giving a verbal response. “Alright”

The rest of the ride is silent but it's fine because they shortly arrive at their destination, coming to a quick stop by the gas station.

Cole is the first one to jump out. Taking a few steps forward a hand makes it to his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Looking back at the brunet Cole can't help but frown.

“Dont wander off alone.” Nya addresses Cole from behind Kai, before turning to the others who simply nod. Cole snatches his hand away from his friend before turning around.

“Then keep up” He says over his shoulder. Maybe he should have come back alone, the others are only wasting time- No, what he should have done was to not leave in the first place. He should have stayed with Jay. Cole's mind comes to an abrupt stop as he spots something. The blue speck of color he sees slumped against the gas station wall making him stop dead in his tracks as he unconsciously sucks in a breath. Then he breaks out into a sprint.

“JAY!” Cole screams, he hears the others calling for him but he cant be bothered to listen, too focused on closing the distance between himself and his best friend. When he is close enough he slides onto his knees, ignoring the sting it leaves. Jay's head is slumped forward but when Cole grabs his shoulder he quickly feels relief flooding him. Jay Is Awake. His blue eyes lift up and meet Coles with groggy movement.

“Cole” Jay mutters and a small smile makes its way onto his freckled face. Cole's worry however comes back full force when Jay's eyes begin to drop as well as his head.

“Jay- hey, stay with me buddy” Cole says, slapping gently Jays cheek and it causes Jay's eyes to flutter.

“Okay” Jay slurs and Cole quickly takes the time to take in his appearance. Although his eyes quickly find the reason for Jay's condition.

“Shit”

Before Cole knows it the group has made it over to them and Zane quickly crouches down to inspect Jay as well, being the group's medic.

“His hand!” Cole exclaims panicked, which probably isn't the best seeing as Jay's eyes drift to him. Making Jay panic would only worsen the situation. But he seems to be too drowsy to have heard or perhaps understood Cole's words.

“We need to stop the bleeding. While I do that-” Zane immediately gets to it. “Lloyd, Cole, go see if there are any medical kits located in the building.”

Lloyd listens to the instructions right away but halts as Cole speaks up.

"Can't I-”
“Cole!” Almost everyone yells and Cole frustratedly groans as he bolts up to hurry off with Lloyd.

Zane tries to pry Jay's hand off from the bloodied one he has been cradling to his chest, only with minimal difficulty does he succeed as well as receiving mumbled indecipherable words from the shorter ninja. Whatever cloth Jay has bound around his injury, it's now fully soaked with blood. Without turning his head away from Jay, Zane speaks up.

“I need one of you to talk to him, keep him awake.” Zane instructs the two siblings who have so far only been standing by, watching in concern.

“I can't fee… ma hans” Jay slurs, his head slumping forward once again.

“Hey, hey! Jay, you did good alright?” Kai worriedly comes to sit next to Zane, grabbing Jay's uninjured hand. He forces himself not to grimace at the texture of both dried and fresh blood that's coating Jay's palm. Kai even gives it a reassuring squeeze. Though when Jay's head still doesn't lift to look at him, fear strikes him and he immediately brings both his hands up to cup Jay's face, not even registering how his hand now is smearing blood in its wake. The action causes Jay's sleepy eyes to open and focus on Kai and Kai can tell it wasn't without great effort.

“Jay talk to me” Kai tries to encourage and if Jay's eyes go astray, Kai makes sure they quickly land back onto his own. Keeping Jays focus on him. “Talk to me”

“Kai” Jay smiles yet it only takes a second for it to fall as his eyes fill with sadness. “I wont let Nia… tie again”

Die? Again?

The expression that takes over Kai's face is nothing but conflicted confusion.

“Again? What are you-” Before he knows it he is being shoved away by strong hands and he can only watch puzzled as the black clad ninja takes his place.

“Here!” Cole's voice rings out and Kai vaguely registers him handing Zane the medkit before anger quickly overlaps the red ninja's emotions. It's out of his control when he stomps over and latches onto Cole, using all his strength to lift the man and throw, but mostly push given his size, him in the opposite direction of the gas station. Kai quickly lets out a breath when he sees Nya taking the position besides Zane before directing his attention to the master of earth.

“Wha-” Cole begins anger evident in his voice but Kai quickly cuts him off.

“Shut the fuck up! What's wrong with you?! Anchor yourself for fucks sake!” Kai yells, the volume eliciting a flinch from Cole. Kai only clenches his fists, feeling his blood boil under his skin. Cole Is stepping over some fucking line here. Kai gets it that Cole is worried, they all are! but at this point he isn't even helping! “Get yourself together or sit your ass down because you are helping no one by acting this way!” Kai huffs.

The outburst leaves Cole at a loss for words until he settles on just biting the inside of his cheek, the anger having left him. He drags a hand up his face and the action causes Kai's shoulders to slump, a tiny bit of guilt creeping up his gut. Before he can reach out however, the sound of a vehicle as well as said vehicle sliding to a stop right next to them, grabs everyone's attention.

Lloyd steps out quickly going to aid Nya and Zane carrying Jay as if he was dead weight. Which Cole and Kai quickly find out is actually the case.

“Come on! We need to leave now!” Nya yells and it sets the two ninjas off into action.

The tension doesn't leave Kai's body until they finally reach the hospital. They didn't even consider taking Jay back home with how much blood he has surely lost, It would be too big of a risk seeing as what's at stake. Kai had only gotten a glance at the condition of Jay's hand earlier and it was enough for him to immediately snap his gaze away. He feels like the moment Jay is being strolled away by nurses Is the first time he actually Is able to breathe again. Shoulders falling down as he sluggishly slides into a seat, a hand rubbing down his face. The others are doing similarly as well. All they can do now is wait.

Chapter Text

When Jay wakes up, It's to a familiar ceiling. The ceiling fan spinning round and round above him. He follows it unconsciously with his gaze, eyelids heavy and brain empty.

The familiar smell of disinfectants and cleaning products gradually makes it to his nose, as well as something else.

Something even more familiar.

…

Chicken soup?

Smells like the one his ma used to make him when he was little.

She would always make it whenever he was feeling blue or had come down with a cold. Even when he would pretend to be sick so he could skip a day of school.

His mom surely knew he was faking it each time though. He certainly did not in fact inherit his fathers good acting skills — Always being one to exaggerate.

But she didn't care.

What Jay wouldn't give to relive those days.

The smell is comforting and without realizing it, Jay's lips had turned up into a smile.

Sadly the comfort does not last long as his mind finally seems to settle back into his body. And with that the slow register of the pain he is in follows — and the feeling of something around his neck quickly makes itself known.

It sets his heart off beating like a drum.

Something is around his neck and it's hindering him from looking around the room, gluing his gaze upwards. He tries turning his head but it doesn't work.

He is stuck.

As his heart continues hammering viciously in his chest, his breathing quickens with it. And realizing this Jay tries to take deep and even breathes through his mouth only for his throat to fire up in pain and irritation. He tries to swallow but even that simple action hurts, so he goes back to breathing through his nose.

It's like breathing through a straw.

It sounds so loud and unfortunately the more he hears it the quicker each inhale becomes. Beads of sweat starts building on his forehead making his hair stick uncomfortably to his skin.

Panicked and scared without knowing what to do Jay finds himself snapping up into a sitting position, glad at the outcome that nothing prevents him from doing so. Then again the movement evokes an unbeknown wince out of him that his own ears fail to pick up on.

Now having more to see than the ceiling his eyes dart down to his lap and around the room. Except even though he sees things around him, he can't register what they are. His vision blurring everything as his eyes begin to water. Liquid threatening to fall down his cheeks.

He doesn't know how he got here but he knows why.

It's all coming back to him at once; sinister smiles, booming laughter, sharp canines, orange smoke-

Jay was bleeding- How did he get here?! Is Nadakhan here?!

…

Is Jay NOT In the med bay like he first thought he was??!

He can't tell… His eyes won't focus god dammit!

Oh gosh…

What if he is back on the misfortune's keep..?

No,

no no no no no no no no no

He can't be!

He defeated Nadakhan!

They reversed time!

He and Nya-

NYA!

IS SHE OKAY?!

What If Nadakhan has her?!

With his mind screaming at him to do something — to find Nya, to get out of here, to simply just move! — Jay begins doing so-

However he abruptly stops all movement as something else moves in the room, grabbing his attention.

Something that waves back and forth in front of him.

Something that manages to pull him out of whatever rabbit hole he was falling into.

A hand.

Not just anyone's hand either. This one Is dark and decorated with a few scars. Focusing on the hand's details somehow helps clear his vision. Blurry images and colors melting together become unblurred and distinguishable. Noise finally reaches Jay's ears as well— words are being spoken to him.

“-ay, breathe.”

Breathe?

He can't- can't breathe!

Something is around his neck! He can't possibly-!

Jay's blue eyes land on brown ones. Someone is looking at him— Cole Is looking at him. His eyes are worried and Jay hates that look. Those eyes have been directed at him far too many times than Jay is willing to admit. He can't bear it. So he shamefully everts his gaze and somehow his eyes manage to land onto Cole's lips instead — which are moving!

Jay tries to concentrate on hearing the other's voice.

“-have to breathe Jay. Breathe with me, okay?” Jay tries to nod but pain strikes him again at the action that's being restricted, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut, truthfully more so in panic than in pain. Yet he quickly discovers that this actually ends up aiding him since now it's easier to focus on the other's voice.

“Don't move Jay, just breathe okay?” A warm hand squeezes Jay's leg and it's enough of a push for him to begin to copy Cole's loud breathing. The warm touch keeping him from slipping away into panic, anchoring him.

Without opening his eyes, Jay takes a deep breath through his nose. He waits for Cole to release his breath first, really having to concentrate on hearing it, before copying the action and therefore exhaling.

Jay isn't sure how long it all takes before his panic finally seems to dissipate from his system completely, but it feels like an eternity.

He lets his eyes slowly open once breathing doesn't seem like a chore anymore, and they quickly fall on the person in front of him, expecting Cole's expression to be one of pity.

But he is mistaken.

Cole is carrying a soft smile and as for his eyes, they are filled with nothing other than warmth and affection. And it's all directed right at Jay. It's almost like looking at the sun.

But better because his eyes dont hurt from it.

Jay couldn't stop his own little smile from forming even if he tried to, warmth spreading through his chest.

They stay like that for a bit and Jay finds himself unconsciously observing Cole's features, almost as if they are new to him. As if he is seeing them for the very first time again.

His sharp jaw and strong nose, his bushy eyebrows and stunning eyes, his full — and honestly really pretty— lips.

The blue ninja can't put words on the relief and happiness the sight of his best friend is bringing him this very moment. It's almost overwhelming. Going from thinking that he would never see him again to having him right in front of his very eyes.

Jay could look at him all day.

The admiring of Cole's features would have continued If it wasn't for Jay's muddled brain finally registering the eyebags Cole is carrying. And the fact that Cole's hand still hasn't left his thigh Is a quick follow up thought that arrives, leaving the blue ninja's cheeks in a redding state.

Although maybe it was a mistake to look down at it because Cole seems to realize it now too, and almost as if the touch burned him he retracts his hand. Jay ignores the disappointed feeling that leaves him with.

They got more important things to focus on after all. His panic attack having wasted enough time already.

And just like that the moment was over, and Jay's dread has returned.

Licking his lips swiftly, Jay opens his mouth to speak — to address the situation.

Although he doesn't get the chance to before Cole Is moving.

"Don't!” Cole exclaims, snapping up his arms.

The unpredicted action causes Jay to flinch.

He isn't the only one who Is left with a feeling of self hatred as a result of it.

Shame and embarrassment quickly makes it to his cheeks while his eyes try to find somewhere to look. Anything that isn't Cole.

Jay hasn't flinched like that in years...

Hopefully it's a one time occurrence. NOT a sign that all his progress over the years has been completely erased.

“Sorry I…” Cole trails off, leaving the room in deafening silence.

When Jay does decide to look back up at the other, his eyebrows can't help but furrow as Cole's expression has been replaced with one of sorrow and guilt.

A dejected sigh escapes the other and Jay can only watch as Cole's posture slumps forward slightly.

Jay does not like it one bit. Seeing Cole, the tall bulky guy he is, trying to make himself smaller.

“...Your throat is heavily bruised Jay.” Cole starts, his voice exhausted. This time he is the one not meeting Jays eyes, instead opting to stare downwards — at what? Jay can't tell. “You won't be able to speak for a while. You also have a neck brace on to stop you from moving too much.”

As if to confirm this Jay raises his hand up — Or at least he tries to, only to halt his movement as his overly bandaged hand steals his attention.

Weirdly enough it doesn't hurt that much.

Just a dull ache.

“When you were in the hospital, they tranquilized your hand because you were shifting a bit during the operation from being conscious and… well, not. That's why it's probably still numb right now, it will wear off soon” Cole says, his tone timid as his eyes observe Jay's hand as well. Lingering on it.

“If it starts hurting just let me know okay? I'll fetch you some painkillers.”

Jay almost nods again, however he manages to catch himself before doing so. Instead opting on raising his other hand — his good hand — and giving Cole a rather awkward thumbs up. He also tries sending Cole a cheerful smile, wanting nothing more than to lighten the mood.

Jay was sort of hoping that maybe the pathic action would elicit a laugh from Cole, but no. Instead Jay receives a slight upturn of the lip — but it's definitely not in amusement if Cole's depressed eyes are anything to go off of.

Seeing as Jay can't ask what's wrong — nor is he in the mood for charades— Jay decides on pursuing what he previously tried to do: investigate the material around his neck.

So with caution he lifts his left hand and begins patting the relatively soft material. Feeling the shape of it.

Huh, it's kinda like a pillow.

…

A really uncomfortable pillow.

Maybe he could attempt to gaslight himself that it's one of those airplane pillows. He owns one after all and in hindsight how different are they really?

…

Okay, no. He needs this thing off of him. A pillow that goes all the way around his neck should not exist! AN OBJECT that goes all the way around his neck should NOT exist because this thing isn't even a pillow!! And even if it were, NO ONE would want that!

Jay tries to feel around for some sort of clasp or opening but obviously the second Cole realizes what he is trying to do, he stops him.

“Jay! Stop! You need to have this thing on!” Cole grabs at his hand, but Jay is not that easily shut down.

Trying to break free from Coles grasp, Jay pushes his right elbow into Coles arm, the goal being to pry his good hand free which he actually succeeds in doing.

Though Cole quickly — and pretty easily — catches it again…

Damn his super strength and long muscular arms!

Getting frustrated and getting nowhere, Jay goes against Cole's earlier instructions.

“P-eEn!” Jay rasps out…

…And it sounds horrid.

Surprising them both, halting all movement.

They stare at one another with wide eyes but Jays quickly furrow with determination and he tries again. Ignoring the nails on chalkboard feel he gets from it.

“P-ei-” He coughs. “Nn!” Eyes scrunching up in pain.

Cole's eyebrows are also furrowed and Jay almost groans, about to give the word a third attempt.

But before he can Cole puts a gentle hand over his mouth.

“I heard, just- I'll go and get that stuff if you promise not to remove the neck brace while I'm gone '' Jay can't help but frown even more at that. However Cole's expression doesn't change or falter, almost challenging Jay.

And Jay WOULD have been up for the challenge IF only he could speak!

Letting out a sigh and rolling his eyes — just so his displeasure comes across to Cole — Jay eventually raises his thumb up. It takes awhile for Cole to register it since Jay's wrist is still prisoner in Cole's hand, not to mention that the doofus probably forgot that Jay can't give a verbal response.

When It sinks in, Cole still takes a few seconds before hesitantly letting go of Jay.

Slowly he resumes back to his position on the chair, only being slightly visibly in the corner of Jay's eye.

It's actually a bit straining trying to look at Cole.

Then the man rises from the chair. Jay listens to how it scrapes the floorboards in its wake. Jay opts on listening to the noise of his friends footsteps since he no longer is visibly in Jay's field of vision. When a door opens and closes Jay feels his hand twitch.

He waits 1…

2…

3…

4…

5 seconds-

-Before hastily and a lot less carefully than before raises his hand up to locate the godDAMN clasp.

“I KNEW IT!” —shit— Cole's voice yells and the next thing Jay knows the guy's hands are back on him. “You are such a liar!”

“Says the guy who faked walking out of a room!” Is what Jay would have said if speaking didn't hurt so much. Their wrestling match however is quickly interrupted as the sound of the door opening steals their attention, Cole being the only one who can turn his head.

Luckily for Jay, the new presence in the room quickly makes itself known.

“Jay Is awake!” Kai's voice cheers and the happiness that floods Jay at hearing his brother's voice is enough for him to drop the issue about the neck brace for now, definitely planning on getting it off of him later no matter what though.

It doesn't take long for the brunet to appear in Jay's field of vision, right behind Cole. This however causes Jay to register the position he and Cole are currently in — with Cole basically, sort of, straddling him.

Thankfully Jay doesn't have to say anything — not that he can — As Cole immediately moves to get off the gurney as well as Jay.

With the earth ninja having left his lap, Jay is quick to spot Lloyd, who had been obscured by Cole's big frame.

And maybe Jay would have questioned why neither of the two Ninja seemed surprised by the situation they had walked in on, if he wasn't too busy beaming at them and showing off his pearly whites in a big ol smile.

He receives one soft smile and one goofy grin in return from the two in front of him.

“How are you feeling?” Lloyd asks, he and Kai coming to stand by Jay's side.

Kai slaps the blondes arm. “He can't talk remember”

“Oh uh right” Lloyd chuckles awkwardly before he proceeds to look around himself, leaving Jay's sight for just a few seconds — a drawer being opened — and then he is back, having retrieved a notebook that he is now handing over to Jay. As well as a pen.

Jay gladly takes it, although he is quick to let out a frustrated huff as it turns out that it is extremely difficult to maneuver it in his lap with only one hand — not to mention that he can't even look down because of this forsaken brace!

So he is forced to draw up his legs enough so he can prop up the notebook. That's when he is hit with the fact that it's his right hand that's injured…

Unfortunately, Jay Is not left-handed...

Meaning that writing will be tricky and strenuous.

Nadakhan, with no doubt in Jay's mind, definitely did that on purpose.

Regardless, Jay sets to it. He knows exactly what he is gonna write. He can feel his brother's eyes on him as he does so.

It doesn't take him long at all, seeing as he only wrote four symbols.

Kai is the one he hands it over to.

“Nya?” Kai reads out loud. “Do you want us to go and get her?”

Jay does a thumbs up. Not even being able to nod honestly makes him want to bash his own head in against a wall.

“Alright, just her or everyone?” Lloyd asks and at first the question confuses Jay.

Why would he want everyone to come?

But the more he thinks about it, the more the question makes sense.

Nya has probably nagged everyone about having to stick together. That's also most likely why Kai and Lloyd came in as a pair. But that then raises the question-

Why would Cole be here all alone?

Granted he wasn't alone but he might as well have been seeing as Jay was unconscious. Having Cole be by his bedside while Jay is completely knocked out would only leave him at risk of becoming a potential victim if Nadakhan were to appear. So why is this the case?

…

They haven't been taking turns watching him have they?!

No, that's foolish. Nya is definitely smarter than that.

So why then-

A shake to his shoulder snaps Jay out of his train of thought.

“You okay Jay?" Cole asks, his eyes worried.

Jay can only replicate that worry on his own features. He has so many questions. He has so much he wants to say — to all of them!

…But thanks to Nadakhan he can't. Meaning that…

Nadakahn actually managed to silence him.

Jay feels like he is being body slammed into the ground all over again at this revelation. This was the one thing Jay had. That regardless of how much torture Nadakan put him through, it was never enough to steal his voice- his words.

Even during his imprisonment on the Misfortune Keep when he would scream bloody murder, he was still able to express himself, granted his voice was hoarse, sore throat and all.

Jay clenches his eyes shut, good hand balling up into a fist, trying to compose himself. He swallows, forcing the emotions that are making his throat feel awfully tight down. He ignores the way it stings.

He can't think about this right now, or else another panic attack might make it back to him.

He needs Nya. She will be able to fill him in and answer his questions. She will understand the turmoil he is in because she is surely feeling exactly the same If not ten times worse.

Jay grabs the notebook back from Kai and insistently points to Nya's name.

“Got it” Both Kai and Lloyd nod, Kai squeezes Jay's shoulder before making his way over to the door — and Jay can't put words on how much he appreciates the touch. How much comfort it brings…

He almost doesn't want Kai to go, seeing as he was the first one to disappear back then…

Jay quickly shakes his train of thought away, (not literally since his neck is still immobilized) putting a stop to it before it can begin.

Focus

The two Ninjas spare Jay a glance before exiting the room, not that Jay could see it.

As the door closes the room is engulfed in silence, not to say that a lot of words had been spoken previously to it but now it's somehow evident.

Apparent in the way where it feels like there is something heavy in the air, weighing everything down but addressing it is like taking the first step out on an icy lake. Not sure how the ice is gonna react to the pressure of that simple step.

Or maybe Jay is overthinking it.

But even if he is, the tension is undeniable even if it's just one sided and Jay hates it. Especially so because Cole is currently leaning back in his chair, his face out of view from Jay so he has no way of telling what's on the other ninja's mind.

Jay lets out a sigh and picks up the pen. At least now he has a way to let Cole in on what's on HIS mind. Jay can tell that the master of earth perks up in his seat a bit as a result.

It takes longer for Jay to finish writing this time but once he Is done he hands the notebook over to Cole, his hand feeling a bit worn out.

Cole corrects his posture as Jay hands the book over, so the frown Cole acquires when reading what Jay has written is actually something he can see. Cole then turns to look at Jay and shakes his head.

“Jay, no” Cole says blankly causing agitation to flare up in Jay, so he snatches back the notebook to begin writing an angry reply. “You are not getting out of that brace”

Jay only clutches the pen harder as he grits his teeth, shoving the book back to Cole when done. It takes a few seconds longer for Cole to read and decipher the word, Jay having been a lot less error free in his haste.

Suffocating. It reads.

Cole's eyes stay on the word, not really daring to meet Jay's gaze which he can feel is on him.

Though that doesn't prevent Jay from seeing the slightest shift in the others brown eyes.

A sad sigh leaves Cole's mouth, shoulders slumping.“Jay-”

That's when Jay reaches for his hand — tries to. Cole is sitting on his right side, so Jay has to bend his left arm to the right which does not leave him with much reach at all. He ends up settling for Cole's arm instead, only grazing it with his fingers.

“P-hhe” Jay swallows, shutting his eyes. “Pl-huease- C-ohle” Jay rasps out.

He knows it's pathetic, but he honestly can't keep wearing this thing. He can only postpone a panic attack for so long.

Cole grabs his wrist gently, relieving Jay of the strain. He let's go only so he can trail his fingers down until their hands meet. Jay squeezes the earth elementals hand. Cole doesn't squeeze back but he does start up the motion of rubbing his thumb in circles on Jay's skin.

A moment or two passes between them where nothing is said before Cole lets out a heavy sigh and Jay opens his eyes.

“Alright” Cole sounds defeated but Jay can't help the relief it fills him with.

“Th-” Jay begins but Cole cuts him off.

"Don't speak." He flicks Jay's forehead.

"You have that book now so use it and let your throat rest, idiot.” Jay flashes Cole a toothy smile as the other stands up to remove the object hugging his neck.

Jay smiles even more when Cole lets out a chortle.

He however fails to see how Cole's smile falters when the neck brace Is removed and discarded, too inraptured in the relief that takes over him, feeling a hundred times lighter.

Gosh he will never take the ability to turn his head for granted ever again!

“It's best for you to refrain from speaking for a few days, just until the swelling has settled…”

Jay nods, now being able to do that as nothing is restricting him.

Cole sits back down while Jay takes the opportunity to carefully feel his neck, inspecting it. When he presses down even with the gentlest touch it still hurts.

His bruised skin radiates a lot of warmth and it's uncomfortably itchy. He wonders if it's in the shape of two hands. He really, really hopes not.

The auburn haired man almost picks the pen up to ask when something else enters his head.

Something that churns his stomach.

Eyebrows furrowing as he begins writing. He can feel Cole watching him, probably having noticed the quick grim turn in his mood.

It takes Jay more than a minute at best to write the sentence out, having had to cross over a word and rewrite it as he had forgotten a letter.

When he is finished he looks up at Cole, the other meeting his eyes with curiosity. Jay hands him the book, a sad smile adoring his face before dropping it as Cole turns his attention to the page.

-I'm sorry I slapped you-

Jay lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Cole looks up at him again with a soft smile. The sight brings warmth to his cheeks.

“Jay, you thought I would be mad about that?” Cole chuckles.

Jay responds by shrugging and averting his eyes, now feeling a bit silly — not for apologizing, but for worrying about it so much or well, worrying about it so much during what he thought was his death bed — only to look back at Cole as his hand comes to lay on top of Jays once again.

And oh, Jay hadn't realized he had been fisting the sheets until now.

The tension leaves him as Cole picks back up the motion of rubbing his thumb into Jay's hand. Jay ignores the way his heart seems to beat a little faster at that.

Jay licks his lips.

“Jay I don't care about that, at all” Cole's voice is sincere and his eyes are honest. It brings nothing but comfort to Jay. “It did really surprise me though” Cole lets out a laugh and Jay's chest warms at hearing it. “The swearing too.”

At that, Jay lets out a shuckle too — That's quickly ruined by the followed up coughs, and Cole's next words.

“...Although”

Opening his eyes, Jay's smile drops as Cole's fond smile has been replaced by a frown. A crease clear as day between his eyebrows. Cole tightening his hold on Jay's hand causes the blue ninja's heart to pick up its pace for a whole different reason then it had earlier. The grip becoming firmer, NOT painful.

Cole would never hurt him. That's why he hates himself for the split second of fear he feels.

“I am mad about you making me leave back there." Contradictory to his words, a sadness is what's lacing his voice as well as something else. Something close to desperation…

Perhaps… hurt.

"If I had known I- It doesn't matter, I should have stayed regardless because your panic made it so apparent that this guy was dangerous and I still left. If I hadn't, maybe your hand would be okay and-” Coles eyes drift down, getting lost in his rant and before Jay knows it he is removing his hand from Coles in favor of placing a palm over the other's mouth.

Not wanting to hear another word of this.

But Jay can't voice to Cole that this is in no way, shape or form, his fault.

That Cole being there probably would have only worsened the situation — not because he is a bad ninja but because he knows nothing about Nadakhan and that's exactly what Nadakhan takes advantage of.

The worst case scenario that could have played out would have been IF Cole had stayed. If he had stayed and Nadakhan had tricked him into making wishes. Wishes that would only corner him, making him want to- to.

Jay can't even think it. That word. That sentence. It has somehow became the most frightening thing to him. Nothing makes him shudder or tremble like that simple word does.

…Yet, when he had been alone with the djinn, that's the only word and sentence that had been on his mind.

Because he had wanted to say it…

He doesn't want to face the djinn again.

He isn't sure if he can.

…And he knows that that's selfish of him.

` This time, Im making sure to get rid of you first ´

Oh how Jay hopes those words are true.

He has watched his friends disappear one by one all too many times.

Let it be his turn this time if it comes to that.

Let him be the one to disappear only to wake up to all of this being over already.

He doesn't want any more scars…

He doesn't want any more permanent reminders of the djinn…

Swallowing down the guilt he feels, he can't help but like the flare of pain it causes.

Shuddering out a sigh, Jay removes his hand from the other's mouth but only so he can shuffle forwards on the gurney, swinging his legs over the side and bringing both his arms up and around Cole's shoulders.

Jay pulls Cole into a hug, being mindful of his injured hand as his other one buries itself into Cole's dark hair, hoping that the other won't notice how it trembles.

It's nice to be able to hold him, even though this way of comforting Cole surely isn't enough, It's all Jay can do for now with his throat being the way it is.

And, selfishly, it brings Jay comfort too.

Embracing each other this way.

In a sick way it confirms that this is real.

That Jay is in the med bay right this second with Cole and they are both okay.

Both alive and breathing and none of them are stuck suffering in a sword...

Or a ship for that matter.

It doesn't take long at all before Cole reciprocates the hug, wrapping his arms around Jay's waist and burying his face in the other's shoulder.

When Cole begins to shake Jay only squeezes him harder, savoring the vulnerable moment. Savoring being able to hold the other this way. At the same time fearing that the djinn being back could lead to an end to this. An end to something that hasnt even had the chance to begin yet...

“...Don't ever do that again, okay? If you do then I-” The quick inhale that reaches Jay's ears and the way Cole's hands are twisting the fabric of Jay's hospital gown causes guilt to fester in his gut. “I care about you so much- We all do. You are my best friend- We are your team."

Hurt it is.

And shit, why couldn't it have been the slap he was mad over?

"You can't just single handedly- You can't just-... If you seclude yourself like that again... If you make me leave like that again…-

…Ill fucking hate you Jay walker”

The words cause Jay to halt all movement, the hand in Cole's hair freezing. His heart dropping down to his stomach.

Jay isn't sure whether Cole actually means that or if he is just spouting bullshit because he is upset but…

The black ninja has never been one who is known to lie. His honesty, though brutal at times, has always been seen as a gift.

Especially in Jay's eyes.

Right now however, it doesn't feel like a gift.

It feels like the FSM has it out for Jay If anything.

The auburn haired man swallows thickly before slowly resuming the action of carding his fingers through Cole's thick hair.

For once, grateful that he can't give a verbal response.

Because what would he even say to that?

Promise that it will never happen again?

He can't do that. It wouldn't be a promise, it would be a lie.

He would do anything to protect Cole- To protect the team.

And though It breaks Jay's heart knowing that Cole would hate him for it, he would still do it all over again If he had to.

Hell he would even go through his nights on the Misfortunes Keep if it meant he was protecting them.

Though he would prefer dying for them any day over that…

“How would you feel If i did that to you?” Cole whispers harshly, his breath reaching Jay's neck.

But before Jay can even register the question the door to the medbay is being slammed open, resulting in the two ninjas flinching away from each other, the motion making Jay wince in the process.

They both turn to see who it is this time, Jay being a bit grateful for the interruption simply because his eyes were beginning to water again.

However the waterworks only worsen as he lays eyes on her.

“Jay!” Nya comes rushing over with quick steps and without even realizing it Jay moves on his own as well. Shuffling towards her on the gurney with haste.

Nya swiftly envelopes Jay into her embrace the moment she has closed the distance — which Jay reciprocates right away without any hesitation.

The relief that floods his system at seeing her and embracing her is almost overwhelming.

His fist bundle up her gi in the back as he buries his face into her shoulder.

“N-yie-agh” Jay rasps out desperately before he can stop himself. It hurts like hell but he can't bring himself to care.

“Oh FSM your voice” Her words were spoken under her breath but Jay heard them. He figured it's hard not to when they are basically whispered right by his ear. “Im- Im so glad to see you are awake! I wasn't sure If…”

Her voice trails off into a whisper.

They are both holding onto each other for dear life, scared that if they let go something awful will happen.

Scared that if they let go, Nya will fall to the ground and Jay will be clutching a cold, limp body once again in his arms.

He is about to lay his head against her chest, just so he can hear her heartbeat-

When someone clears their throat, halting him in the process and reminding him that they are in fact, not alone.

“Okay, you guys really need to let us in on what's going on now” Cole's gruff voice snaps Jay out of the desperate turmoil the sight of Nya had brought out of him. He can't however make himself let go of his grasp on her and from the looks of it neither can she.

So they don't.

Instead opting to dislodge themself from the hug only to still fist a shaky hand in the others clothes.

Be that as it may, the attention having shifted causes Jay to realize the fourth presence in the room.

“Affirmative. Clarity on the situation would be appreciated” Zane smiles softly.

And FSM Jay's emotions are almost giving him whiplash with how quick they are changing today. One minute he feels like he is about to cry a river and the next he is feeling happiness beyond measure.

He is just so happy to see that Nya, as well as Zane, are alright and well. Enough so that when the Nindroid looks at him the second time, Jay sends a little wave his brother's way which the nindroid swiftly returns.

That's when Cole's words actually register in Jay's muddled brain and he whips his head up to look at Nya.

SHE HASN'T TOLD THEM YET?!

His bewildered and honestly fearful expression does not leave Nya to speculate what's on his mind for long. She lets out a wet sigh, rubbing a hand down her exhausted face while the other stays gripping Jay's arm.

“I was going to but… Seeing as you are still here-” Jay really tries not to think about the implications of that. “- I figured it would be easier to do it together, I've already told them about what not to do and what Nadakhan Is, it's only the explanation that's left…”

That makes…

sense.

One problem though.

JAY CAN'T SPEAK!!!

Jay's displeased expression does not go unnoticed, that's probably why Cole hands him the notebook and pen. And he would have gladly taken it — IF it didn't mean he would have to let go of his hold on Nya.

Reluctantly he does it though, but not without having to repeat to himself over and over again in his head that she will not disappear because of it.

Plus her hold on him stays firm and that helps a lot so when he has the items in his clutch he without delay sets to it.

When he finishes he quickly scans through what's written.

Admittedly, he ain't winning any prizes with this handwriting but at least it's decipherable and that's all that matters.

He hands the notebook to Nya.

"He wants to speak to me alone first" Nya says, lifting her head to address the others in the room. "It might take awhile, especially given Jay's temporary muteness. You two can stick together meanwhile and let the others know that we will have a meeting in an hour or so.

Does that work for you Cole"

Jay's eyebrows furrow at that. Nya Is looking directly at Cole and her eyes… are kinda scary. She didn't frase the question like a question either and why is she singling out Cole like that?

Jay glances between the two and- It's only now he senses the tension in the room. The tension between the two to be specific.

There was tension before between himself and Cole just a moment ago but that was a totally different kind of tension. A more scolding or words needing to be said sort of tension. This one just feels… aggressive.

Did he miss something while he was out?

It takes awhile for Cole to answer, now finally having dropped his and Nyas glaring competition.

The black ninja doesn't settle on words however, instead he crosses his arms over his chest and gives a single nod. It Is of course followed with him averting his brown eyes from the rest.

And that's confirmation enough for Jay to know that something definitely happened while he was knocked out.

"Will do." Zane answers with a quick nod before turning to Cole. "Are you alright with proceeding this way?"

Jay has to physically hold himself back from facepalming. Of course Zane wouldn't notice the tension suffocating everyone else but him in the room.

"-Uh- yeah, course" Cole nods, his chair scraping as he stands. He doesn't look at Jay as he does so — rather, he doesn't look at anyone as he does so.

"Great, we will be waiting for your arrival upstairs then" Zane smiles as Cole walks past him to the door. "Oh also, Jay, I noticed that you haven't eaten anything of the soup I brought down. Did you not like it?"

At that Jay snaps his gaze up towards his brother. Zane nods to the spot right by Jays side and-

Oh.

Chicken soup.

Jay doesn't hesitate to grab the- mug?

Weird but smart.

He expects nothing less from Zane.

Jay can't help but smile, because it does smell exactly like the one his mom makes.

He hopes it tastes the same too.

He needs to visit his parents soon, definitely give them a call about staying away from the city furthermore and informing them about Nadakhan.

Actually, he should have one of the others do it now.

"Oh no uh- that's my fault Zane" Cole speaks up, a hand finding its way to his neck. "Sorry about that Jay, you must be starving."

Jay only fully registers Cole's words when he is finished writing.

He had been too caught up with everything else that's going on that he had completely missed to notice how hungry he actually is.

And now having delicious smelling soup in front of him it is hard to concentrate on anything else.

Regardless Jay still puts off devouring his meal to instead wave Cole's apology away with a smile. Trying to convey that it's no biggie. And it does lead to him receiving a smile in return from the other so Jay takes it as a win.

Gosh how he misses speaking actual words though.

Jay quickly rips the page he had written on off and holds it out for Zane or Cole to take.

The latter of the two being the one to do it.

"Will do" Cole smiles after he has skimmed through the page, Jay mirroring it.

"Anyways we will leave you two alone now, I hope I followed your mother's recipe accordingly and was able to replicate the taste. Enjoy your meal"

"Thagh-" Jay manages to get out before involuntary coughs force their way out of him, his eyes squeezing shut at the pain.

Nya quickly pats him on the back reassuringly and when he looks up at Zane and Cole by the door again the expressions he sees on them immediately sours his mood enough for him to avert his eyes.

They are looking at him with pity.

The others say their quick goodbyes and what not before leaving but Jay doesn't bother to return them. Instead he finds his hands much more interesting to look at.

And it's not like he can say the words anyways.

Or any words for that matter.

He would much rather inspect his hands.

Even when the door shuts and Nya rounds the gurney to take a seat at the chair Cole previously was occupying.

His left hand is the same as it was before the mission, except for maybe a few tiny scratches. It's kinda dirty too.

Dirt embedded under his fingernails, as well as-

Is that…

…Blood?

…

Maybe in another universe the fact that Jay has Nadakhans blood under his fingernails would have made him happy.

But all It really does Is remind him of what state Nadakhan left him in, when all Jay managed to do was this.

A fucking scratch.

Yes, he might have managed to zap him a bit as well but It didn't change anything.

Nadakhan chose to leave — why, Jay has no clue — but ultimately that is the only reason why Jay Is in the med bay right now.

Because Nadakhan let it happen.

Not because Jay was strong.

No.

Jay isn't.

What he is, is a fucking idiot.

The anesthesia is beginning to wear off even more now.

It has surpassed the description of a dull ache.

He wouldn't call it painful yet though.

It's actually kinda nice.

He doesn't really want to ask for painkillers.

But they do take a bit to kick in and he supposes it's better to take it now before the pain becomes too much hence why he is picking up the notebook.

While Jay is writing a noise steals his attention.

A noise that came from the person next to him.

When Jay looks up, Nya is already looking at him. Her expression immediately makes him put aside his notebook as well as his soup.

Her eyes are brimming with tears and she has a hand over her mouth.

Then she rises from the chair, causing it to scrape loudly against the floor.

“I'm sorry I just- I need to hug you again I-” Her sentence ends as her voice hitches. She climbs up on the gurney and swings her arms around Jay's shoulders. “I thought he got you- I-I thought I would have to do this all alone. Jay I can't do this alone-”

A sob wracks through her and it's enough to break the dam for the both of them.

Jay clutches onto Nya as harshly as she does to him.

Tears escape them both. Nya lets hers fall freely down her cheeks, some droplets landing on Jay's curls — while Jay lets out a sob of his own muffled by her shoulder — the fabric of Nyas gi absorbing all the water that escapes his eyes and disgustingly the snot from his nose as well.

She is okay!

She is alive!

Nadakhan hasn't gotten his hands on her yet. He hasn't-

Another sob forces itself out of Jay.

"Jay, Jay, it's okay. Everything Is- “ Jay can hear her audibly sniffling like crazy, trying to keep in the sobs that are attempting to force their way out. “O-okay. Everyone's okay-"

Her voice breaks in the end and she lets out another sob which she immediately tries to muffle, squeezing him tighter against her.

Jay wants to chant her name, ask her if she really is here- but, he can't. He can't talk to her. He cant ask if everything is alright, If she is in pain, If she feels like she is about to die.

So instead he only grips her tighter and squeezes his eyes shut harder.

“I- I c-counted them all-!” She sniffles. “I couldn't help myself-” Jay knows. He knows because she used to do it when it was all fresh- right after he reversed time. Right after they defeated Nadakhan and now-

Now he is back-

The next sob that leaves the blue ninja takes his breath away, making his throat feel raw and bloody.

His next inhale turns into many short and quick ones followed by him involuntarily holding his breath again. The action is repeated.

His shoulders are hiked up high and tense.

He isn't really sure what happens next. It's almost as If he disappears completely for a moment.

And when he comes back to his senses it's only for him to vaguely register the shifting of the mattress under him as his head Is gently turned.

His cheek is pressed up against something and someone's hands are carding through his hair.

That's when he hears it.

A heartbeat.

He listens to it intently and slowly but surely his breathing begins to even out and his body begins to relax.

His fist loosens up on the fabric he unconsciously had been pulling on. It's only when the shaking of his limbs stops and he stills completely that Nyas voice makes it's way to his ears.

"I'm alive Jay”

...

“Aihh-” I know.

I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know

Dammit he knows!

He can feel her. He can see her. He can hear her. But somehow his brain still tricks him into thinking that it isn't real. That she isn't here.

That she is dead and that he failed.

“Aiihh- Ai Knowh” He still has to say it, be his throat damned.

He isn't sure why exactly because in the end It's only meaningless words.

He knows it.

Nya knows it.

Because he makes no attempt at moving away from her. Even though having his head turned like this is irritating the swelling around his neck he can't bring himself to move.

He needs a few more seconds- minutes.

Hell he doesn't want to stop hearing the beating of her heart ever.

“Jay…”

It's not fair.

It's not fair that he is back. That they have to go through this all over again.

They won so why is he back? HOW Is he back?

Did Jay's wish not save them? Did it only postpone everything??

…

Is it his fault they have to go through this all over again..?

A soft humming ensues in the room, stilling Jay's mind. Together with the beating of her heart he is reminded of her.

Nya.

`Jay I can't do this alone´

…

He is being selfish again.

They are both in despair but he Is the only one being comforted here. Just like before.

So even though It takes great effort for him to simply move away from Nya — her heartbeat no longer in his ears — he still does it, shaky hands and all.

Because he cant put her through all this crap again.

He won't.

Her humming stops at the action and they look at each other, REALLY look at each other. Jay offers up a soft smile of gratitude — Or at least that's how he hopes it comes across — before he grabs her hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

Even though he feels like his skin is crawling, Jay can't let himself get bad again.

He won't let himself get bad again.

Jay quickly dries his left over tears away with his shoulder, taking a deep breath.

"Are you… Okay?" Nya asks, her tears trails still prominent on her face. "I'm sorry that I-"

Jay shakes his head before offering her a smile. His hand coming up to wipe away the liquid staining her cheeks. As he does so his hand lingers.

Her skin is warm under his touch and without even thinking about it, he ends up cupping her cheek.

Though the second he realizes what he is doing he begins to pull away, licking his lips nervously.

Nya grabs his hand however and brings it back. Pressing his hand to her face.

She lets out a wet sigh. A tear falling down as she closes her eyes.

Jay tries to rid it from her face with his thumb but it only gets replaced by the next one that falls.

When the sniffling returns, that's when Jay makes the decision to pull her into his embrace.

Wrapping his arms around her as she gradually goes from trying to keep it all together to weeping into his chest, shoulders shaking.

Not being able to reassure her in words, Jay does his best to comfort her physically instead. Holding her head to his chest gently. It's an unconscious decision he makes when he leans down to peck her on top of her head.

She isn't that much shorter than him, just a few centimeters, but the way she is slouched against him makes her appear smaller than she is.

They stay like that for a while. And gradually her sobs turn into sniffles and her shaking comes to a stop. They even change position to a more comfortable one at some point with Nya laying on top of Jay as he draws patterns on her back with his fingers.

Neither of them have said anything for quite a few minutes now and it's only when Nyas sniffles go completely away that she decides to speak up.

“Jay-”

However, a noise interrupts her.

…

“Did your stomach just growl?” She asks, a smirk quickly forming on her face as she sits up to look at the other.

Jay only nods, a tiny smile adoring his now flushed face.

“I'm sorry, I should have let you eat first” Nya starts before getting completely off Jay and giving him some room to sit up as well. “I think It's good that we got this out though. We don't have time for crying later.”

She said it light heartedly but they both know for this statement to be true.

They can't waste time on stuff like this while Nadakhan Is still out there.

"What's wrong?” Nya asks, her eyes worried.

Jay only looks at her confusedly.

“Your face is tense”

Oh.

He had been putting it off because he too thinks that this- whatever this was- was good for them, but his hand is aching more than ever right now. So much so that It's also probably the reason for his current headache.

Jay reaches for the notebook where his message had been forgotten and hands it over to her.

Her eyebrows quickly crease.

“Why didn't you say anything?”

Jay only looks at her with a smirk which causes him to receive a gentle push to the shoulder.

“Obviously not verbally! Ugh whatever, I know where it is” Nyas smile betrays her irritation. And it doesn't take long for her at all to locate the pill bottle.

He gulps it down with water.

“Do you want me to catch you up on the situation while you eat or should we wait..?” Nya asks, her eyes warm and understanding.

Jay already knows his answer so he immediately sets to it, writing out a wonky reply.

-Catch up-

Maybe it isn't the best decision to receive new information when you currently have a headache but waiting for the painkillers to kick in will just be a waste of time. Plus now that he gets to eat he at least eliminates one distracting element; his hunger.

Taking the first spoon full of soup immediately transports Jay's mind, just for a second, to his parents' caravan.

It tastes exactly like the one his mom makes.

Before he knows it Nya is wiping away a big ol tear from his cheek.

She smiles at him and he smiles back at her.

“Alright”

Chapter Text

It's around late afternoon when Cole and Zane emerge from the med bay to inform the others about the upcoming meeting.

Kai usually has a hard time focusing on Zanes informative rambles as it is, and it definitely isn't helping that Cole's sour mood — and honestly worrisome appearance — completely steals his attention. For what he is so mad about, the elemental master of fire has no idea. Jay is no longer unconscious after all, which had been Cole's original source of distress in the first place. It definitely Is the reason for Cole's prominent eye bags, not having slept a blink since they got Jay back from the hospital. At Least Zane made sure he ate well, even though he had to bring the food down to Cole.

Maybe the reason for Cole's current gloomy mood is the fight that broke out between him and the master of water. A fight that Kai hasn't been able to really get out of his mind since it occurred.

Even if Kai had not been eavesdropping — like all the rest of the ninja had, excluding Jay — he still would have heard their shouting resounding throughout the monastery by how loud they had been.

It all started with Nya having distributed individual tasks amongst them. Tasks that Cole had flat out declined because he had been too stubborn to leave Jay's unconscious side.

Nya argued with him that he was putting himself in danger by sitting alone — That he was putting everyone in danger.

“You are an IDIOT! A complete fool if you think Jay wants you to sit here-”
“I don't care what he wants! I'M JUST DOING WHAT I THINK IS BEST FOR HIM!”
“THIS IS NOT IT! THIS IS NOT WHAT'S BEST FOR HIM-”
“AND WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU?!”
“What's THAT supposed to mean?!”

The fight had been extremely loud, loud enough that everyone in the building had heard it. Kai is almost surprised that the commotion hadn't pulled Jay out of his slumber seeing as it was occurring right besides him.

"If i had listened to you before, we all know Jay wouldn't be here right now" Cole had gritted out, balled up fists shaking at his sides.

"Don't dance around it. You clearly wanna say it" Nya had spoken with just enough venom that Kai was grateful for the fact that he wasn't the one on the receiving end of it

Kai isn't sure what Cole had answered, seeing as the master of fire had been on the other side of the medbay door accompanied by all of the others. Even Zane had been unable to hear whatever the master of earth had whispered.

But whatever it was, Kai knows for a fact that it must have been something awful given that the following minutes were chaos.

Unnecessary Insults had been thrown and the yelling only ended because of Wu entering the room and Nya storming out of it.

Kai had tried to console his sister but any attempts were shot down. Kai has never seen Nya as mad as she was then, and he has seen her mad multiple times alright.

The fighting between the two and the discourse between the group has only worsened the tension that was already clogging the monastery.

Everybody Is on edge, even the people who are confused and in the dark about the upcoming threat. How could they not be? When half of the knowing just had a near death experience and the other one Is a nervous wreck.

Or maybe Kai is the only one who Is noticing that about his sister. How Nya is tapping her foot and gnawing on her lip. How she hasn't taken a single break since that djinn's name was brought up. Kai also swears that he has been hearing her counting numbers under her breath from time to time. He knows she has done that stuff in the past before but he hasn't ever thought to ask her why she does it. At first he believed it was some sort of nerve calming technique she had picked up. Now however? He isn't as sure.

Regardless, it's frightening to see his sister this way. Nya has always been able to control her emotions well, maybe not when it comes to her anger — she can be as hot headed as him sometimes — but other than that she is a very collected and level headed individual.

And that's what's scaring Kai. Nya isn't the most expressive when it comes to certain emotions. That's why he has learned to detect the slightest changes in her behavior when she is distressed, and from what he has picked up on in the last few hours something is very, very wrong.

Kai wishes he knew what was bothering her so much, so he could help her or atleast comfort her, but he supposes that once the meeting starts he will understand the situation better and maybe manage to talk to her about it afterwards, just the two of them.

Because sitting around waiting like this is honestly killing him. Kai has never had much patience but this situation requires it. The last thing he wants to do Is make Nya even more upset by aggravating her further with a bunch of questions.

Though however much the fire master tries to distract himself, one thought persistently finds its way to the forefront of his mind.

A drowsy Jay with the utmost pained expression muttering the words "I won't let Nia… tie again" flashing before him.

Despite the blue ninja's words having been slurred, Its pretty clear what he had wanted to say.

'I won't let Nya die again'

What had Jay meant by that?

As if it isn't enough that Kai Is worried about Nya and ultimately Jay given what he just went through, he also worries for Cole. Jay had only been out for a couple of hours and the guy had already acquired eye bags. Kai wants to think that it's just because Cole hasn't slept anything but it's probably that and waterworks at play here.

Cole has always been a sensitive guy, always crying during sad movies, always being the one who takes it the hardest whenever anyone of them gets hurt. But Kai also knows that Cole surely feels a lot of guilt over Jay's injury, maybe especially so after what Kai said to him…

`Shut the fuck up! What's wrong with you?! Anchor yourself for fucks sake!´

`Get yourself together or sit your ass down because you are helping no one by acting this way!´

Yeah… Kai does still feel a little guilty about lashing out the way he had, even though he does think that Cole was in the wrong.

However, Wu has taught him that sometimes it isn't about who's in the right or wrong, It's about how you are treating each other. And Kai definitely could have told Cole off a lot more… nicely. But instead he had gone and snapped at Cole, pushed him — granted Cole had pushed Kai too- whatever, not important.

The atmosphere has been so bad these past couple hours. After Cole and Nyas fight the tension did manage to simmer down a bit with everyone so focused on their tasks, but it still isn't good and Kai is tired of it. So maybe, an apology could resolve it even if just a little.

Besides, they can't all just go around being angry at each other. They have to be a united front if they are gonna face this new enemy- or not new, well maybe? For him at least, not for Nya and Jay. Gosh, cant something ever just be fucking easy?

Tuning back to the conversation at hand, Kai snaps his focus back to Zane, who is just about done talking.

“That's all, me and Cole shall proceed to inform the others while-”
“Actually, Zane” Kai interrupts, having accidentally tuned out everything Zane has said up till now, only vaguely catching the part about the meeting. Hopefully that was the only important part. “I need to talk to Cole so uh- Maybe we could switch partners?”

The brunet turns to look at Lloyd, asking the green ninja for permission before looking back at Zane. Kai registers the gaze of Coles eyes on him but for now ignores it.

“Works for me” Lloyd shrugs, rising up from the couch.

“I have no issue with it” Zane nods, before shifting his focus to Cole. “Is it alright for you as well Cole?”

Everyones eyes turn to the ravenett and so finally, Kais eyes meet with the others. Uncertainty swims in Cole's brown ones. A short pause of silence befalls the room. The idea of Cole out right saying no is a bit unnerving for the brunet. Although It's not something he gets to worry about for long as Cole averts his stare and his shoulders come up in a shrug.

“Sure.”

As Zane and Lloyd leave the room, Lloyd glances worriedly and curiously back at them before the door closes — And from that alone, Kai knows that the green ninja is gonna wanna hear about this later. They are left behind in an awkward silence that is far too long for Kais liking.

Right, Kai should probably be the one to begin..

Cole takes a seat on the couch, leaving a generous amount of distance between them. Kai tries not to take offense. But he can't help but consider it a petty move from Cole.

Kai is unsure how to start, and for some reason his brain thinks a cough is fitting. It does result in him grabbing Cole's attention so he ignores just how lame it leaves him feeling.

“I uh- I thought we should talk about, you know uh- before.” Okay, he is actually starting to piss himself off now. So determined to get this over with, Kai rights his posture and turns his body to fully face Cole. “I know you are really worried about Jay, and probably feel a lot of guilt about this whole situation — even though you shouldn't-”

Cole's eyes evert from Kais shamefully, biting the inside of his mouth with a frown clear as day on his face.

Kai hates to admit that he recognizes that expression way too well.

The brunet sighs, his exhaustion finally settling in.“Your head wasn't where it should have been yesterday. You were running off on your own when you had gotten direct orders not to do that. You weren't listening to the team and you pushed me aside, not even a single thought about how much strength you put into it.-”

“I know-” Cole starts but Kai quickly cuts him off. He needs to get everything out otherwise it won't ever leave his mouth.

“I'm not done” Kai's stomach churns uncomfortably, but he continues. “I'm not saying this to make you feel even shittier about yourself, you are doing a pretty great job at that already. I'm saying this as the most impatient person in the group who has stormed multiple times into dangerous situations. Especially ones because of emotions clouding my judgment. It's dangerous, alright? It can create more problems- unsolvable problems. You could get hurt, or worse you could get someone else hurt. But the most important thing is that you learn from it. Let this just simply be a mistake, do NOT make it into a habit.”

Something that had stuck with him ever since Master wu spoke it to him.

There are so many scars Kai has acquired over the years because he was too reckless. Too impatient. Too angry. He might still be all those things but It's definitely not in the same way anymore. He has learned to be careful, to assess the situation, to think and not just act. He quickly had to, because a mistake in this field of profession could easily be one's last.

Kai would hate to see one of his friends — one of his brothers — pass on that way. And knowing that this conversation worked on him, he can only hope it helps Cole as well.

“Though I think telling you off before was necessary and you had it coming, I uh-” Kai swallows, his nerves escaping him and Cole looking at him like a kicked depressed puppy would, was not helping in the slightest. “Im- uh…”

Why does this part have to be so hard?!

“Sorry” Kai forces out, immediately dropping his eyes from the others. “Yelling at you the way I did… Maybe I overdid it a smidge…” A shoulder rising into a shrug.

Kais hand comes up to scratch his neck unconsciously as more words continue to escape his mouth. “The tension around here sucks and I just want things to go back to normal already-”

“Im sorry too Kai”

Kai's eyes return to Cole's face, to finally see a smile on the guy — tiny per say, but it's definitely better than nothing — and it fills Kai with relief.

“You are right… I know- I know I was acting out of line and not- not being helpful to the team at all” Cole admits, gaze glued to his palms which lay on top of his lap “I just- It-”

Cole's eyes shut tightly.

“I was so, so worried,” Cole whispers, his eyes slowly meeting Kais now furrowed ones. “I know it still doesn't make it okay but all I could think about was that Jay was in danger and… and that it was all my fault-”

“It wasn't-"
“It was! I- shouldn't have left him like that… I don't… I'm sorry- I shouldn't be making this about me, we are getting off course” Kai wants to argue — wants to tell Cole how dumb he is sounding — but the fire elemental knows that whatever he says probably won't change Cole's mind, not when it's all still so fresh. Kai came here to lessen the tension, not to start a new argument — so, biting his tongue, he lets Cole continue. “This was a bad slip up on my part. I'll make sure to stay focused here on out.”

Kai purses his lips, contemplating saying something — anything — to let Cole know that he thinks differently. Just something subtle to lessen the others guilt… but ultimately Kai decides not to, settling instead on saying “You better” Before hitting Cole's shoulder with a smirk on his lips.

Cole's lips turn up in a smile as well and Kai interprets the easy atmosphere washing over them as confirmation that he did indeed make the right decision confronting Cole and talking things out.

Who knew being mature actually paid off?

“Did I hurt you when I pushed you?”

Kai blinks at the question, having not been expecting it. The fire elemental doesnt grace Cole with a verbal answer however, instead showcasing his arm to the other where a single prominent purple bruise quickly steals the spotlight.

“I did that..?” Cole quietly asks, guilt weighing down his eyebrows once again. The kicked puppy had returned.

It causes Kai to bark out a laugh. “Pfff! No, I accidentally walked into an open cabinet. It wasn't because of you- well, unless you were the one who left it open?” Kai raises his eyebrow.

“You asshole!” Cole pushes at the others arm, causing him to finally lower it. “I wish I had been the one to open it” Cole grumbles, but the smile on his face gives away his amusement to Kai.

Kais grin disappears into a careful smile.

“Hey, don't forget! No wishing man”

“Oh uh right.” Cole's hand makes it to his neck. “I really can't wait for this meeting to start” Cole sighs heavily and Kai can't help but join him.

“Yeah, me too”

The whole situation is so weird and that's saying something. The Ninja have fought literal skeletons, snakes, stone warriors, robots, ghosts and even evil versions of themselves in the past! Yes, all of that so far has been weird but the only consistent and normal thing about it has been that they have all experienced it together! This Nadakhan guy? Kais never even heard of him! Nya and Jay are making him out to be this really bad guy but if he Is so horrible why haven't they told anyone about him? WHY hasn't Nya told Kai about him? It just doesn't make any sense.

“...Kai?” Cole's voice snaps Kai out of his line of thought and when the brunet turns to look at the other a somewhat of a nervous expression is what he is met with.

“Yeah?”

Cole bites the inside of his cheek, not really meeting Kais eyes. The behavior being utmost unusual for the easy going earth elemental.

“No, actually nevermind” Cole sighs after a while, his shoulders sagging as he melts into the couch.

“No, what's up?” Kai asks curiously, nudging the others arm as he too gets comfortable. “You can't just say that and not finish what you were gonna say.” Kai smiles playfully.

“I dont know…”

“What is it?” Kai can't help but insist.

Somewhat of a defeated sigh escapes Cole, a hand coming up to rub away at his tired eyes.

“Has Nya talked to you… about Jay anything?” Cole hesitantly asks and the question brings forth the worry Kai thought he had left behind at the hospital. Within seconds, the sickening pit reappears in the depth of his stomach and his body goes rigid.

“What do you mean? Has Jay's condition worsened??”

Did they leave the hospital too early? Does Jay still need the IV in his arm? Should they-

“No, no, no! It's nothing like that!” Cole hurriedly corrects, sitting up from his slouched position as Kai had done in his panic.

“Jeez man! Dont fucking scare me like that!” Kai mumbles without any actual bite behind it as the tension in his body swiftly gets replaced by extreme exhaustion.

“Sorry. If that was the case, you guys would know about it asap.” Cole mumbles back. They both shift back into the couch, a silence enveloping them that has somewhat of a weight to it.

In Spite of that the quietness Is actually pretty nice, so much so that Kais eyes of their own accord drift shut. “Well if you didn't mean it in that way, what did you mean?” Kai finds himself asking.

The lack of a reply from Cole prompts Kai to peek one eye open, resulting in him being witness to the others downhearted expression. Jay getting hurt really has taken its toll on him, it's as if the guy has forgotten how to smile.

Cole isn't looking at him — Kai isn't sure what the other is looking at exactly, though his gaze seems unmoving, almost hard. His brows are furrowed and his eyes unblinking. Kai is certain that his words fell on deaf ears with Cole being too immersed with whatever's on his mind. But before Kai could turn away, Cole finally decides to speak up.

“...Does she still like him?”

Huh?

Kais eyebrows furrow in confusion at the question. Though the revenetts silence hints at Kai that it's his que to speak now.

“Uhh. I don't think so?”

Does Nya still like Jay? Hasn't it been like 4 years or so since they broke up right about now?

Nya and him don't really talk about romance, well aside from the times she has teased him about Skylor and the times Kai complained about Jay being her boyfriend, though it was all really just for laughs — most of it at least.

Supposedly Kai did help Nya through that rough patch that followed after her and Jay's break up. He remembers how broken down she was… Kai had wanted to be angry with Jay, If it weren't for Jay being just as heartbroken as Nya was he probably would have… It's just what happens when two people who really love each other go separate ways he supposes.

Would Nya tell him if her feelings for Jay rekindled? Probably not.

“Why? Did something happen between them? If it's anything physical I don't wanna know” Kai grimaces.

Why does Cole care anyways? Is he worried Jay might bitch to him about it? Considering everything else that's going on right now, that's literally the least of their worries.

“Well… It's probably nothing but, they were just really clingy I guess. When Jay woke up. Like- He was in such a rush to hug her-”

“Uh Cole, Jay did almost die-”

“I know that! It's just, I don't know! Maybe I am just overthinking it, but it felt like they almost couldn't keep their hands off of each other!” Cole groans frustratedly as he motions dramatically with his hands.

“First of all: Ew. Second of all: You are overthinking it” Kai waves Coles' concern away with his hand. “Tension has been high around here. We are all on edge, not to mention that we” Kai motions between the two of them. “Literally have no idea what's going on except that this gini dude-”

“Djinn” Cole corrects, Kai sends him the most exasperated look before continuing like nothing happened.

“-showed up and apparently Nya and Jay know him. That's about it. So what if Jay and Nya are a bit clingy right now? That doesn't mean they are automatically gonna get back together again. Hell, you and Jay cling to each other everyday man. There is nothing noteworthy about it.” Kai shrugs.

To that Cole seems unable to reply, his expression unreadable to Kai.

”Also, so what if they get back together again? Why do you care” At that, Cole almost looks a bit taken aback by Kais words. Did he come off too harsh? If so, Kai did not intend for that. He is just trying to wrap his head around why Cole even cares about this in the first place. Why they are even talking about it when so much other shit is going on.

Ultimately Cole adverts his eyes as his hands find their way into his pockets, mumbling out a quiet reply. “I just think its strange, that's all”

The answer is kinda anticlimactic in Kais opinion, but he doesn't have the motivation nor the interest in trying to dig for more.

Nothing else is said for a while and it gets Kai thinking, contemplating.

“Cole?

“Yeah?”

“I know you are not gonna like what i'm about to say but-”
“No” Cole immediately cuts him off, resulting in a frown making its way onto Kai's face.

“You don't even know -”
“You want me to apologize to Nya, right?”

Kai rights his posture once again, sitting straight up on the couch, turning his body to face Cole's slouched one.

“Cole she's been really stressed-”
"Don't care” Cole interrupts. “And it isn't like Nya is the only one who is stressed around here right now”

“It's not a competition” Kai grits out.

“And I'm not saying it is” Cole argues. “I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to make me feel bad but I have nothing to apologize to her for. If anything she should apologize to me!”

Kai purses his lips in annoyed contemplation.

“You know… Jay isn't going to like this when he hears about it” Kai mumbles and he knows — sees — it hit a nerve with how Cole's expression slightly falters.

They glower at each other, the short silence somewhat tense

“...Fine, ill apologies to her”

Kai beams at actaully having succeded in swaying Coles judgement. He might not be as bad at negotiating like the others claim-

“If she apologizes to me first” Cole finishes firmly, punctuating the words as his arms cross over his chest.

It's like watching a castle of cards fall. Kai can't help but feel a little ticked off.

“Are you serious right now?” The master of fires tone hides nothing from the other.

It's with great effort that Kai holds himself back from saying anything more, from starting yet another fight in the monastery. If Cole is not willing to apologize there Is nothing Kai can do about it, at least for now. So instead Kai closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in and out. Letting his frustrations run off of him.

“Fine. I won't push you to do it.” Kai manages to mutter out.

“But you do think I'm in the wrong?” Cole huffs, that dumb frown has somehow made it back onto his face.

“I just want your dumb fighting to stop. If you haven't noticed it's affecting everyone, not just you two” Kai groans out. “I think you're both in the wrong, but in the end it doesn't matter.”

“She called me-” Cole halts his sentence, which immediately catches Kais attention. Kai watches rapidly as Cole's expression Is nothing other than confused — but then it is replaced by realization. “Shit! I gotta call Jay's parents!”

The quick change of subject stills Kais' brain just for a moment before what Cole said truly clicks.

“Oh right, we should probably let them know he got hurt huh” Kai thinks aloud, his anger simmering down at the thought of the old couple.

“Well, that too, but mostly just to tell them to stay away from the city. Because of the djinn” Cole mumbles as he takes out his phone, their previous conversation now forgotten.

“It's really that serious huh…” Kai sighs exhaustively as he drags a hand through his hair.

He didn't say anything more other than “Say hi from me” during Cole's call with Jay's parents, which of course earned him an enthusiastic hi back from the kind hearted couple. It wasn't that Kai didn't want to say anything more, it's just that he didn't get the chance to before his eyes closed unintentionally and he found himself finally falling victim to his exhoustion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jay had finished eating his soup, the aching pain in his hand had lessened immensely and Nya was about done catching him up.

Apparently when the others had arrived at the scene of the gas station, Jay was the only one they had found there. The hostages, and even fugidove, were nowhere to be seen. Jay of course already knew this- or well, sort of. In his search for a medkit he had noticed that the workers no longer sat in the corner of the backroom. He had been too focused however on himself, that he didn't really have the time to process why that was.

Nevertheless, his search had been for nothing seeing as he couldn't risk taking his hand off of the wound in fear of bleeding out. It truly wasn't an easy feat trying to open drawers with only just your elbow.

That's why he begrudgingly settled on sitting outside, waiting for help to arrive while also trying to stay calm and composed --- even though he was terrified of the djinn showing up again and ultimately killing him- or worse, not.

If it weren't for the others arriving when they did, Jay probably would have died there, right outside of that gas station, in the blistering sun.

He hasn't really processed that yet. He doesn't know if he wants to either.

As for the disappearance of the hostages —as well as Fugi-Dove— Jay Is unsure what to make of it.

Did Nadakhan kill them?

Kidnap them?

Jay can't come up with a motive why Nadakhan would kidnap employees of a gas station. What use would they serve him? He only keeps people around as long as they are useful to him in some way.

And that evidently leads back to scenario number one.

Did Nadakhan kill them?

The djinn is definitely capable of that, that's for sure. Though what would the motive be? Simply for his own amusement? To prove a point? To torment Jay? To drown him in guilt?

Jay didn't- he didn't abandon those civilians, alright?

Jay just couldn't risk Nadakhan defeating Cole and him. Because if that had happened, there would have been no one to warn the others about Nadakhans return.

No one to warn Nya.

He only did what he felt was necessary and for the greater good.

It isn't Jay's fault.

It isn't.

…

So why does it feel like it is?

Cole had wanted to save them. Should Jay have let him? Would things have turned out for the better or the worse? Would those innocent people be in their own homes right about now? Safe and warm, instead of lifeless and cold.

No.

They might still be alive.

If Nadakhan had killed them, why would he bring them to a second location? Why wouldn't he just have left the corpses in the building?

While there is a promising likelihood that the civilians might still be alive… Jay has a hard time believing that that is the same case for Fugi-Dove.

Fugidove had not been found on the scene of the gas station which means that he either woke up and left on his own accord before the ninjas arrived or…

Nadakhan teleported him away.

Dread fills Jay's body at the thought. Because what use did Nadakhan now have of Fugi-Dove?

`The biggest use he has Is actually you underestimating him´

That's what Nadakhan had said. But surely the djinn isn't under that impression still. Jay wont let his guard be down anymore when it comes to his surroundings. He won't let another person sneak up behind him like Fugi-Dove had. And Nadakhan must know that too…

Which means that there is a high possibility…

That Fugi-Dove isn't around anymore.

Jay hadnt shared his immense worry or guilt with Nya when that discussion took place, instead he had sat silently and nodded along as she moved on from the topic, focused on making the catching up as short and straight to the point as possible.

She had then proceeded to tell him that Master Wu and Misako were preparing to leave together with Ronin, who Nya had begrudgingly contacted, In search for the tiger widow venom in hope that Nadakhna had not already gotten to it. Jay had immediately thought of it as a fruitless effort — still do — however they still need to check because if there even is the slightest chance that they could acquire venom from that spider, they can't let it slip away. Though Nya reassured him that she was already trying to come up with a solution if it does turn out that the venom is unobtainable and that they should go on with the assumption that the venom is already gone, until proven otherwise.

After that they moved on by discussing how they were gonna go about telling the others, what to include and what to maybe leave out in the events of the forgotten timeline.

They both shared their fear and doubt about the possibility that the others might not even believe them… though Nya quickly shot that down by saying "They will. They have too. Even if it's a hard pill to swallow. They know us too well and they can clearly see how much this is affecting us" Which had been followed up by "I'm more scared of the possibility that they might feel betrayed that we never told them anything…"

Jay immediately knew she was most likely thinking about Kai. About how he is gonna react to this. About how he is gonna react to hearing about how his little sister did in fact die.

Nya wanted to leave it out. Expressing that it wasn't something the others needed to know. However Jay had shot that down as quickly as she had suggested it. Because he knows— KNOWS — That if they don't tell the others about it, then Nadakhan will.

And they can not give him that bullet.

Not to mention that the ninjas need to know the seriousness of the situation. They need to know who Nadakhan is and what he is capable of. Nyas death is too impactful to leave out.

Nya had just looked at Jay, her heart on her sleeves with the most sorrow filled expression showing on her face. Jay had watched as she had swallowed down all those emotions and given him a defeated nod.

“What about your time on the ship…?” Nya had asked. And Jay hadnt meant to, but his whole body had gone rigid. His tongue swiped out to wet his lips all the while his eyebrows drew together.

-If they ask about it, i'll tell them- Jay had written.

“Don't you think they should know?” Jay knew he was being a hypocrite by wanting to leave his torture out, especially right after telling Nya that she has to share her trauma. But it feels different somehow. His experience feels like a dirty secret. Something shameful that he wants forever to be kept buried. After all, it was his choices that led him to being taken hostage. It was his fault he was in the situation in the first place.

-If we can leave it out, that be great-

Thankfully Nya hadn't said anything more about it, albeit Jay could tell she had wanted too.

Jay had then updated Nya about his encounter with Nadakhan. How Nadakhan had FugiDove do his bidding and how the whole mission was just a ruse to get Jay alone. Jay tells her how If it weren't for Cole tagging along, Nadakhands plan would definitely have succeeded and everyone would be in the dark about the djinns return.

“Jay you dont know for certain that you-” Jay had stopped her from continuing, knowing exactly what she was about to say.

-I do Nya. I didn't take FugiDove seriously. I only survived because Cole did and thanks to that Nadakhna didnt get his way. I won't make that mistake again-

Jay contemplated not telling her about what the djinns had whispered to him. Though for all Jay knows, the djinn could be lying. He could be trying to deceive them and play them at an angle Jay could not yet see. And he couldn't risk that. So Jay told her.

“This time I'm getting rid of you first?” Nya read the page out aloud, her eyes etched with concern and confusion. Jay could almost hear the gears turning in her head, trying to wrap her head around what she had just been told. “If that's the case… Why didn't he when you were alone?”

Jay hesitated in answering at first but the weight of their past pushed him into telling her the truth.

He told her of the options Nadakhan had presented him with.

The options were probably not even real the more he considered it. Just a sick game Nadakhan had conjured up to mess with him. They shouldn't believe anything Nadakhan tells them. Jay tells Nya just as much.

“We still have to take this seriously, Jay. Why isn't he trapping people in his sword this time around? Or are you the only exception?”

-He doesn't have it-

“What?”

-The sword-

Jay wrote before pointing back to -He doesnt have it- thats written right above. Before writing more.

-Atleast I dont think so-

Nya only nodded and Jay could tell there was something she was holding back.

-What is it?-

“If I- If i had known… That the sword was out of the picture…” Nya had grabbed his hand and the guilty expression he had found on her face was not something he had expected. “Then I wouldn't have held off coming to get you Jay. I'm so sorry”

Jay watched as her eyes shone with unshed tears and he felt his heart tearing at the sight. Jay couldn't help but give her a sad smile in return as he picked back up the pen and the block.

-Nya you couldn't have known. And even if you did, I still would have wanted defeating Nadakhan to be the priority-

“Jay”

-We need to be extra careful this time around. We were only lucky that my wish worked the first time, now we actually need a bullet proof plan to defeat him. So If it comes down to it, defeating Nadakhan needs to be prioritized over everything else. And I mean everything-

Nya had just looked at Jay after that. Searched his face for any sort of doubt. She found none. His eyes were as serious as they get and his face was set in determination. That same determination reached her and she nodded.

After another 10 minutes or so of talking — writing on Jay's end—, the hour mark was nearing its arrival and with heavy hearts they knew it was time to meet the others. Jay knew that they had gone over everything. That there was literally nothing more they could discuss that wouldn't just be a repetition of what's already been said. But somehow, Jay still felt as unprepared as ever.

Regardless of that, with a helping hand from Nya, Jay managed to stand on weak legs. They both knew that they could no longer keep the others waiting despite how much the two of them were dreading what's to come. So together the two of them exited the medbay.

Right off the bat they found Zane and Lloyd, and together they had made their way over to the kitchen, where the meeting will be held.

Now here they are, seated at the kitchen table.

Jay is sitting closest to the wall with a laptop in front of him, which belongs to none other than the Nindroid beside him.

Jay turns to the others with a questioning look and Zane doesn't waste a single second prolonging the explanation.

"Since your voice is compromised, Nya and I came up with an idea where it's easier for you to be part of the discussion. You just write down what you want to say and I will automatically be voicing those words for you. This way you can interrupt and give your own input if there is certain information Nya might be wrong about or if there are things you remember differently." Zane so nicely put it.

Jays left hand is incredibly sore from all the writing he has done so this will definitely make things easier on him.

"Want to give it a go?" Zane asks with a gentle smile, motioning to the laptop where an empty document resides.

Jay purses his lips in thought as his good hand moves to hover over the keyboard, then as an idea enters his head he gets to typing. The moment his finger hits the space bar, the first word that's been written in the document leaves Zanes mouth.

"Fuck"

Zane swiftly slaps his hands over his lips, eyebrows skyrocketing — a similar reaction befalling the young Garmadon and the master of water who sits across from them. Jay's mouth hangs open, just as in shock. Though he swiftly bites his lip to try to withhold the laughter that threatens to escape him.

“Jay!” Zane scolds with an utmost offended expression as laughter is heard spilling out of Lloyd. Nya just shakes her head, completely unimpressed despite the smile creeping up her face. Zanes reaction only gets fueled as Jay reaches for the keyboard again, fully intending on writing more.

Before Zane can stop him, all sorts of foul words tumble out of the nindroids mouth that he has no control over. It's only when Zane manages to snatch the laptop away from Jay — which was surprisingly hard despite the auburn haired man only having one functioning hand at the moment — that the swearing stops.

"Perhaps this was a bad idea…” Zane sighs tiredly while Jay only grins proudly.

Now Jay isn't really one for swearing himself, but even he has to admit that he couldn't pass up the opportunity of hearing the so very formal and well behaved Zane swear of all things. It's probably a once in a lifetime experience.

Lloyd schools his expression at the scolding look Nya sends him as she rounds the table to grab the laptop from Zane — who might or might not be sending the blue and green ninja the stinky eye. Nya taps a few of the keys before putting down the laptop in front of Jay once again.

“Now swear words should be disabled” She tells them and Zane sends an appreciative smile her way which she returns, thereafter flicking Jay's head.

Like Jay doesn't know how to enable them If he really wanted to.

It's when Jay rubs his head where Nyas finger had made contact, that the door slides open and in strolls Kai and Cole — who both look worse to wear— with eyecurst and droll present on their faces.

“Where are Skylor and Pix?” Kai asks after letting a yawn escape him, stretching his arms high above his head.

“Right here” Almost as if he summoned her, Skylor answers, walking in just a second later with Pixel right behind her.

“You got a little-” Skylor trails off, motioning to the side of Kais mouth.

He quickly drags his sleeve over his face before letting his girlfriend peck his lips.

“Where is Wu and Misako?” Nya asks as everyone takes a seat at the table.

"They just left with Ronin." Pixal informs from the seat right besides Zane. "Were they also supposed to attend this meeting?"

Crossing her arms, making it easier for a contemplating hand to reach her chin, Nya takes a minute to answer. "It would have been good if they heard it too…but" She gives a nod indicating she has come to a conclusion. "The venom is the priority."

Jay couldn't agree more, however his attention on Nya is quickly redirected as he feels someone else's eyes on him. A slight turn lets him know that it's the master of earth, who's taken the seat in front of Zane which Nya had previously been seated on.

There is a chair left besides Pixal but a hunch is telling Jay that Nya isn't planning on leaving her standing spot up ahead. After all, It gives her a clear view of everyone, and Jay knows that's more important to her than getting sore legs. He ought to be standing there next to her — since he wants her to know that they are in this together — however he knows that that wouldn't be practical, seeing as writing would be very much impossible.

It's annoying how he can't be as much support to her as she is to him.

Cole gives him a tiny smile, before mouthing the words 'You okay?'

Jay simply nods, not really returning the smile. He knows he should appreciate their worry for him, but he would rather just move on already. He is fine. His throat is sore and his hand got broken and that's that. No amount of worrying is gonna heal it. Time will, and Jay doesn't want that long ass time to be spent with people treating him like a baby. So without much further ado Jay redirects his attention back to Nya.

"So since everyone are accounted for-

-let's begin"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nya isn't sure what prompted Cole to give her the stinky eye this time around, anyhow unless she wants to start another argument in front of everyone again she just ought to ignore it for now. Even though the short distraction it would cause wouldn't be totally unwelcomed.

Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, her eyes unconsciously find Jays. He quickly sends her an assuring nod and a sympathetic smile that gives her enough of a push to start speaking.

“Okay, It's a long story so lets save any questions you may have to the end” Nya starts off. Her eyes involuntarily fall on Kai, whose expression Is etched with impatience and confusion but above all else; concern.

Nya swallows.

“Do any of you recall the time when we were heading towards strix? In search of Clause”

Everyone except for Zane and Pixal look a little puzzled.

“It was about 5 years ago” Zane states and Nya nods confirmingly.

“I mean… I remember it vaguely” Kai shrugs.

“It was around the time you and Jay got together again” Cole says with an unsure tone.

Nya simply nods while Kai immediately perks up in his chair.

“Right! Now I remember! You guys just started kissing and crying out of nowhere” Kai exclaims, a tiny bit of disgust showing on his face as he looks between Nya and Jay.

“Right…” Nya lets out an awkward cough.

“You first encountered the djinn all the way back then?” Lloyd asks from the far back.

“Well sort of. You see, between when we arrived at that rooftop, and- well… me and Jay kissing, it might not have seemed like it but a lot of stuff happened…” Nya explains.

“To put it simply” Zane speaks up and it takes awhile for Nya to realize that it's actually Jay who's speaking through him, the tapping of the keyboard being a big give away. “There is a whole timeline that's been erased and for some reason, me and Nya are the only ones who remember it.”

“A different timeline?” Lloyd asks incredulously. His greens eyes, not only worry floods them but Nya can see a bit of skepticism there as well.

After all, she has a front row seat to all of their reactions, so it's not surprising that worry finds its place in her stomach when they all carry disbelief on their faces.

Nya gives Lloyd a nod of confirmation.

“You guys might have thought we were crazy for sobbing on that rooftop, but what you weren't aware of is that me and Jay had just defeated an enemy we had been fighting for months on end” She remembers it as if it were yesterday. The overwhelming relief that had flooded her body was indescribable. Tears had fallen without her even having noticed them.

“What I don't get is why haven't you guys ever told us this before?” Kai asks, but before Nya can even attempt to come up with an answer, someone else speaks up.

“I thought we were saving all the questions for later?” The redhead next to Kai asks.

Nya tries not to let the relief Skylors comment brings her be obvious, secretly thankful to the red head for giving her an unintentional out of answering Kais question.

“You know that in itself is a question right?” Kai smirks at his girlfriend who simply rolls her eyes at his antics.

No one around the table bothers to acknowledge the couples flirting, so still being in possession of mostly everyone's attention Nya sets out to continue.

“In the other timeline, Clouse did accomplish what he set out to do. He found the teapot of Tyrahn and Freed the Djinn Nadakhan from his imprisonment. Nadakhan must have outsmarted Clause however-”

“He did” Zane — Well Jay — interrupts. “ He was in the sword.”

“The sword?” Cole asks.

“Forget about that for now” Nya goes on, and Jay looks somewhat apologetic. “What we didn't know is that when the Preeminent fell It took Djinnjago with it.” Nya can't help but wonder if Wu knew that that would happen or not. In all honesty she has been too afraid to ask. “And so Nadakhan wanted revenge. He wanted to conquer ninjago and rebuild it into his image, into a new Djinnjago. But ultimately what he truly wanted was ultimate power. You see when a Djinn prince marries on Djinnland-

“He is granted with unlimited wishes” Jay finishes and his gaze is glued to the screen despite everyone's attention shifting onto him.

“But unlimited wishes…” Pixal trails off. An unspoken terror befalls the group at the mere idea of a villain possessing such powers.

Nya breaks the short silence. “...Nadakhan knew we were the protectors of Ninjago and so the first thing he did was go after Wu. With our master trapped in the djinn blade, he tried to get us out of the picture as well-”

“Djinn blade?” Kai interrupts.

“A Djinn blade possesses the ability to trap the wielder's enemy into the sword. You either get trapped by getting slashed by it or by-” Jays writing comes to a stop. His hand trembles and Nya swears she sees a gleam of sweat cotting his forehead. It's when his fleeting eyes fall on her that she knows he can't finish his explanation. The wordless plea on his face did not go unnoticed.

“Or by wishing it all away” Nya finishes, grabbing everyone's attention in the process. Everyones except for the master of earth, whose eyes are intently locked onto Jay.

“Djinns can shapeshift and Nadakhan used that to his advantage. He committed crimes pretending to be us. Turning the city against us.” Despite their skepticism, Nya can tell that they are listening intently to every word she is telling them. “We were forced to split up. It was thanks to Kai posting a secret message online that we were able to meet up again undetected” Nya sends a smile her brother's way which Kai easily mirrors back.

“Zane showed us footage from the library of Domu of Wu speaking to someone just out of frame before his disappearance. The library's database revealed that Wu had checked out a book about the Teapot of Tyrahn and that's when our suspicion of a djinn being involved started.” When Zane had spoken of his suspicion, none of them had anticipated the horrors that awaited them the following months.

That's where the past and the now differates. Because now they know what they are up against. Now it might not be as hard of a struggle as it was then.

“From there we decided to split up into pairs. Kai and I, in the idea of not drawing too much attention, went to Jamanakai village to find a more discreet way of transportation than our dragons. Immediately when we reached our vehicles we were notified of Zane's sos signal. It led us right into a trap because instead of Lloyd and Zane awaiting us, Ronin was.” Looking back on it still boils Nyas blood. To Ronin it didn't matter that they were framed as long as he got the prize money their capture would bring in. “Ronin caught us despite knowing that we didn't commit those crimes, all so he could get what he cares most about in the whole wide world. Money.”

“Like that's any surprise” Kai scoffs, irritation etched into his brow as he folds his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair.

“Me and Cole went to the Mega Monster Amusement Park where Zane was framed.” Zane voices Jay's words. “When Ronin showed up we didn't have much luck either in escaping him. We managed to find out a bit about Nadakhan though before that could happen. Thanks to the thrill ride camera on the roller coaster we were able to place a face to the culprit and his ability to shapeshift was not lost on us.”

“Ronin has betrayed us multiple times, what says he won't do it again this time around?” Lloyd asks dubiously. “Is it even safe having him accompany my mom and uncle Wu?”

“Yeah!” Kai exclaims, backing Lloyd up.”I don't understand how we keep forgiving him! All he brings is bad luck”

“Ronin might have betrayed us in the most inconvenient of situations but he always pulls through in the end” Jay have Zane answer. “I think that if we let him in on what's really at stake then he will be on our side. I'm willing to put my trust in him.”

Nya isn't sure if she fully agrees with Jay. After all, Ronin only sides with them AFTER he has worsened the situation. But even though Nya definitely doesn't trust Ronin, she does trust Jay. And Jay had told her long ago that Ronin did indeed have a role in them winning the last time around. It goes without saying however that if Ronin is to help them, Nya isn't about to take her eyes off of him, not in the slightest.

“Ronin doesn't know about Nadakhan.” Nya speaks up. “Well at least not yet. I only told him to accompany Wu and Misako and that it was important. He is also getting paid so for now I don't think we have to worry about him.” She might also have had him tag along solely to get rid of him temporarily, just in case Nadakhan decided to pull the frame move again. “Now enough about that. After getting caught, we were sent to Kryptarium prison-”

“Good to know how frail the city's trust in us is” Interrupting Nya, Cole mutters, his tone dripping of sarcasm.

“As I was saying” Nya starts up again, only a smidge annoyed at having everyone speak over her. “We were sent to Kryptarium prison. They had us stay in the same area where the worst of the worst inmates resided. With vengestone cuffs cancelling our powers, our only hope of getting out was Derath.”

She shakes her head at the memory. “As if things weren't already bad enough, someone — I think you can guess who — broke into Hiroshi's Labyrinth Stronghold and stole the realm crystal. With it Nadakhan was able to reunite with his pirate crew-”

“Wait, wait, wait. You never mentioned he was a pirate!” Kai interrupts and Nya immediately sends him a glare.

“Well now you know” Kai smiles sheepishly at her before letting her continue. “Dereth didn't manage to get us out. But because of that we ended up speaking with Soto, who we found out had trapped Nadakhan into the teapot the first time around. Thanks to Soto our knowledge bank of the djinn widened. He told us the rules of wishmagic. You can't wish for more wishes, you can't wish for love and you can't wish harm to others. He told us that the venom of the Tiger Widow was the only way of slowing down a djinn long enough to defeat one. The venom prevents Nadakhan from teleporting, making him weak and forcing him into a position where he can't escape our wishes”

“And that's the venom mom and Wu are leaving to find?” The green ninja questions.

“Yes. Though… we doubt they will find it. I can't imagine it not being the first thing Nadakhan thought of when he returned. We don't even know for how long he has been back for” Nyas troubled expression meets Jays across the table. It could be days, weeks- months. And with that time, who knows what Nadakhan could have planned for them.

“The Tiger Widow'” Jay continues, tapping swifty on the keyboard. “They are extremely rare and only reside on one island. Problem was that no one knew where this island was located. However it had been depicted on a map belonging to Soto. We had to help him escape in order for him to tell us where it was.”

Nya follows Jay's example, focusing on the task at hand of telling the others the story instead of getting swallowed whole by all their worries.

“A lantern.” Nya picks up where Jay left off. “That's where the map was hidden. A lantern that was aboard none other than Nadakhans ship. The- Uh- The Misfortune's Keep” Nyas eyes flee over to Jay, whose posture stills at the mention of the ship. His eyes harden and his lips thin out into a straight line. She quickly continues. “Jay and I went undercover as police officers in order for us to penetrate their secured network where in hope we could find what became of the Misfortune keep. Meanwhile Zane and Kai retrieved the Destiny's Bounty which had been compromised pretty early on. Misako had been on it when it was taken…” Nya turns her attention to Lloyd. “Nadakhan had gotten to her before we knew it.”

Lloyds expression turns a little dim despite having no recollection of the time Nya speaks of, however his face is swiftly taken over by determination. “What about me and Cole? Where were we?”

“You guys were in search of the ship, waiting on me and Jay to relay the information of its last known whereabouts. And we did find it. Gypsy Cove. Three clicks north of Cannon beach. It was gone however when you two got there” Nya informs.

“So wait,” Cole speaks up. “Could the ship still be there then? Like, right this second? At Gypsy cove”

Nya purses her lips in thought.

“Yeah supposedly It could, but it's likely Nadakhan has already gotten to it and moved it. There is nothing really of high importance that we need from it though, after all me and Jay still remember where the island is located as well as for the specific location the tiger widow tends to stay at. We were able to draw a map for Wu and Misako.” It's gonna be a three to four days long trip if not more, so they won't be hearing from them any time soon.

“So shouldn't we check it out?” Cole asks.

Uncertainty fills Nya at the prospect. She is certain that they would only be met with an empty cave. On the other hand however, if they werent, what would be the point of finding it? If Nadakhan hasn't moved it, doesn't that mean he deemed it unimportant? Or maybe… That's where he has been staying all this time. If that Is the case then, it would be very beneficial for them to know that. And even if that's not the case, they could put a tracker on it so they would be notified if it were to be used.

Yeah, they should check it out.

Jay probably won't want to come with but-

Promptly Is Nya hit with the reminder to check how Jay is holding up, chancing a glance over at him. She lets out a somewhat relieved breath at what she finds. Jay isnt looking at her or anyone else for that matter and he certainly doesn't look present, his eyes unfocused and expression blank. Dissociation is better than panic in her opinion. So without further ado Nya turns her attention back to Cole, who had also taken notice of Jay's distant expression.

“I believe It's worth investigating” Pixal Is the first one to break the unintentional silence that had fallen over the room. “We can definitely gain more out of it than lose.”

“Yeah I agree” Nya nods correspondingly, her attention shifting over to Lloyd, waiting for his input.

“Alright, we can discuss more about it after Nya and Jay are done retelling us about this- other timeline.” Lloyd answers, ultimately putting a hold on it for now.

Everyone who has been paying attention nods in agreement to Lloyds decision.

“The reason why we couldn't find or detect the ship was because it had taken flight. They had turned it into an airship-”

“Maybe it's a wise decision to take a small break” Zane voice suggests.

“Oh, uh- Are you sure Jay?” At Nyas question, Jay's head snaps up. His eyes skipping from one person to the next.

“I was actually the one who was talking this time” Zane —Not Jay— informs with a gentle smile.

“Oh. Sorry Zane! As for taking a break” Nyas eyes turn to Lloyd.

“What? But you guys just started!” Kai impatiently bellows, his eyebrows drawn together frustratedly.

“Six minutes and then we start up again.” Lloyd responds, taking a second or two to wait for any complaints — completely ignoring Kais. Seeing as no one else disagrees he continues. “Stick in pairs. That's all. Meeting temporarily dismissed”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How are you feeling?”

Jay turns to Zane, whose concerned eyes are already on the blue ninja. Aside from Nya and Cole, It's only them left in the room. Everyone else scattered. Jay glances at the other two, whose eyes —to his dismay— are also on him. They however quickly avert upon him catching them.

Jay would have found Zane checking in on him to be irritating if it weren't for the auburn haired man carrying the tiniest bit of guilt for making the other swear earlier. So instead of just giving Zane a tightlipped smile, Jay instead opens up the search engine on the laptop where he types his reply, in hope that it won't be repeated by Zane's voice. He is relieved to find out that either Zane himself turned it off or the function simply only resides within the document.

-In all honesty, i'm exhausted-

Jay slides the laptop over, somewhat an easy smile plastered on him as Zane processes his reply.

Zane hesitantly drags the laptop closer, taking a glance at the others in the room before promptly starting to type something out as well. Jay can't say he isn't surprised about Zane picking up on his discomfort of the others hearing them— usually not being the best at social cues — It causes a weird feeling of pride to blossom in The blue ninja's chest, along with appreciation.

-Perhaps you should consider laying down a bit? Your body is surely still in need of rest-

Deleting Zane sentences, Jay starts typing again before pushing the laptop back.

-Dont worry Zane, It's more a mental exhaustion-

When Zane looks back at him a nod and a smile is accompanied, and that seems to be the end of the conversation. Which Jay is grateful for, he worried Zane was gonna push for him to rest — which a certain master of earth and water certainly would have done if they knew Jay was just the slightest bit tired. At the mention of Cole, Jay's eyes turn towards the ravenett.

He seems to be lost in thought.

As for Nya, she doesn't seem to be better off with her pacing and gnawing of her thumb.

“Does anyone want tea?” Zane speaks up, and it grabs the attention of everyone in the room. “I was thinking of making some.”

“Yeah, thanks Zane” Nya stills in place and her posture seems to relax if only a smidge.

“I could go for something to eat” Cole mumbles, eyes looking up at Zane as the nindroid stands.

Zane nods kindly. “I can whip something up for you”

Jay can't help but be grateful to Zane. In just a matter of seconds he managed to get Nya and Coles mind out of the gutter and cause a smile to reach their lips. Zane truly was a gift to them all and Jay can't help but compare him to an angel.

“Jay, tea?” Zane turns to him and Jay nods in reply.

Despite Jay's worry, his fear, his anger, his hopelessness — in this moment all Jay can feel, weirdly enough, is contentment.

For how long it will last, minutes or even seconds, he doesn't care. Because this feeling is a reminder of why he can't give up. This right here, is the reason why Jay won't let Nadakhan succeed in whatever he Is planning.

And at least this time they know what they are up against.

Cole switching seats to the one directly in front of Jay, the one Lloyd previously had been occupying, grabs the master of lightning's attention.

“I called your parents.” Cole states and Jay feels his lips widen into a smile just at the mere mention of them. “They won't be making a trip into the city anytime soon. But they said they wanted to see you. Maybe we could visit them tomorrow”

Jay nods in agreement vigorously, not usually being one who gets this excited just from the prospect of seeing one's parents. It has been a while since he last visited them, and given everything that just happened, he wouldn't be totally opposed to some comfort his parents are sure to give.

Jay's childhood was filled with his parents dotting on him and although back then he thought of it all as overbearing, now Jay can't help but reminisce and miss the time he lived with his parents. Things were so much simpler back then. When he didn't know what true fear really was. When his biggest concern was his bedtime. When his father and him would spend hours out in the junkyard tinkering with whatever they could find.

What happened to that hobby of his? Why and when did Jay stop spending his time inventing stuff in the workshop? It wasn't because of a lack of time for it. No, he used that time up to instead do what exactly? Play a game he has already beaten over and over again?

Well it's enough of that now. When all this is over, Jay is going to spend his time on things that are worth spending time on. And he is going to do it with people that are worth spending time with. Like his parents.

Like the person sitting right in front of him.

Having reached the conclusion he has, a determined and soft smile decorates Jay's features as a result. With the circumstances being what they are, Jay feels like he has earned letting his eyes linger just a few seconds longer on Cole's face — who in turn also carries a smile.

A beautiful one at that.

Alas, the peaceful moment does not last as Jay, upon glancing away, quickly takes notice of Nyas absence. Although upon turning around he quickly spots her right as she is about to leave the room.

His chair scrapes the floor boards loudly in his hurry to get up and it thankfully leads to Nya turning towards him.

She looks surprised, before understandment quickly dawns on her features, causing her eyebrows to lower back down.

“Jay I'm just going to get the others.” Despite literally spotting Kai on the other side of the now open door, Jay's heart still hammers viciously in his chest.

He licks his lips and nods, but does not make a move to sit back down again nor does Nya make a move to leave the room.

Jay isn't sure how much time passes before her fleeting gaze lands on someone else in the room. She bites her lip and only releases it as her shoulders sag slightly, an inner dialogue surely having ended as a decision of some sort has been reached. Thereafter her eyebrows draw together and with a loud voice she yells.

“The six minutes are up!”

Jay feels relief wash over him as she walks away from the door and only then does he turn back around, taking up his seat once more.

However the skin crawling sensation that had made it under his skin, has yet to disappear even as the others finally re-enter the room.

And Jay cant help but feel more like a freak when he catches Zane staring at him, taking note of the unreadable look in the nindroids eyes. Not even a second later its gone however and Zane give him a gentle smile.

Maybe Jay just imagined it? Or maybe it had nothing to do with Jay. Maybe Zane was just being his typical weird self.

Whatever.