Rose woke up on a train.
At first, she didn't remember why she was there, or even when she got on. But as she sat upright and stretched after a night spent curled in her seat, the memory of last night came rushing back.
The station was robbed. Or at least, there was an attempt, one that she had stopped entirely by accident, too. By freezing one of them! And afterwards, she just left work and got on a train headed straight for New Ninjago City.
She didn't even go home and change first. She just left as soon as her manager and the police had given the O.K.!
'Mom is going to be so peeved when she finds out.' Rose thought, staring out the window at the darkened scenery rushing by. 'Hopefully she'll let me explain before she starts assigning chores.'
She passed the time by continuously frosting the window with her hands. It was weird, especially since it melted quickly in the pre-Summer heat whenever she took her hand away. And, of course, it was cold. But, she noticed, whenever she used the ice, she felt less cold herself.
When the train pulled up to the station some hours later, the sun was close to rising. Rose disembarked and pulled her hood up, heading for the vending machines and buying two candy bars and an energy drink. She then took a map as she left the station, opening it up as she chewed on her candy. She looked it over, then turned down street and started walking.
She could only hope that Hailey wouldn't mind being woken up so early in the morning.
Hailey was NOT a light sleeper, not by any stretch of the word. Many a time had she fallen asleep at a friend's house or in public, only to be abandoned where she lay when no on could wake her. But when a loud, frantic knocking dragged her out of peaceful sleep, she rushed to the door in a half-asleep haze, thinking she'd slept through the fire alarm again.
However when she yanked the door open to run, heedless of the fact she wasn't wearing pants, she found herself crushed beneath a short, heavy, and familiar weight. With a grunt Hailey pushed the intruder off, and kicked the door closed, not getting up off the floor.
After a brief pause, Hailey spoke up. "So," she started, "why are you in my dorm room at..." She sat up and turned to look at her alarm clock. "5:13 in the morning?"
"Funny story, that." Rose said, also sitting up from where she'd bee shoved. " I think we may have a problem. "
"What do mean, 'we'?" Hailey asked, taking the desk chair. "Did you finally kill Jak? Because if so, I am NOT helping you hide the body." Hailey pushed herself off the floor and went to grab a glass of water. "I broke up with the guy who could do that before I moved here."
"What? No, I didn't kill Jak! Not yet, anyways." Rose muttered the last bit, then took a deep breath. She paused, and let it out in a long sigh. "This, is gonna be hard to explain. Let me have your water for a second."
Hailey handed over her water without the usual fight, if only because she wanted to see what Rose would do. 'Although if this ends with a mess,' she promised herself, 'I'm going to kick her out.'
Rose held the water with both hands, took a deep breath, and then froze it, glass and all. When she finished she looked up to find Hailey staring down at her with wide eyes.
"Well," she said, sitting down at her desk, "that's new. Do you know why you can do that now?
Rose shook her head and put the chunk of ice on the floor. "No. It just started, tonight- uh, last night. I thought maybe you could help, so I came here." She leaned back on her hands, staring up at her friend.
"Wait, you started freezing things, so you came all the way out here, at ass o' clock in the morning, just to wake me up so I could help you?" Hailey picks up Rose's mess and sets it in the sink. "Gods, it's like those middle school book reports all over again."
"No! I started freezing people, and then came out here to wake you up." Rose said with a huff. "And besides, I really did need help with those reports. Writing is hard."
"Hold on, back up." Hailey turned around with and fixed Rose with a Look. "What do you mean by 'freezing people'?"
And so Rose tells Hailey everything that happened last night. From the attempted robbery, to Crazy Greg, to the ice she froze him to the floor with. She then moves on to how she immediately went to the train station after being dismissed by the police. By the time she's done, the sun has fully risen, and it's time for Hailey to start getting ready for class.
"Listen, I've got to get to class." Hailey told her, as she collected fresh clothing for the day. "Why don't you take a nap or something while I'm gone? We'll work this out when I get back."
Rose's only response is to flop on the bed and wave.
"The shower is down the hall on the left, and there should be something that'll fit you in the dresser." Hailey waited for a response, which was just a grunt and thumbs-up, before turning to leave. "I'll see you in a few hours."
Rose grunted again, and Hailey left the room, making sure to lock the door behind her. No need to have someone finding her before she can explain, after all.
By the time Hailey came back from class, Rose had showered and gotten dressed, although she didn't look any less tired than earlier. Hailey luckily didn't have any afternoon classes, not that she'd be able to focus much anyways.
So she grabbed Rose and dragged her out of the room to a cafe close to the college, deciding that they should have lunch before trying to test Rose's powers. After all, you can't do anything on an empty stomach.
Lloyd normally wasn't the one who answered the phone. Usually, it was his mother who did that, in between her studies. However as he raised it to his ear and gave the greeting he had the feeling things were about to change.
"Hello, Garmadon and Borg Training and Research Facility. How may I help you?" He rattled off, hopeful that they weren't looking for him. It was why he'd left out the part that mentioned he lived there.
"Hello, I'm looking for Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja. Is he available?" The woman on the other end asked. Lloyd silently cursed, but answered anyways.
"Uh, yeah, you're talking to him. What do ya need?" 'Please just say "talk to my kid and tell him to do his homework".' Lloyd prayed futilely.
"I'm officer Briggs of the Jamanakai Police. We need you to come down to the station as soon as you can." Briggs cleared her throat. "There was a robbery yesterday that involved some... unusual circumstances. We need to talk to you right away."
Robbery? Unusual circumstances? 'Oh great, it's another Ancient Evil, isn't it?' The teen thought to himself. 'The Overlord is back to steal everyone's cookies, or something.'
"Unusual how?" Lloyd asks, shaking himself out of his thoughts. This was no time for jokes.
"Well, one of the robbers was frozen to the floor." Briggs seems a bit incredulous as she says that, as though she doesn't quite believe it herself. Lloyd however feels his heart stop.
"Frozen?" He asks, voice barely above a whisper. He almost drops the phone, but forces himself to hang on. Zane is dead, and it could just be someone invented a freeze-ray or something. It's not Zane it's not Zane it's not-
"Yes. Listen, when you get here, you can review the tapes, alright?" Lloyd can hear papers shuffling on the other end. "I think you'll find them... interesting."
"Uh, yeah. Yeah. I'll be there in two hours." Lloyd doesn't wait for an answer before hanging up the phone. The second it's in it's cradle he leans against the wall, feeling almost like he just ran a marathon. He stayed like that for a minute, then took a deep breath and stood up, heading for the door. He had some tapes to review.
Lloyd actually makes it to the station in one hour and thirty minutes. He's greeted by Officer Briggs, an older woman with her hair tied back in a bun. She escorts him into a room where he watches the tapes in shock.
He was right about one thing. It's not Zane.
Instead, paused on the screen with her arm outstretched and shooting ice from her hand, is a young woman. She's short, but well built, with pale blonde hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Who is she?" He asks, after staring at her for a while. She looks a little familiar, but the video is too blurry to really tell.
"Rosemary Julien. And, we don't know where she is right now. Someone said they saw her get on a train, but nobody has any idea where she went." Another officer, younger than Briggs, explained. He adjusted his glasses before continuing. "She does have family in town, though. They're already here and are being questioned. With any luck, they're have some idea about where she went."
Lloyd nodded, although he wasn't sure how much that could help. "Do you mind if I take a copy of the tape back to the Facility? My parents and uncle might know who she is."
"Of course Green Ninja." Lloyd sighed, though the officer either didn't notice or didn't care as he made a copy. He handed it off to Lloyd, who thanked him and left quickly.
Maybe his father would be able to shed some light on this.
Rose and Hailey find themselves watching T.V. in the student rec. room after a long afternoon of practice. Rose wasn't necessarily better with her powers, but she had managed to learn how NOT to freeze things. Thus she was able to eat her food without turning it into ramen-flavored ice-cream.
While they were watching their show, a cartoon Hailey liked about twins and a magic journal, it cut off right in the middle. While Hailey and a few other students gave cries of outrage and disappointment, as it switched to the news, although they quieted down when they saw a picture of Rose on the screen.
"Attention citizens of New Ninjago City, this is an announcement made at the request of the Green Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon." The voice sounded male. "He is requesting any information possible on the location of Rosemary Julien, age 19." Here a picture of Rose came on screen, stating her name and age underneath it, along with a phone number. Rose herself pulled her hood up and sank into the couch cushions. "If you have any information on her whereabouts, please call the number on the screen. This announcement will play once every hour until Miss Julien has been found. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled program."
The T.V. switched back to the cartoon as Rose leapt from her seat and took off running down the hall. Hailey followed her, though she made sure to grab their food before she left.
They made it to Hailey's room and lock the door behind them. "This is bad, this is really bad Hailey!" Rose said as she paced around the room. Hailey just sat on her bed and continued to eat. "How are you so dammed calm about this?!"
"Because," she answered between bites of ramen, "you're going to call that number."
"What? No I'm not! They're gonna arrest me or something!" Rose was full on panicking now. "Maybe if I leave now, I can go somewhere else. Like Ignacia, or Stixx. Those don't have a lot of people, right?" She grabbed at her hair. "Oh man, mom's so gonna kill me..."
"Rosie, you're not gonna get arrested. The Ninja don't have that authority. The police do, though. Which is why you've gotta call them." Hailey pointed her fork at her friend. "Or, I can call them. Whichever way works for you."
"You wouldn't dare!" Rose glares, but Hailey glares back.
"Bet me I won't. You think this bad for you? Imagine if they found out about me." Hailey sighed. "No, it's better to get this taken care of as soon as possible. It's less trouble that way."
"Can't I just go hide with your ex?" Rose asked as a last resort.
Hailey fixed her with a Look. "No." She tossed her her cellphone. "Now call the Ninja. I'll be right outside so you can have some privacy. I need to return these bowls, anyways."
Hailey got up and left the room, closing the door behind her. Rose stared after her, then turned towards the window. After making sure she wouldn't survive the jump, she sat on the bed and stared at the phone. This was quite possibly the hardest call she would ever make since she asked Hank out in middle school.