Verra small and short chapter, just to keep things warm while writing up the next ones!

Rick Riordan1: Well thanks, same to you. :) Eh, yeah, Nash is used to getting what he wants. The fact that the ninja aren't cooperating reallllllly isn't going over so well with him. :/ Lloyd's pretty hard to convince . . . One, he learned early on that crying in front of others is dangerous, let alone letting them see your weaknesses. On some level he knows he's not in Darkley's anymore, but his habits somehow can't seem to get up to date. Two, he's pretty scared that his secrets are too dark for even the others to accept. And three . . . well.

SpiritDragon: Given this fic's track record . . . yeeeeeah, probably gonna be some blood. :S
Calm! Now there's a word you'd like to hear more often! I'll see if I can get these kiddos some of that eventually. ^_^''

Jens: Well, Cole didn't exactly get hurt protecting Lloyd; more like he got hurt because Lloyd failed to protect him. If Lloyd hadn't been held up getting his hair out of his eyes, he could have moved sooner and potentially saved Cole from getting that shaft through his leg.
You can remind Nash if you want to, but he probably already knows! He's just past caring.
Thanks for the review!

CrystalKunoichi: Yay! Thanks for the review. Yeah, admittedly worrying about everyone is probably not misplaced at a time like this. Except Nash, absolutely. The ninja definitely are worried about him, but in a very different way. :P
Lloyd's so tight-lipped even I'm not sure how to pry out what he's hiding! :P But we'll see.
Glad you're enjoying! Definitely gonna be some more FMW in 2020.

Oct 21

11:59 AM

Status conditions: Kai with broken wrist, Cole generally iffy, Lloyd guarded and evasive

They dropped in to visit Cole one last time before they took up their guard posts. Lloyd didn't. He flat-out stopped in the hospital parking lot and said "you guys go ahead." He got a lot of long, strange looks from the others, but everyone had given up asking. Jay raised a hand.

"I guess I can stay behind too."

He had mixed feelings. Of course all the others would feel better if someone was keeping an eye on Lloyd, and he honestly felt better not having to see Cole in such bad shape again. But even with such a good excuse, he still had to wonder if the others thought he didn't care. Or that he was a coward.

As they waited, he watched Lloyd from the corner of his eye. He was slouched back against the wall of the hospital, hands in his pockets, motionless as cast metal, except for wisps of hair ruffling across his forehead. His eyes drilled steadily through a single point in the street. Surreptitiously Jay studied him, trying to puzzle him out.

"Hey Lloyd," he said.

"Mmhm?"

Well that wouldn't do. He needed to look up.

"Lloyd?" repeated Jay.

After a long moment Lloyd finally did raise his head questioningly, his line of sight brushing briefly across Jay's. For a split-second Jay thought he was looking into the howling velvety abyss of the Cursed Realm again. All the air left his lungs. Then Lloyd lowered his eyes again, unruffled, leaving Jay twitching faintly and buzzing all over with chills.

"What, Jay?" he said tiredly.

Jay shook himself.

"N-nothing. Nothing."

Spooked, he didn't try again. He stood silently next to Lloyd and let uneasiness nibble away at his insides, while some inexplicable guilt probably gnawed away at Lloyd's. This was really just lovely. Truly.

If nothing else, though, Jay reassured himself that Lloyd's eyes had been clear, steady, and dry. Definitely something off about them, but . . . maybe he really was evened out and in shape to watch for Nash.

. . . Yeah, Jay. Just keep telling yourself that.

The others returned half an hour later, subdued.

"He's still pretty out of it," said Nya. "But at least he seemed to recognize us this time, so . . . "

Wu had already split off from the group, staying behind in the hospital room. It was going to be a chore convincing the hospital staff not to eventually kick him out, but he was well-suited for that task. He had a lot of tricksy Sensei ways.

Zane guided the others to their hiding spots, one by one. Then he made a final circuit, asking each of them how far they could see in either direction, to make sure their fields of vision really did overlap. It was very inefficient, but they still didn't have new communicators, so there was no other way. Jay was nervous about that last fact—probably they all were. No communicators meant no way to call the others for backup if they saw Nash. All they had was signal flares.

Then the waiting started. And then it didn't stop. The hours dragged by, one after another. Cars wove in and out of the parking lot. People hurried in and out of the building. Ambulances came and went. The shadows swung slowly from west to east.

At one point Jay found himself jolting awake, roused by an ambulance siren. Heart pounding, he looked around frantically. How long had he been asleep?! Had he missed something?

He checked the time and hissed when he saw he'd probably been out almost fifteen minutes. How could he? Sure, he definitely hadn't had enough sleep last night. Or the night before that. Or the night . . . before . . . when had he last had a decent night's sleep, again? And sure, the long stretch of inaction was the worst possible thing for a sleep-deprived teenager, but people's lives depended on his alertness. His best friend's life depended on it. If his stupid dozing off got someone killed, how would he live with himself?

Chewing anxiously on the crook of his thumb, he wiggled forward a little in his hiding place, jammed between some AC units atop an office building. He scanned the hospital tensely, trying to suck some answers from the unsympathetic brick walls. If Nash had gotten in, there would be some noise coming from inside, right? It was too peaceful for anything to be going on, right?

Right?

For a few seconds he entertained some paranoid flights of fancy about Nash somehow knowing when he was asleep, and taking just that opportunity to sneak in. He did his best to squash those thoughts. That was crazy talk, Nash didn't even know he was here, let alone whether he was asleep or not.

. . . At least he hoped.

After a moment Jay slid back into hiding, a little less panicked but still heavy with guilt. He tried to tell himself that he must certainly not be the only one to doze off for a few minutes, but he didn't know if that made him feel better or worse.

Better about himself, maybe. Worse about the situation in general.

He didn't fully relax until he saw Lou come by in the afternoon, and leave again an hour later. So Cole was still okay. Jay's moment of inattention wouldn't have to haunt him.

Still. He took pains to keep himself awake.

Evening drew on. Skylor made quick, stealthy visits to each of the hidden ninja, bringing them some sandwiches and hot coffee. Praise to the bearer of caffeine, thought Jay wearily. He could see why Kai liked her. She also passed messages along from one ninja to another, and thoughtfully updated them all on Lloyd's status. Allegedly he was fine. Alert and serious, but fine.

Eventually Skylor left again. She was holding down the Bounty, preparing herself and all the other adults in case Nash surprised them and tried to attack home base instead. It seemed unlikely, given that it was constantly moving and at least half a mile up, but with Nash nothing was truly out of the question.

It grew chilly. Jay wriggled in place, trying to warm himself with friction against his clothes, and whispered commentary to nobody in particular. He felt like a crazy person, lying here shivering and holding whispered conversations with himself, but the silence was beginning to overwhelm him. He was pretty sure he'd never gone this long conscious but not talking. Besides, it kept him awake. He had to keep reminding himself not to zone out and just stare blankly at the hospital—he had to be alert, he had to keep his brain online. It wouldn't do much good if he saw Nash heading for the entrance and didn't register until five minutes later.

More hours oozed by. Jay felt like crawling out of his skin. By now he almost wanted to see Nash appear, because even that had to be better than lying here another minute—

From his left came an unnatural squealing sound. Jay's head snapped towards it, just in time to see a dim orange corkscrew of light spiral upwards and explode into a blinding white firework. Zane's flare. Nash was here.

Jay took it back, he took it all back.

Reality dropped out from around him. He was dimly aware of his sleeve tearing on a sharp edge as he lunged out from his hiding place, and by the time he registered even that he was already leaping off the edge of the roof. Nothing mattered except getting to the murky cloud of firework smoke already dissipating into the darkness. Nash was here. This was it.