Summary: That one time, when they were broken up, and then made out. Nya never speaks of it and Jay pretends he doesn't remember. Takes place between season 4 and 5.
oOo
She could fix this.
All she needed was a plan, and she could fix this.
Her hiding spot behind the cargo crates was a poor choice. Her lungs heaved as she fought to control her breathing while her pulse pounded in her ears. She was a sitting duck and a hot mess.
The amulet dug into her hand as she gripped it tighter, the faint light throbbing. It was the key to undoing her predicament, if only she knew how it worked.
A piece of metal clanged on the concrete floor and Nya snapped her attention back to her surroundings. Her breaths became slow and controlled as she listened for clues about her predator.
"My little Samurai. Come out, come out wherever you are."
Nya clutched the amulet tighter. His voice was low and laced with malice, cutting through the heavy air of the warehouse and piercing her ears. She could barely make out the sound of his tabi boots padding on the floor as he stalked around.
"Don't you want to come out and play?"
Yeah right.
Nya shifted, straining to listen. Wrong move.
The sound of his walking stopped and she could almost hear him smiling, or snarling, at this point there was no difference.
A second of silence was her only warning before the crate behind her exploded into a cloud of splinters and blue light. Her hands acted out of instinct, covering her ears at the thunderous boom.
"Found you."
Nya scrambled to her feet and took off like a shot. She didn't get far.
Blue light engulfed her as searing pain ripped up and down her spine. She crumpled to the ground in a silent heap, trying to remember how to breathe. The amulet skittered from her grasp, rolling away with light high-pitched pings, mocking her. It came to a stop under his foot.
"How nice of you to return this to me."
Nya swallowed down butterflies. The amulet was the key to her non-existent plan so she could fix this.
It was also the cause of this whole mess.
Five minutes ago the team was busting heads and taking names. A faction of Fangpyre worshipers was linked to smuggling rings operating at the port. Despite their name, they were laughably terrible fighters. Nya almost felt embarrassed handing their butts to them. As the ninja thought they were done busting the baddies, one of the heretics whipped out a strange amulet and chanted an incantation.
The team reacted fast, but Jay was faster, knocking the amulet out of his hand. Amazingly, it didn't shatter on the ground. It spun around with wicked speed then erupted into blinding light. Nya shielded her eyes as did the others.
When it was safe to look, Nya noticed Jay standing unusually still and eerily silent.
No warning.
No witty banter.
His movements were cold and calculating as he unleashed a furry of lightning on the team, face unfazed by their feral screams and paralyzed bodies, not even taking a second glance as they fell to the floor unconscious. The whole room, friend and foe, all knocked out in less than two seconds flat. It was the scariest freaking thing she had ever seen in her life.
It was in that moment Nya realized she took for granted the level of control Jay harnessed over his elemental power.
She also realized she was the only one left standing. Instincts took over as she grabbed the amulet and ran.
Now, gasping for breath on the floor, her eyes stayed glued to the amulet, following it as Jay bent over and picked it up, turning it over in his hand, inspecting it.
"I can fix this!" she blurted out.
Slowly, calmly, Jay focused his gaze on her. The corners of his lips pulled his mouth into something he thought was a smile. Her stomach felt cold.
"Can you?"
Nya took that as her cue to bolt. The pounding sound of her footsteps and heavy breathing were drowned out by his twisted laughter.
She made it behind another row of crates, this time knowing her hiding place wouldn't last long. Jay fried her electronics. The Samurai X mech was useless. She needed that amulet.
"Ssssso playful today, Nya." His booming voice echoed off the cold walls of the warehouse.
"Jay, please! Give me the amulet so I can fix this!" she tried again. She was greeted by more wicked laughter that grated against her ears.
"You fix a lot of things, Nya." came his voice from above. She whipped around and backed up slowly, not daring to take her eyes off him. He jumped down and took daunting steps towards her, nunchucks in one hand, other hand glowing blue. His teeth looked sharp.
"Samurai X," another step forward, "our vehicles," and another, "the Bounty." He stepped forward again, entering her strike zone.
She moved, landing an uppercut on his gut that was meant for his jaw. He didn't even flinch. She moved fast, but he moved faster, countering her next attack and sent her flying across the room.
Nya struggled to get up, but he was towering over her before she could even blink. His nunchuck swung down and landed next to her face with a resonating crack. Cold steel on concrete, it made her ears ring and eyes grow wide. His weight was heavy as he sunk down, straddling her, nunchuck hand cackling with lightning, other hand constricting around her neck, and it hurt.
He leaned forward and she could feel the heat of his anger. He leveled her with a look of disgust.
"Tell me Nya, can you fix a broken heart?"
Daggers pierced her soul. Those words hurt more than any beating she had taken that night, more than his hand on her throat. Her breath hitched and her jaw went slack, struggling for an answer.
"I-"
He leaned forward more. His eyes were dark, bright, and hungry. She squeaked out an involuntary moan and his pupils contracted, pulling into tighter slits. His tongue darted out, slowly licking his upper lip and it was . . . forked?
Fangpyre.
The pieces were starting to fit together; the amulet, the Fangpyre cult, the incantation, Jay once bitten.
An idea was taking root, sprouting, blossoming into a beautiful plan. She could fix this.
Nya smiled, watching as his brows furrowed in confusion. She turned her head to the side, keeping her eyes on his eyes, opening her mouth. Her soft pink tongue connected with the black handle of his nunchuck, watching as he watched her, dragging her tongue up, up, up, suggestive purr vibrating in her chest. She kept tilting her head up, reaching as far as she could go, finally turning back towards him, slowly licking her lips.
The tightness of his mouth lessened, eyes growing wide but pupils dilating, grip on her neck going lax.
She should kick him off and run, give herself distance, regroup. She didn't.
Two heartbeats later found her wrapping her arms around his neck, one bated breath later found her pulling him down, capturing his lips with hers.
His forearms rested on either side of her head, nunchucks and lightning forgotten. Her lips explored his, eliciting a strange sound from him, a cross between a moan, a growl and a whimper. She moved her hands down the sides of his face, thumbs drawing delicate circles on his jowls.
Something inside him stirred, a gentle trembling hum, chaotic but controlled. A familiar feeling she had sensed before . . . before she made a mess of things and they drifted apart. Something she kept telling herself that she didn't miss. A feeling of raw power, something she could sense from all the ninja, but whenever she connected with Jay, she could feel his aura, feel his elemental power thrumming with his emotions. It was addicting.
More. She wanted more. She wanted to feel that power stir something in her, a similar force that has always been with her but left undiscovered. In one fellow swoop she twisted her body and rolled on top of him, sinking down her full weight, crushing him into the harsh concrete floor.
He opened his mouth to protest but she slipped her tongue in, silencing him, exploring, devouring. His elemental power danced across his skin and she felt her whole body buzz in awareness. His hands found the nap of her neck, slowly tracing down the length of her spine and she shivered under his touch.
Something in the back of her mind was gnawing at her, that perhaps this was enough and she should stop before things got more awkward between them, but then his hot tongue slid across hers she forgot how to think.
His hands came to a rest at her hips and gripped tight. She trilled into him, heat pooling into her core, burning out any room for logical thought. She was acting on instinct, clawing at nostalgia of when they used to be together, sneaking away to get lost in their own little world.
His elemental power spiked sharply, pain flooding all points of her body that were touching him, and she jumped back as a loud pop smashed them back to reality.
She sat on her heels and he propped himself up on his elbows, breathing deep, stunned stupid. The air between them was supercharged with electricity and it had nothing to do with Jay's power.
He looked at her, seeing her lips swollen, cheeks pinched with blush, then immediately looked away.
"What— what happened?" His voice was back to its normal timbre, underscored with confusion and bundled nerves.
She took in the sight of him, disheveled, face red and chest heaving, like a man teased within an inch of his sanity. She burned the image into her memory, filing away for later. He dared another glance at her, eyes wide but pupils no longer slits. She had cured him and also destroyed him.
Her cheeks burned and the power within her stirred, hating that he could so easily melt her brain and make her want him. She was supposed to be over him, move on and start a new chapter of her life.
"Do you remember the Fangpyre cult and the amulet?"
"Vaguely."
"You must still have some Fangpyre venom dormant in your system that was activated by the incantation and amulet."
He stared at her blankly, waiting for a full explanation.
"I raised your heart rate."
His face contorted into bewilderment. You did more than that hung in the air but was left unsaid.
Nya shifted uncomfortably and her stomach flipped a little.
"We should- find the others," she swallowed thickly, testing to see if he would push the subject.
"Y- yeah," he agreed, peeling himself off the floor. Avoid and deflect, typical ninja. Yet relief washed over her, she wasn't ready to address what just happened, what had happened. Too many emotions, too many hormones, too much to unpack.
"Let's go." They headed back to the others to finish the fight, amulet left forgotten on the ground.
Once bitten, twice shy.
She couldn't fix this.