A/N: I am SO SORRY this is so late! (although at this point, ya'll probably don't believe me.) If any of you all have time you guys could check out xxXTryMeXxx's work, she's new but really good, or NinjagoGeek4EVER's work, she's actually the one who introduced me to this website so... yeah. Their stuff is good!

Once again, terribly sorry. I'm trying, I really am. CONTENT WARNING: Character makes BAD DECISIONtm (gets stopped though) and if you don't want to read that, just skip it.

Review Replies:

xxXTryMeXxx: Okay! Here you go! (Thanks for trying to help motivate me... even though it didn't work too well)

Elbert the cookie: Thanks! Although I am still frustrated because I know I should be able to post more... but I don't.

A Huge Fangirl: I'm glad you like it! I'm mostly just writing it because these poor babies really need this.

SJTiger: Thank you! They are, although juggling them is... not fun. I think I would prefer it if I could stick with a ninja and write a few of theirs... *looks at papers* wait, can I? *Shrugs* Maybe. On another note, sometimes I kinda wish life didn't happen... but it does. Oh well. Thank you for your service!

ItsYoGreenGirl: Thanks! I'm trying to make things better for them but some of them are making things difficult.

BOOM Fanfic-a-latta: Glad you're enjoying it... but being dead doesn't sound too good for your health. Just saying.

Steampunk Wilson: It's fine you're laughing, honestly quite a bit of his behavior in the previous chapter was for more humorous purposes as well as character/trauma-related things. (Also you're SUPER right on the awkward bit!)

CaptainSteve1: They kinda all are a bit messed up, but I agree Zane is one of the ones who's got it BAD. As for them being okay, well, that's what this entire fic is about, isn't it? =)

(By the way, since there are so many, I think I'm gonna start doing review replies through PM's, just so you all know.)

"I'm tired of this."

"What makes you say that?" Wu glanced at the ninja walking just a few paces behind him.

Jay jolted out of his thoughts, not realizing he had spoken aloud. "Nothing." The response was automatic and a little too fast.

"Are you certain?"

He tried to hold his tongue, but the blue ninja had never been good at that. "It's- it's just- this isn't working. Charles isn't helping, that lady we saw three days ago was supposed to help but I think she only made things worse - she just kept prying and none of us were saying anything! We just sat there, like… like strangers! And even at the monastery everyone's avoiding me and-" His thoughts were racing like the participants of Ninjaball Run. "I- I'm sorry. I'm ranting and not making any sense and- and-"

"It's alright." The concern flooding his tone implied he wanted to say more, but they had already arrived at their target destination. "Will you at least go in and see him today?"

"... fine."

Despite this being his fourth time in the building, butterflies still crawled under his skin as he walked inside. Instinctively, he curled in on himself.

"G'dee, Maght. Ai op oui a'e duimg wheel." Geeze, would it kill Charles to at least try to be comprehensible? Someone needed to tell that man that accents are meant to be done one at a time, not all at once.

His internal Ninjaball Run stirred back up again as Wu began to lead him into Charles's office. In the lead was the question of what if Charles gets mad?, which led its own biker gang in the race. Granted, he had never seen Charles angry before, but that just left way too much room for speculation. Charles had a very cheerful attitude, his bad side had to be some kind of horrendous nightmare that even psychopaths like Ultra Violet would fear.

A new competitor joined, a solution: He would just avoid mentioning it. Kinda hard to get angry about something you don't know, right?

"Dr. Bradley, Jay has a concern for you." Of course Wu was going to mention it. Good ol' Master Wu, master of getting his students into impossible situations and then leaving them there to figure things out themselves.

"No! No I don't!" Panic surged through his voice, causing it to crack even higher than Nya's voice could. "Everything's fine! Just peachy!"

"Are you sure?" Miraculously, the only accent in his voice was one of concern.

"Yep!"

"Okay." Charles shrugged, a strangely nonchalante gesture. "But if you ever have anything you want to say feel free, after all a big part of my job is being able to listen well." After an ever-so-slightly awkward pause, the professional graciously changed the subject. "How about a game?"

Wu stared for a moment as Jay perked. "Sure! Uh…" he glanced at the elder next to him, "Maybe… Jenga?"

While at first Wu had his doubts about the whole 'let's just play some board games!' approach, he had to admit it was surprisingly effective. Halfway through the first round Jay confessed his concerns in more detail than he had to Wu, Adding on things he had neglected to mention entirely just a dozen minutes before. The three had discussed things - explaining that things tend to take time and reassuring Jay that while the others indeed had their own problems it was his job to focus on his problems. Somehow, the semi-strategic removal of blocks from the tower not only allowed the conversation to flow more smoothly, but also aided in keeping the overall mood light and comfortable.

Wu needed more board games.

*Skip if sensitive to this kind of bad decision*

Lloyd peeked out of his room. This would have been so much easier had Wu not taken his Dao away two weeks before.

No one was in the hall, all the better for sneaking around. They had numerous weapon cabinets in the monastery, the nearest only a few doors down. Simple.

His steps were silent, his ears straining to catch anything - anyone - that was coming. It was just after noon and Master Wu had already brought him a tray of the unwanted food, so no one should have been headed through that part of the monastery unless they were headed outside. Still, it was best to be cautious.

Just as Lloyd's hand rested upon the doorknob, Wu materialized beside him. "Lloyd! You're out of your room! How are you doing?" He pulled Lloyd into a hug, wrapping him a little too tightly in his arms.

"I'm good." The lie felt weird to speak, and he couldn't help but notice that Wu was now between him and the door.

"Are you up to seeing Lydia again?" Wu pulled back, keeping one arm around Lloyd's shoulder. Still between Lloyd and his objective.

"I-" The lady who somehow managed to sound almost exactly like Harumi had when she had first met Lloyd. A cold sweat dripped down his back. "Y'know, I think I'll just… stay here." He tried to slip out from under Wu's arm, but his uncle was a little too quick and moved his arm to the boy's waist.

"I think it would be good for you, nephew."

"I'm good, honest." Wow, when had he gotten so good at lying? He could almost convince himself with that one.

"Please?" Apparently Wu was a human lie detector.

After a minute, he slowly nodded, knowing Wu was not going to let this go until he agreed. He gave one last, hesitant glance toward the closet door.

*Okay, pretty clear* *Healing*

"Lloyd! So good to see you!" He could feel his nephew tense up beside him at the councilor's cheery tone. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

She clearly saw the same thing as Wu in Lloyd's hesitation. "Do I get the both of you today?"

The question was directed at Wu, causing Lloyd to relax slightly. "You do."

"Splendid! This way."

Wu could tell Lloyd was shaking, but he refused to leave him at the monastery. Not after earlier. Plus, Lloyd clearly needed a lot of help, and hiding in his room was certainly not helping.

The rest of the session was rather disappointing. Lloyd never said much beyond "I'm fine" and "I'm good," but he at least relaxed a bit when Lydia pulled out some blocks she had for her younger clients. Once he had the toys he all but ignored the other two, but at least he was occupied and safe for the moment.

"So," Now that they were both seated, Owen was hopping straight to business. "How have you been? Has writing things out helped at all?"

"I've- it's been ups and downs. Writing… actually did help, a little. It at least helped me set things aside to deal with later."

A smile crept upon his face. "May I see it?" he gestured to the notebook on Zane's lap, and Zane reluctantly handed it over. A worried frown crossed his face as he flipped through the entries. "These are all… different? Within the past week?"

Zane nodded, wincing slightly at Owen's expression.

"Would it be possible to get you on medication?" Owen had refrained from asking before, mostly because of how early it was as well as the fact that he simply was uncertain whether it was even possible.

"Probably not." Zane admitted. "Due to not being human my body tends to have different reactions to things, most drugs and similar things have little to no effect."

A sigh escaped his lips. "I was afraid of that." There went his chances of making things a little easier for the both of them.

Glancing back down at the notebook, he noticed a few things in particular that seemed to repeat. "This time you were imprisoned, how were you restrained?"

Zane glanced at the page he was on, just to make sure he was thinking of the right time he got locked up. "I was locked in one of- one of Chen's cells." It was harder to talk about than he would have liked. "I was chained to the wall. They made the chains thicker after I cut through them the first time." A shudder crept through him, recalling PIXAL torn apart and lying in pieces scattered across the room. If he'd had time he could have put her back together… but he didn't. He had time after Chen's defeat, he could have built her a new body, but instead she had to wait to build her own.

"What was the cell made of? The chains?"

"Stone. And metal."

"Alright, and what could you have done differently when locked up?"

He was silent for a moment. "Not much," he admitted. "If I had tried anything I probably would have gotten locked up even tighter." Although the knowledge failed to help, he still felt bad that his friends had to rescue him. He would do the same for them, but they shouldn't have to do it for him too.

"And what did you do when you did get out?"

Not asking how he got out, Zane noticed. "Cole and I worked to free the rest of the prisoners there."

Owen smiled. "That," he stated emphatically, "sounds like a very noble course of action."

PIXAL's eyes stared blankly out the window. Mostly avoiding the urge to cry. It had been three days ago, but she still felt shame and embarrassment flooding at the memory of her incapability to form the words she had tried so hard for. Cyrus had tried to tell her a thousand times that it was fine - natural, even, to get tongue tied - but it was difficult to believe.

At least nindroids did just fine without sleep… although avoiding any form of rest was probably overkill.

"PIXAL!" Zeno exclaimed. "Doing well, I hope?"

She bit her lip, giving a hesitant, but firm, nod that failed to be entirely convincing.

Zeno's brow furrowed. "Do you want to talk about it?" When she shook her head, his frown deepened. "Well," he paused, thinking, "have you ever played Pixy Cubes?"

Once again, she shook her head.

"I think you'd like it. It's not hard, but it can be calming and surprisingly enjoyable for something so simple."

Cyrus's Borg Watch gave a soft beep, causing all three of them to jump. "Duty calls." He shrugged, starting to back out of the building.

It definitely was not one of his normal patrol times, which meant… "I should deal with it, whatever it is." Cyrus could get himself hurt, PIXAL knew the escaped felons from Kryptarium were especially vicious.

"It's a single robber, PIXAL. I've dealt with the few who have dared to breach Borg Tower, and I'll have your mech. You focus on stuff here, okay? I'll call you when they're behind bars."

Reluctantly, she let him go. Still terrified for the sake of her father, she followed Zeno into his office.

*Healing*

The robber had been easy as pie: he had remained inside the building in hopes that having hostages would protect him from the law enforcement, and had surrendered the moment the 'samurai' showed up. Cyrus, as promised, called his daughter as the police led the lowlife away. Just as he had expected, she audibly relaxed the moment he told her he was okay.

Upon his return, he decided to leave PIXAL and Zeno alone. He had peeked inside and the two were doing just fine - PIXAL was fidgeting with small, colorful cubes and talking almost openly with the professional.

So, instead of joining them, he waited in the room set aside for… well, waiting. He had some new ideas he had been dying to start sketching out, but all the business really wanted was upgrades on old things.

When his daughter came out, she had a large, almost cheesy grin on her face. "You caught your first robber!" She exclaimed before he had a chance to say anything. "Congratulations!"

He chuckled, although it technically wasn't his first. "I should be congratulating you, PIXAL, you've built up quite the reputation. He surrendered the moment I showed up."

She smiled and hugged him. "Thanks, Dad."