Chapter Eighteen- Now (Forever)

NOW

Jay shifted in his seat. It was uncomfortably stiff. No matter which side of his body he leaned into, the surface dug up against him.

"Jay?"

Jay blinked, looking up, suddenly remembering he was supposed to be listening. "Sorry. Yeah. I don't- I just want to go back to school, maybe. Or take a year off and run around Ninjago. Or . . . anything other than use my powers. Sorry."

Garmadon and Wu, sitting side by side in front of him, exchanged a glance. They were in Wu's small office in the NPD. It was very empty- almost as if Wu had never meant to be in this place for long.

In the end, it was Garmadon that finally spoke. "Okay. Well- I guess you've more than shown us you can take care of yourself."

"That is true." Wu agreed. "But if you ever wish to be of a little more help to Ninjago . . ."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll let you know if I want to play the hero. But I think for now, I've done enough damage." Jay dug his fingers against the seat. It was good to have something solid to hold on to. "Is that all you needed?"

"Yes. Sorry to have bothered you, Jay." Garmadon said. Surprisingly, Jay felt like he actually meant it.

"Oh! I do have one more thing." Wu said, standing to walk over to his desk. He rummaged through one of the drawers, and Jay's legs began to bounce involuntarily. What now? When Wu straightened, there was nothing terrifying or trouble-worthy in his hand. It was . . . a business card. He held it out in Jay's direction. "Cyrus said you should give him a call. If you're still interested in that internship, that is."

"Are you-" Jay took the card, blinking at the words Cyrus Borg and the numbers beneath. "Are you serious?"

"Of course. If you're feeling ready to give it another shot . . ."

"I-" The words seemed to tangle in Jay's mouth. Was he ready? He wasn't sure. Sometimes, the days were good. And sometimes- sometimes guilt and exhaustion and a little bit of heartbreak would overwhelm him without warning. "Maybe. But thank you."

"Thank you." Wu said, giving him a small smile. "I'm glad you showed up."

"Yeah," Jay said. "Well I'll- I'll see you two around."

With a bit of an awkward wave, Jay exited the office. The NPD was bustling with activity as always. It seemed that, even without villainous twins, Ninjago couldn't catch a break.

Strolling out into the city still felt a little weird. After everything that had happened, it felt wrong that everything around him was still . . . the same as it had always been. He was the only one that had changed.

It made him feel sort of out of place. But he was used to feeling out of place. He'd always been an outsider in the city anyway, even if he'd somehow managed to forget the fact when he'd walk the streets hand in hand with Cole.

Cole.

Bubbles of guilt shuddered around his chest. Jay hissed out a breath. Only a few weeks had passed since the electric showdown on OverCorp's roof. It was all still too fresh, too real. The memories were sharp and vivid, as if the moment had never really ended.

For a moment, with the lightning wrapped around him from every angle, Jay had felt . . . oddly complete. There was no dissonance in between himself and his abilities.

And then, a rough pull had landed him right back down to earth. Both literally and figuratively. It had taken Jay a few seconds to understand what had happened. His memories were wildly fractured, and he couldn't remember how he'd ended up where he was.

Then he'd spotted Cole. And-

Jay shook his head. He didn't want the memory to take over. He was getting better at keeping his emotions from reacting with his abilities, but it was better not to tempt fate.

Besides. There would be time for thinking later. Right now, he had a very important date to keep. Jay walked forward the last few steps, slipping through a pair of sliding doors.

And into West End Hospital.

Acronix had many regrets.

Fortunately, he'd also have a lot of time to mull over said regrets. To turn them side to side, up and down, to really look at every angle of the things he could've done a little better. Nothing like what if's to keep you from enjoying your existence.

Unfortunately though, he didn't get to enjoy his miserable time all by himself. Krux was right there with him. And unlike Acronix, Krux did not seem to know how to brood in silence.

"We were close. So close." Krux said. Just as he'd said a hundred times before. Just as he'd say a hundred times after.

He wasn't wrong, Acronix would give him that. For a second, Acronix had truly believed that everything would be theirs. Ninjago, Time . . . They'd be the biggest threat there ever was or ever would be.

"Maybe if we-"

"Maybe if we didn't cause any trouble, we won't have to spend our lives in Kryptarium." Acronix finally snapped, sitting up from his bed. If you could call it a bed. It was a block of metal at best. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing. I wanna see the city!"

"There's nothing out there worth seeing, trust me."

"Would be nice to decide that for myself."

"Be a good boy then." Krux rolled his eyes. "Play their games. I'm sure Wu would love it."

"Maybe he would. What does it matter anymore? We failed and he's out there and, I don't know, what do we get out of giving up on a second chance?"

"The only reason I'd take another chance is to get back at that self-important Brookstone boy. If he hadn't-"

"Hadn't show up and ruined everything we'd be ruling Ninjago by now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard it. Would be nice if you find something else to say." Acronix said. "You're too bitter."

"And you're a coward for giving up so easily."

"Giving up? We're in the highest security prison in Ninjago! It isn't giving up if you already lost."

"We're alive, aren't we? We're together. I wouldn't say we've lost. Now, if we can come up with a plan that-"

Acronix sighed. He did his best to tune out the extravagantly ridiculous plans his twin refused to stop coming up with.

It was going to be a long day. And so would the day after. And the day after that . . .

Sometimes, Cole wondered if he hadn't fallen into the time vortex after all.

Each tick of the clock was so impossible slow, that it might as well not be moving at all.

He was confined to his bed, and would be confined to his bed for a few more weeks. Leaping right into the arms of Jay's powers hadn't been the best idea he'd ever had. His body had wound up coated in slow healing burns- both inside and out of his body.

Luckily enough, there hadn't been any permanent damage. Just a few persistent aches that would now come and go for the rest of his life. Cole had, once again, gotten close enough to high five death and had, once again, walked away from its grasp.

Since he was still allegedly dead according to the hospital records, he'd been checked into the hospital under a different name. Rocky Dangerbuff. A name he'd used as a joke at one time or another, that Jay had somehow magically remembered at just the right moment.

Speaking of Jay, he was late. Again. Cole shifted in his bed to get a better look at the clock hanging on the wall. Yeah. Definitely late. Thirty seconds late, to be precise.

Thirty one . . .

Thirty two . . .

"Hey, Cole!"

Cole's heart momentarily swelled in his chest at the sound of Jay's voice. Just like it had always done. "You're late."

"Am not!" Jay protested, glancing at the small watch around his wrist. "It's exactly 3."

"Not exactly," Cole said, pointing at the clock on the wall. "You were thirty two seconds late. Thirty two, Jay."

"You're absolutely impossible and I hate you." Jay said with a roll of his eyes. He then stepped forward, planting a long kiss upon Cole's lips. "How's today been?"

"Just the same as all the other days. Boring." Cole said. Guilt flashed over Jay's eyes. "I mean, you know, I'm glad to finally get the hundred naps I'm definitely owed after all I had to do. Plus the nurse, Pixal, she's the absolute best. Trust me, I could talk to her for hours and not get tired of it."

"Should I be jealous?"

"Only if you're an idiot."

"Ah, good then. Because I'm an absolute genius." Jay fumbled to get something out of his pocket. He then flashed a business card in front of Cole's face. A bit too close for him to see anything more than a blur. "Cyrus Borg wants me to call him! He's still interested in the whole internship thing! I'd thought that had only been all just Krux trying to get me but- . . . Wu said he's still interested."

"That's amazing. So, have you called him yet?"

"Ah . . . no." Jay stepped away from Cole's bed. "I mean, I want to but- I don't know. I feel like maybe I've done too much for Ninjago as is."

"None of it was your fault though."

"Sort of was though." Jay shrugged. "Plus I'm terrified. What if I come up with something amazing, just for it to fall into the wrong hands? And then I get killed for it? And then my kids have to suffer through the consequences of my actions?"

"Children? How many?"

Jay rolled his eyes again. He did that a lot. Or maybe Cole was just exceptionally good at frustrating him. "You know that's not my point."

"I know. But Jay- . . . You can't just be so terrified you end up doing nothing. If there's anything I've learned, is that fear only makes things worse. Next thing I know it'll be you faking your death next."

"Ugh. Don't tempt me."

Cole held his hand out for Jay to take. Jay hesitated for a moment, before slipping his fingers into Cole's own. Cole pulled him closer. "I love you, okay? Now and forever and in every universe. And you know why I love you?"

"Because I'm incredibly attractive?"

"You wish. I'm the hot one," Cole said. "But joke's aside, I love you because you're the most incredibly persistent person I've ever met. You have ups and you have downs and you cry and kick and protest but . . . you keep going. You always keep going.

"I get that it's a little scary but- It's something you've always wanted to do. You shouldn't pass up the chance." Cole gave Jay's hand a small squeeze. "But if you really don't want to do it- that's okay too. We'll just have to find you a brand-new dream."

Jay was silent for a while. Cole could almost see the thoughts and connections bouncing around his bright blue eyes. "I do want to do it . . . but only if I get to hold your hand at the end of the day."

"My hand's all yours, freckles." Cole smiled. "Always has been."