Here's Jay's chapter! It takes place almost directly after the last one, meaning Jay is still injured.

Also, from now on, updates will be on Saturdays now that Lost Soul is completed :( Sorry that I keep changing it! XD

Special thanks to ABCSKW123-IX, xxXTheySayI'mEvilXxx, RandomDragon2.0, SpitfirewaterNinja, Peanut2196, StoriesAreMagic, Midnight, TheYellowNinja, Ninja Pony, and imacrazyninjagofan for reviewing!

Midnight: Hey, no problem! There's never any pressure to review! I love writing little Lloyd :3 Aw, I'm so happy you thought Nya and Kai were in character! That is a top priority of mine :D I hope you like Jay's chapter! Thank you so much!

TheYellowNinja: Right?! I think Lloyd and Nya bonding is ADORABLE :3 I hope you like this chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D

Ninja Pony: I love Lloyd and Nya's sibling bond! :3 Haha! Don't worry, the boys are mostly okay, and we'll see Jay this chapter! XD

imacrazyninjagofan: Haha, I'm glad you thought it was cute :D Thanks for reviewing!

The first time someone took care of him, Jay was excited.

"We won't be gone long, Jay," Kai said to the blue ninja who was propped up with three pillows on the couch. His chest was covered in approximately three layers of gauze, but he had a huge blanket draped over him and the remote in hand. He actually looked quite cozy.

"Don't worry about me," Jay reassured, waving his hand as if he could shoo them away from where he was lounging on the couch. "Take your time."

"Are you sure you're okay staying behind?" Cole asked from where he was leaning against the doorframe. Jay's brothers' injuries hadn't been as severe as they had feared at first: Zane did not have a concussion; Kai's ribs were only bruised, not broken, and the twisted ankle felt much better after a day of icing and elevating it; and Cole was sore around his midsection but had actually fared the best out of the four of them. Jay, meanwhile, had been dealt a very serious chest wound and had lost a lot of blood. While he had survived the encounter with no long-lasting injuries, he was on bed rest until he healed.

Which was fine by Jay.

"Of course!" Jay insisted, glancing at the opposite doorway from where his brothers were lingering, leading back toward the kitchen and ship's cockpit. "We've got Serpentine to stop, and you can't wait on me."

"Do not fret, Jay. You will recover in no time!" Zane smiled.

I sure hope not. "Yeah, definitely!"

And with that, the three ninja threw their goodbyes over their shoulders and headed out the door.

Jay grinned in anticipation, settling into his pillows. Sure, being injured wasn't fun. The memory of watching the blade descend toward him, the memory of the white hot pain that had exploded in his chest, the memory of Cole looking truly terrified as he caught sight of Jay's injury, the memory of waking up scared and confused and immediately bursting into tears… no, none of that had been fun.

But, now. Now, he had a few days off alone with all the video games he could play and- Jay accidently let an audible, lovesick sigh escape- Nya.

Nya taking care of him, getting her undivided attention, being on the receiving end of her tenderness and worry. If movies were anything to go off of, romance was sure to blossom between the girl and the injured guy she took care of. Something about vulnerability…

Jay heard footsteps approaching, and he caught his breath, looking toward-

Lloyd.

Jay blinked at the kid who came into the room carrying a tray with a bowl, the carton of milk, and a box of cereal on it. "Hey, Lloyd," Jay greeted distractedly, trying to crane his neck so he could see down the hall. "Is, uh, Nya coming?"

"She told me to bring you breakfast," Lloyd replied, holding out the tray to Jay.

Jay accepted it, looking down at it. "Oh. Thanks." He raised an eyebrow at the box. "Is cereal all we have?"

"Nya said I'm not allowed to use the stove, so yeah."

Jay sighed, trying vain to keep the double disappointment out of his voice. "Okay."

He poured himself a bowl of cereal and began eating it forlornly, flipping through the TV channels to find something interesting to watch.

Then, he noticed that Lloyd was still standing nearby, watching him intently.

"Lloyd, did you need something else?" He asked.

"Nya said that I was supposed to take care of you while she worked on more important stuff." More important stuff? Ouch. "So, I'm here to get whatever you need."

"I appreciate it," Jay grumbled, already calculating how much Nya time he was missing out on because of Lloyd's presence. "But, I don't need anything right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you need another blanket?"

"No."

"Do you need a fan? Or ice?"

"No."

"Do you need a drink?"

"No, Lloyd."

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"No, Lloyd," Jay snapped, rolling his eyes. "I don't need anything."

"Okay," Lloyd replied, though he didn't move from his spot. "Just tell me when you need something."

Jay groaned in exasperation, trying to burrow into his pillows and get comfortable despite Lloyd's hawk-like stare he could feel on him like a physical weight. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid… it's just that Lloyd was bratty and annoying and got in the way more often than not. Besides, every other time before now, the other guys and/or Nya had been there too, making it the group setting Jay was used to. But, now, one on one with Lloyd… Jay didn't really know how to act. What did you say to the son of your worst enemy who had caused all of the problems they were currently trying to solve and had inadvertently led to him lying injured on the couch without even Nya's presence to ease the blow?

But, eventually, a little time passed and Jay almost forgot Lloyd was there, until-

"Is this really what you're going to watch?" Lloyd complained from where he was sitting on the floor, judging the romantic comedy Jay had settled on (which he secretly liked even if he would never admit that to the guys.) "I mean, the whole premise is ridiculous. And, the acting is just bad."

Pursing his lips, Jay flipped the channel to a mystery TV show. They watched in silence, and Jay was just getting invested when-

"Oh, I've seen this one before! The brother did it."

Jay bit his lip to keep a cuss word that was certainly not age-appropriate from escaping and turned the channel again, seeing no point in watching the show now that the mystery had been ruined.

It was an action movie, and there was no way Lloyd could ruin-

"Oh my gosh, that stunt was so fake. And, how did one car bomb make an explosion that big? If he's in a helicopter, they've got to be miles away by now, so-"

"Lloyd!" Jay snapped, turning off the TV.

The kid jumped to his feet. "Do you need something?"

"I need you to go away!" Jay yelled, grabbing his hair. "I mean, it's like you don't even know how annoying you are! No wonder Darkly's didn't want you!"

Jay's mouth snapped shut, immediately regretting letting those words escape.

Lloyd was trembling, glaring at his shoes.

"Lloyd-"

Lloyd ripped the tray off Jay's lap, causing the glass bowl to shatter, the cereal box to scatter its contents across the floor, and the milk carton to start leaking and immediately form a puddle.

"Lloyd!" Jay shouted, this time in chastisement- but Lloyd has already run out of the room, and distantly, Jay could hear their bedroom door slam.

The second time someone took care of him, Jay wasn't excited.

Because, while he finally had Nya's attention that he had craved all day, he only felt guilty that she was on her hands and knees, cleaning up the mess Lloyd had created.

And, she wasn't even taking his side in the matter.

"What do you mean my fault?" He asked incredulously. "I'm not that one who knocked the tray over like a baby."

"I'm surprised at you, Jay," Nya reprimanded, sitting back on her haunches, milk-sodden towel in hand. "I mean, you know he's sensitive about getting kicked out of Darkly's. Besides, with Garmadon as his father and his mother who knows where, you think he might have abandonment issues? Not to mention aggressive reactions to emotional distress?" She gestured at the shattered bowl she had sweeped into a small pile of broken glass.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have said what I did," Jay conceded, falling back into his pillow. "But, you weren't there for the rest of it, Nya! I mean, he's… he's… insufferable."

"No, he's not. He's trying to be good when he has no idea how, and you didn't even give him a chance," Nya continued, returning to her task of sopping up the wasted milk. "Did you even try to get to know him? Ask him what his hobbies were? Best subject? Favorite color?"

Jay didn't respond. Because, no. No, he didn't.

Nya stood up with the dustpan full of broken glass and stray cereal pieces, having finished cleaning up the milk. "Maybe you should reconsider which one of you is really the 'insufferable' one."

The third time someone took care of him, Jay finally got it.

He was leaning against his pillow, the TV turned off, when Lloyd leaned halfway into the doorway of the living room. His eyes were red, and he refused to meet Jay's gaze.

"Nya said I had to come see what you wanted," Lloyd muttered by way of greeting.

Jay took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Lloyd."

Lloyd stumbled fully into the living room, eyes wide with surprise. "Huh?"

"You were just trying to help- and actually being really nice- and I was a total jerk about it," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I guess I'm just frustrated about being injured, and, if I'm being completely honest… I was kind of hoping that Nya was going to take care of me." He averted his eyes, blushing.

"Why?" Lloyd furrowed his brow. Then, he gasped with realization. "Wait, you… like like her? Ewww!"

Jay laughed at Lloyd's disgusted expression, letting his head fall back against his pillow. "Life was so much simpler back when girls were gross. You'll understand when you're older."

"No, I won't," Lloyd insisted, crossing his arms. "I'm never gonna like a girl."

"Suuure," Jay agreed, laughing again. "Anyway, I was thinking, if you would still be willing to be my caretaker… we could find something we both want to do?" He offered, meeting Lloyd's eyes hesitantly and preemptively wincing.

Lloyd scrutinized Jay a moment, as if unsure whether his word was to be trusted or not. Eventually, he gave a small nod. "Okay."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"What do you want to do?"

"We could play video games."

"I've already beat them all," Lloyd replied off-handedly. "It wasn't that hard to beat your high scores."

Jay tamped down his frustration. Impaired social skills. Lacking manners. Be patient…

"Okay, then," Jay said slowly once he was sure he wouldn't snap at the kid. "What else do you like to do?"

Lloyd pondered this a moment. "I read comics a lot."

"What kind? Superhero, right?"

"Well- sort of. I mean, Fritz Donnegan is kind of like a superhero, but he's just a regular guy who's awesome. It's sci-fi."

Jay started. Was it really going to be this easy? "Sci-fi's my favorite genre!"

Lloyd blinked, then suddenly rushed off without saying a word. He reappeared a moment later with a small cardboard box in his arms. "Okay, so I don't have every single issue, but I can just explain to you what happens in between…,"

Jay managed to hide his grimace when Lloyd pulled himself onto the small, empty space on the couch at Jay's feet, pushing a comic book into his hands. While sci-fi was his favorite, there was also a huge age difference between him and Lloyd, so it stood to reason that Jay, who considered himself fairly critical, would see all the flaws in the series Lloyd couldn't. And, then Jay would feel pressured to insist that he liked it when he secretly didn't, and then he'd probably get sucked into going to all these lame conventions or movies or whatever…

But, he remembered his conversation with Nya as he looked down at the front cover. Lloyd was making an effort, and Jay would too. He flipped to the first page, and Lloyd opened one of his numerous other issues.

Later:

"Issue twelve clearly states that Fritz Donnegan's Galactical Time Converter can work in hyperspace, so Nebulon shouldn't have been able to capture Skippy in issue eighteen!"

"It's implied that Captain Atomic tampered with the Time Converter in issue seventeen!"

"True, but in issue twenty six it's revealed that all of issue seventeen took place in a parallel universe! Therefore, Captain Atomic couldn't have tampered with it!"

"Yes, but then in issue twenty seven it turns out issue twenty six was a dream…,"

Nya laughed to herself from where she was listening to Jay and Lloyd's argument in the hallway. At least they were getting along.

Sort of.

"Woah, what happened while we were gone?" Jay looked up from the Fritz Donnegan comic he was currently reading to see his brothers enter the living room, having returned from their mission. He was caught between trying to hide the comic and acting like he didn't care if they saw him doing something totally geeky. Then, he figured they already considered him a huge geek, so he didn't have anything to lose.

"I didn't know you two were close," Kai continued, waving a hand at Lloyd. Jay followed the gesture- then started when he saw that Lloyd had fallen asleep. He was slumped over on Jay's legs, half sharing the blanket, half suffocated by it. So, that's why his legs had fallen asleep… He was so caught up in the comic, he hadn't even noticed.

"Oh, um… We kind of… bonded while you guys were gone." Jay offered sheepishly, and he realized… it was true. He had way more in common with Lloyd than he had ever thought possible, and hanging out with him, discussing comics and theories and complaining about the bad reputation sci-fi has… was actually really fun.

"I think that is wonderful, Jay," Zane complimented. "Lloyd can only benefit from strong relationships with good role models."

"Then he shouldn't have a strong relationship with Jay," Cole joked, earning a laugh from Kai.

Jay frowned. "Ha ha. I'm a great role model. The only thing he can learn from you is how to stuff his face."

Kai laughed again, and Cole made a face. "Well, I was going to offer to carry him to bed, but that little comment just made me change my mind." Cole turned on his heel, and disappeared down the hallway.

"Wait!" Jay whisper-shouted, but Cole was already gone. "Kai? Zane? You'll take him, right?"

"You know, I'm really tired…," Kai smirked at him as he followed Cole toward their bedroom. "Goodnight, Jay."

"Kai!" Jay hissed. "Zane, c'mon, you'll take him, won't you?"

"I believe it would be better for your relationship if Lloyd stayed with you," Zane decided, nodding righteously. "Have fun 'sleeping over,' as they say." He chuckled. "Though I suppose in your case, it would be 'sleeping under.'"

"Guys!" Jay whispered as Zane exited the room. "Guys!"

Groaning and thinking up a million different plans to get revenge on traitorous brothers, Jay tried to readjust his numb legs- then froze when Lloyd moaned in his sleep and shifted. Jay sighed, realizing he was completely and utterly trapped.

But, then again… looking down at Lloyd's face that was completely innocent in sleep, making him seem much younger than he was, Jay had to admit… the kid was kind of cute.

Finding he didn't mind the numbness in his legs so much anymore, Jay began reading the Fritz Donnegan comic again, already preparing his next debate topic to discuss with Lloyd tomorrow.

I know, I know, Jay doesn't really get into Fritz Donnegan until like season three or so, but... creative license, anyone? *sweat drop*

I hope you liked it! Next is Zane :D