Another batch of scumbags down and out.

The satisfaction Kai felt at seeing another batch of Sons of Garmadon goons carted away was intense. They hadn't known anything about where Garmadon might be, but at least they were off the streets.

The remaining Sons of Garmadon had scattered across Ninjago once Harumi died and Garmadon disappeared. The ninja were running all over Ninjago to hunt them down. If left unchecked, they'd definitely try to restore the gang and/or return to Garmadon.

"They went down quickly," Kai commented with a sharp grin.

Lloyd nodded beside him, but he seemed distracted, not even looking at the retreating police cars. Now that his mask was off, the dark bags under his eyes were once again visible.

Kai grimaced internally. He was really worried about Lloyd. His little brother always said he was fine when asked, but that was bullshit, and everyone knew it. Even if it wasn't obvious Lloyd wasn't sleeping and was unusually quiet, this whole shitstorm had been specifically and almost solely designed to destroy Lloyd on every level, of course he wasn't going to be okay.

Sometimes Kai dreamed about bringing Harumi back to life just so he could kill the bitch again.

The pure hatred Kai held for that girl could not be put into words. It would just be unintelligible, enraged screaming.

Her motive for hating Lloyd didn't even make sense. Yes, Lloyd had released the Serpentine, but he'd been a child. An abandoned, desperate, homeless child that most of the world had already hated just because of who his dad was. Lloyd hadn't fully understood what he was doing. His intentions hadn't been good, but Lloyd had never wanted to hurt anybody, even when he'd wanted to be 'evil'. And Lloyd definitely hadn't wanted the Devourer released. Lloyd loathed the snake, probably more than anyone. Lloyd was indirectly partially responsible at best. There were tons of people/snakes who were actually responsible.

And Harumi had no right to point the finger at Lloyd. She'd actively, willingly, and purposefully hurt and killed people. The girl had been a sociopathic lunatic. She'd helped murder her adoptive parents (royalty who had taken her in and treated her as their own) just for pity points. She hadn't needed to even hurt them. An attack on the palace alone would have been all she really needed to convince the ninja and her parents to have the ninja take her with them to protect her. But noooo, she'd killed them so she could fake bond with Lloyd over dead parents. Who did that? How could someone do that? It was a type of evil Kai could never fathom.

How her anger and hatred had all condensed on Lloyd, Kai wasn't sure, but it had become her obsession. Everything had been to destroy Lloyd. Even down to the name of her gang. She'd only used 'Sons of Garmadon' instead of 'Children of Garmadon' to make Lloyd more uncomfortable. She'd played up a romance just so it would hurt more when she stabbed him in the back. Everything had been to cause Lloyd as much pain as possible.

Maybe it hadn't even been real hatred for Lloyd. It couldn't have been at first. Even today it wasn't common knowledge that Lloyd had been the one to release the Serpentine. Her real obsession might have been Lord Garmadon and being his kid. It would (in her crazy mind) explain why she was so quick to toss away her loving adoptive parents and why she hated Lloyd and wanted him gone. She hadn't wanted to compete with Garmadon's actual child. Kai didn't care what her reason was. He was just glad she was dead.

"We should get back to the Bounty," Kai prodded, since Lloyd was not moving. When Lloyd didn't respond, Kai frowned. Was he zoning out again? He'd zoned out a few times over the past week. Enough that it was starting to get concerning.

"Lloyd?" Kai tried, louder and pushing the kid's shoulder a little.

"Oh, um," the blond startled. "The Bounty? Yeah." Lloyd glanced to the side then looked back at Kai nervously. "Um, Kai, do you hear anything… strange?"

"Strange?" Kai repeated, senses sharpening at a possible threat. But after a few seconds of almost total silence except for some distant cars, he said, "No. Why? Do you think we missed an SG?" They'd abbreviated the name to make it less grating.

Lloyd was quiet for a long moment. Then his eyes hardened. "No." He stood up. "I don't hear anything either. Let's go back."

Kai scrambled to get up as Lloyd started to walk away. "Are you sure? Why'd you ask then?"

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't hear anything either," Lloyd said shortly.

Kai sighed. "Lloyd, can we talk?" Maybe now was a good time since they were alone.

"We're talking now," Lloyd replied, not looking back at him.

"Yeah, well, I guess," Kai said, stumbling with his words. He hated these tricky, delicate talking situations. "I just- why did you come with me on this mission?"

"Why wouldn't I have?"

"Well, this was a pretty easy job," Kai began, trying to word things correctly on the spot. "Which is why we agreed we only needed two of us. And Cole was totally willing to come."

"Your point?"

"You could have used tonight to catch up on some sleep," Kai said, trying his best not to sound accusing. "You've been keeping busy and you seem tired lately."

"I get plenty of sleep," Lloyd countered. "If I hadn't come, I would just be at home doing something else. I wouldn't be sleeping."

"Is it that you're having trouble sleeping…?" As nice as having their own rooms in the Bounty now was, it did make it harder to keep an eye on Lloyd and make sure he was sleeping okay. It was harder to sense Lloyd was having a nightmare through a wall.

"No."

"Lloyd," Kai said, frustration blooming.

The blond stopped suddenly and turned to glare at Kai. Kai met his gaze. Lloyd looked away first. "Race you back to the Bounty," Lloyd challenged, then sped away over the rooftops.

"Wha- Lloyd, wait!" This was literally running away from his problems.

Lloyd, the talented little brat, got back to the Bounty first and had disappeared into his room by the time Kai got there. From the end of the hallway, Kai glared at Lloyd's bedroom door. He didn't go over though, Lloyd didn't seem to be in a reasonable mood right now. Probably because he was tired.

Cole came down the hallway heading to his own room a few minutes later. "Kai?" The earth ninja glanced between the glaring Kai and Lloyd's bedroom door. "Mission go okay?"

"It was fine," Kai reported. "We got them all, no injuries. Lloyd's just refusing to sleep properly."

Cole sighed, understanding in his eyes. "Yeah, that's the main reason I wanted to be the one to go with you."

"What, you didn't want to come because of my stunning personality?" Kai joked halfheartedly.

"Oh, it's stunning all right, but no," Cole sighed, glancing at Lloyd's bedroom door again. "I did try to ask him about it a couple days ago and he just mumbled something about it being too loud."

"Loud?" Kai asked, eyes narrowing. Jay's room was next to Lloyd's. "Jay better not be keeping him up at night with his tinkering."

"No," Cole shook his head. "I haven't heard anything." Cole's room was on the other side of Jay's. "He was probably just giving an excuse. I'm not surprised he's struggling. First Master knows the kid's gone through more than he ever should have. I don't think I'd hold up as well as he does. I just wish he'd open up more about it."

"We all do," Kai grumbled.

"Y'know, Zane made cookies while you two were gone," Cole informed him. "Maybe that will help ease the tension?" A peace offering for Lloyd?

"Cookies? And some survived?" He didn't want to tell Lloyd there were cookies only to find out they were all gone.

"I do have some self-control," Cole sniffed.

"Well, it's worth a shot," Kai decided.

Cole nodded. "Well, I'm going to bed. Make sure Lloyd doesn't stay up too late after the cookies."

"Will do," Kai promised, giving a two fingered salute.

Approaching Lloyd's door, Kai gave a couple knocks. "Lloyd?" No answer. Lloyd could be ignoring him to avoid 'a talk' or he could be asleep. If he was asleep, Kai didn't want to wake him.

Carefully creaking the door open, Kai peeked in. Lloyd wasn't asleep, much to his disappointment. The teen was hunched over his desk, looking disheveled. Kai creeped in closer, curious.

Lloyd had a map of Ninjago out. Some locations were circled, and each had a little arrow going off it. Kai recognized most of the locations as places they'd been recently. Was Lloyd trying to track down the Sons of Garmadon? The arrows' directions didn't make sense for that though.

Lloyd suddenly straightened, shoving the map into a drawer and whirling on Kai. "Kai?!" he hissed. "Why are you in my room?"

Man, Lloyd must be really out of it if he'd only just registered him. He held up his hands. "I've just been informed Zane made cookies. Wanna raid the jar?"

Lloyd's defensive posture melted away. "Oh, um, okay."

"Great!" Kai cheered. "C'mon, we better hurry before Cole goes for a midnight snack and finished them off."