#thinking sbout various scenarios in which Cole Survives But The Others Think He's Dead

[razzle-zazzle]

Yes, I am calling this AU "Sad Jay Noises"

1918 Words

In the aftermath of the Oni, when Ninjago struggled to rebuild itself, in those first, fledgeling weeks, all the ninja could do was grieve.

Maybe one of them would go out to make an appearance, help with the reconstruction efforts. Maybe two. And maybe it’d just be one of those days where they all stayed in the monastery, desperately avoiding the empty room where dust clung to the bedsheets, their grief choking the air. Even Wu tended to give the doorway a wide berth when he passed it in the hall—a hall he rarely walked now, avoiding it entirely when he could help it.

Several times Jay had found himself stopping by that door, tracing his hands over the wood while contemplating going in. And every time, his mind would bring up the memories unbidden, so real and visceral and painful—

He didn’t scream. He just fell, silently, into the cloud. He hadn’t screamed—Jay had.

He didn’t scream, but Jay could never recall him looking more terrified.

And then Jay would find himself in the bathroom, splashing cold water in his face. Telling himself that everything was okay, when it clearly wasn’t. Telling himself that he’d go in next time.

It was after those first few weeks that they all—Jay wasn’t sure how they even managed to reach this decision, acting as one even as more than a few of them threatened to leave—wordlessly agreed enough was enough. They would go in that room, collect the meaningful things, and give him a proper memorial. They would mourn, and then they’d move on. Maybe they’d split apart again, like when Zane had sacrificed himself to defeat the Overlord. Maybe Jay and Nya would finally start putting together plans for their wedding.

Of course, fate was rarely so kind. Just as they had finally worked up the courage to confront what they had been avoiding, an alert came up. A break-in at the museum.

A welcome excuse to leave the room untouched.

And so the team assembled, meeting the new villain on his way out of the museum, stolen papers in his bag. “Stay out of my way.” He’d huffed, voice distorted through his mask. A mask painted in a way clearly emulating the oni, sending another pang of grief through the group. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, so stay out of my way.”

They didn’t.

He mopped the floor with them, though Kai grumbled that it was only because they were out of practice. That they’d underestimated the guy. That they’d win the next time he showed up.

They didn’t.

“We’ll win next time. One person can’t beat all of us that many times.” Lloyd promised. Yeah. They’d do better next time.

They didn’t.

“Vengeance” was what the public had taken to calling him, based on how his mask and style seemed to be emulating the oni scourge that had so recently been defeated. Media stations speculated on his intentions, social media threads discussed theories about his techniques. There was something achingly familiar to Vengeance, something about the way he moved and fought that reminded Jay of something he couldn’t identify. The others agreed, there was something familiar they couldn’t identify.

“We’ll unmask him in the next battle, everyone. We’ll get the drop on him.”

They didn’t.

And, throughout all of this, the empty room had gone untouched, the priority pushed down in all the chaos Vengeance had been causing. They’d brought it up, once, after a particularly embarrassing battle, but couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Decided they’d get to it after cleaning themselves up.

They didn’t.

But Vengeance did, breaking into the monastery while they were away, rummaging through the things in that room with no care for them. No care for how he was desecrating the memory. It made Jay's blood boil. How dare. The audacity to just dig through their brother's stuff like that.

Kai swore that they'd take Vengeance down next time, to make up for letting this happen.

They didn't.

+=+=+=+=+

It had been a more successful battle than the other times, Zane managing to immobilize Vengeance with ice just long enough for Lloyd to get a good swing in.

Of course, that didn’t last. Vengeance, as always, found a way to regain the upper hand, trapping Lloyd and Kai in a pile of rubble. Nya managed to knock Vengeance off balance with a blast of water from the nearby river, but the extra water on their impromptu battlefield plus a misfire from Zane only served to make everything spiral out of control faster.

But then Jay saw an opportunity. No longer taking the time to think, he rushed Vengeance, tackling him to the ground. “Why are you so frustrating?” He’d asked, while rolling around in the dirt. Vengeance said nothing, just moved to push Jay off of himself.

But Jay wasn’t having it. This weirdo had been causing trouble in the city—so soon after the oni invasion, while emulating those monsters to boot—for so long now, and Jay was done. How was he supposed to grieve his best friend if he was constantly being reminded of the circumstances that killed him? Jay wasn’t thinking, couldn’t hear anything past the sound of blood rushing in his head.

So he punched Vengeance, putting as much voltage as he could into it. He couldn’t help but be satisfied at the whumph sound Vengeance made, the way he twitched and spazzed under Jay as the electricity coursed through his body.

But all too soon, Jay was flying through the air from the force of Vengeance's throw, slamming against Nya before he could even process what happened. When he did, when he heard Vengeance's cry of "JAY YOU FUCK THAT ACTUALLY HURT" as the man charged towards him, Jay had to double take.

He'd put in far too much voltage for Vengeance to have recovered so fast. And yet, there he was, grabbing Jay by the neck and lifting off the ground, ready to throw him in the river.

But Jay wasn't going down that easily—at least, not alone. With a well-placed kick, Jay turned what would have been another take down into a struggle, getting both himself and Vengeance into the overpowering current.

His friends called out his name as he continued to struggle against Vengeance, trying to gain an upper hand. But all too soon, he and his foe were washed away.

+=+=+=+=+

Jay groaned as he coughed up water. He must have hit something in the river, if he'd fallen unconscious. Blinking the bleariness out of his eyes, Jay had to double take once again.

Vengeance was leaning over him, hands on his chest. It took Jay a moment to realize. He had been doing compressions.

He might have even saved Jay's life.

Noticing that Jay was awake, Vengeance backed away. "You okay?"

Jay's jaw was on the floor. Was… was this a trick? It had to be.

"Alright, what's your ploy here?" Electricity sparked in Jay's hands as he backed away, hackles raised.

Vengeance, though his expression couldn't be seen past the mask, gave Jay a blank stare. "Is it so wrong for me to be concerned, Jay?"

And there it was again. He'd referred to the ninja by name before, but something about the way he said Jay's, the sort of familiarity in his tone, gave Jay pause.

Well, two could play at that game—even if Jay wasn't sure what that game was. He relaxed somewhat, though he remained ready for action at any moment. "And why would you be so concerned?"

Vengeance recoiled, as if hurt by that remark. He looked away. "Because I still care about you, Jay."

What the actual fuck. "And why should I believe that?" Jay demanded, hands sparking again.

Vengeance looked back to him, before wordlessly raising his hands to his mask. He took it off.

Jay froze.

It was the last thing Jay expected to see under Vengeance's mask, and yet, there he was.

Cole.

"C-... C o L e?" Holy shit. Holy forking shit on a waffle. Cole was alive. He was there, breathing, breathtaking, alive. Jay stumbled forwards, choking a sob out. His tears were hot on his face. But that didn't matter, because Cole was alive and he was right there and Jay could hit him for being such an idiot and making everyone think he was dead.

So Jay did.

"You jerkass! This whole time, we thought you were dead!" Jay's fists pounded uselessly against Cole's chest, tears running hot down his face. "Do you have any idea how much we've been hurting? How much we wanted you back?" He let out a cry, sagging forwards into Cole's arms. Cole's strong, comforting arms, that always kept Jay safe late at night. Jay wailed again, shoving his face into Cole's chest as his shoulders shook.

Cole said nothing, letting Jay cry it out. When Jay finished, Cole backed away, reaching for his mask to put it back on.

"What are you doing? Cole, stop."

Cole looked back towards Jay, his expression neutral. "I've still got something to finish, Jay."

"Then let us help you." Jay came forwards, taking Cole's hands into his own. "Come back to the monastery, everyone will be so happy to know you're alive. Please." At Cole's unconvinced look, Jay continued. "Whatever's going on, whatever this 'Vengeance' phase is—" And Jay had no doubt in his mind that vengeance was the last thing on Cole's To-Do List; Cole wasn't that type, "—We'll help. We'll support you. We're your family, Cole. Let us help you."

Cole gently removed his hands from Jay's, one of his arms moving to rub nervously at the back of his neck. "Wow, Jay. That's—I don't—" His expression turned cold as his grip tightened on the horns of his mask. He looked away.

"For a moment there, I almost believed you."

Jay's blood ran cold.

Cole replaced the mask, adjusting it once it was on. "Not that it matters." He said grimly. "Even if I wanted to go back, I really can't."

"What… what are you talking about, Cole? Of course you can come back. You can always come back."

Cole shook his head. "I don't think you get it, Jay. Even if I could, I don't want to. There's nothing left for me there." He moved to leave, but Jay latched onto his arm, the tears already back.

"Cole, please." And boy, if that didn't sound pathetic. But Jay was fine with sounding pathetic. His image wasn't important right now.

But Cole just shoved Jay off, knocking him to the floor.

"Cole, wait—"

Cole whipped around, kneeling so that he was directly in Jay's face. The snarling face of the mask met Jay's heartbroken one. "I don't want to hurt you, Jay. I don't want to hurt anybody, so stay out of my way." Cole then stood up and began walking away, leaving Jay with words that went straight through Jay's heart.

"If it makes you feel better, it's not because of something you did do."

"It's what you didn't."

And when the others found Jay, lying there in the dirt pathetically, sobbing inconsolably, when Kai angrily demanded to know what "Vengeance" did to get Jay so worked up like that, when Nya helped him up, when Zane asked what happened, when Lloyd tried to console him, something in Jay broke. Something he didn't think he could fix.

I'll tell the others once we're back at the monastery, Jay told himself. They'll know what to do.

But he didn't.