On a String

Chapter 11

Anything that can go wrong will."
(Moral from the Star Wars the Clone Wars episode: 'Counterattack')

Half an hour later, Cole was close to falling asleep himself. But at the same time, he was not about to leave Kai. Not to get a pillow, not to get a drink. Not for anything.

Kai shouldn't be left alone.

He was just too fragile.

Fragile like summer flowers in winter, or the morning frost on a twig.

Looking at his tearstained face, Cole was willing to bet that this was the first 'decent' sleep Kai had gotten in ages. But by 'decent', he meant 'uninterrupted'. Even while asleep, he was still tense; face creased into lines that showed even sleep didn't give him the rest he needed.

Cole was just thankful that he seemed to be sleeping a little easier now.

"What are you doing up so late? You're not on the next shift!" Jay stuck his head in the doorway and grinned, looking unusually cheerful for someone who had stayed up for five hours.

Cole nodded at Kai's sleeping form, which was still in his arms. "We came to sleep in here. There was a small panic in the bunkroom," he whispered, careful not to wake his friend.

"Oh," Jay nodded, some of his upbeat attitude seeming to disappear with the movement. He clearly understood what Cole meant. "That's not good,"

"No," Cole sighed softly. "Who's on watch next? I forgot,"

"Zane. Poor guy," Jay gave another grin, clearly showing that he did not envy the Master of Ice.

"You both get to sleep in, though," Cole replied.

Jay's grin widened at the words 'sleep in'. "I know. I can't wait! Anyway, I'm off to bed now, so catch you later, Cole,"

"Yeah, see ya-"Cole had just finished speaking when an alarm began to wail. "What is-?"

Kai sat bolt upright, eyes wide as the sudden noise woke him.

"Easy, Kai," Cole smiled. "I'm still here,"

Jay groaned at the alarm. "There goes my sleep in. There's an attack in Ninjago City. Someone's calling us for help," leaving the room, the Master of Lightening ran down the hallway and began to wake the rest of the team. "Everyone up! Let's go!" he bellowed. "We have a situation, people!"

Kai looked worried.

"It's okay, Kai. We'll go check this out," Cole nodded, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. "C'mon, we've gotta head for the bridge."

"There's been an explosion in the reception area of the Ninjago City bank," Nya reported with a small yawn as she began to type into the keyboard, bringing up brief report of the damage.

"The offenders are still there and the Police need our help to capture them. No civilians were caught up in the blast, though. The Bank wasn't open at this time of night. Which is good as it will make things much easier for us," She blinked blearily. "Argh, why'd it have to be in the middle of a night when I didn't have watch duty?"

Jay joined her at the controls; turning the ship's engines on and bringing it around in the direction of Ninjago City. "Well, at least I was already awake," Jay grinned. "Since I'm already dressed and armed, you lot had better go get ready," he said with a nod to the rest of the team. "Except you, Lloyd. You need to stay here with Sensei and be our backup if anything goes wrong. Oh and Zane, bring your falcon. We may need an eye in the sky,"