I can see you (waitin' down the hall from me)

Chapter 4

   Cole woke with a start to the sound of his phone blaring with alarms. He had dozens of missed calls and unread messages from Lloyd and Zane.  Most of the tulips had slipped off the comforting bed during the night. Cleaning up would take way too long, so Cole opted to answer the various messages he had received from his friends first. His sleepy eyes darted over the literal hundreds of notifications urging him to wake up and head to the precinct. There was one text that specifically stood out. "The criminal was spotted again--come quick!" Lloyd had sent. Immediately rushing to get ready and skipping breakfast, Cole hopped in his truck, heading to the precinct.

   The movement in the precinct was rushed, everyone was quick to head to where the criminal had been spotted. No one informed Cole of anything until they were in a van zooming towards the Ninjago city bank.

   "Your criminal was spotted at the bank, we are pretty sure he's trying a heist there." Lloyd cut to the chase. Nodding in response, Cole got ready to head out of the vehicle. They crashed through the doors to the bank, causing a few screams from elders and one red dressed guy escaping from the back door. Cole ran ahead of Lloyd not offering opportunities to catch up.

   "NCPD!! You're under arrest!" Cole breathlessly yelled after the Criminal. He responded with chuckles and swiftly took a right.

   "Wait!" Cole took the same turn, "come back!" He looked forwards at the alley way he had gotten lost in. There were discarded scarlet clothes scattered on the ground. Where did he go? Cole thought.

   "Hey, up here beautiful," a deep voice sounded out above Cole. He felt his cheeks filling with heat as he looked upwards. How did he get up there? The, now crimson cloaked, criminal smiled down at the cop from a small ledge near the roof of the bank.

   "I don't usually have people running after me," the criminal stated.

   "I don't usually chase people who stole over 200,000 dollars," the cop responded. "Could I get the name of who I'm about to arrest?"

   "You wish you could arrest this." The criminal vaguely motioned his body. "The name is Kai." He smiled. A genuine one, even if it was for someone who wanted him dead. Maybe not dead, but you get it. Kai looked down at the dark haired cop, only to see him scaling the wall. He was getting closer to him. Kai scrambled upwards, he would have to run.

   "Thanks for telling me your name, it'll be easier to find you now," Cole panted. Climbing walls is very different from climbing mountains. A red blur hopped towards the next flat roof. Cole stepped forward on the rooftop.

   "Crap," said Cole. Kai dissappeared. The cop climbed back down into the alleyway, not before grabbing a lone paper that was left in place of the red criminal. He sighed and turned to see his fellow cops. They looked optimistic, but all hope vanquished as they saw Cole's frustrated expression and head shaking 'no'.

   "He escaped...again," he said. "Although I was able to learn his name, Kai."

   "You think we can find him with that info?" Lloyd asked.

   "It'll certainly help." Cole managed a smile.

   Kai knew it was wrong. That didn't stop him. He had gotten into the mess of stealing over 17 years ago, it's too late to end it. He has legacy to uphold you know? And things just got interesting with the new cop on his case. Kai had to admit, he liked messing with the detectives previously investigating him, but something about this one was... intriguing. Maybe Kai had just gotten bored after staying inactive for so long, or maybe it was because of the cop's large bulid and dark hair and his goofy smile and his brown adoring eyes and-
Kai always loved the attention he'd get, whether it was from his parents, sister, or now the detectives investigating him. Kai grinned, fixing the black gloves on his hands, remembering the look on Brookstone's team as he released the sleeping gas from the box. It never got old, even if he used a similar trick on every new cop on his case. But this interaction. It was new. It's not like Kai's never talked to anyone before, he's just never, well, flirted with someone who wants to put his sorry ass in jail. He barely managed to scramble out of there without turning beet red. He managed to land in a dark alley near the Mechanic's Shoppe after running past a few more rooftops. There was colourful graffiti on the walls and litter on the ground, but surprisingly it was one of the nicer places he's had to hide in.

   "So it really is you, huh?" A voice laughed behind him, disturbing the comforting silence. Kai knew that voice, didn't he? He turned around and took in the mystery voice's features. The black layered hair pinned into a ponytail by a blue scrunchie. The dark mole under her right eye. The stylish leather jacket she wore.

   "Not going to say anything?" she said.

   "Nya-"

   "No. You disappear for, I dunno, five years? You leave me and Lloyd to do what? Steal?" She blinked away tears, refusing to let them fall.

   "Nya, I'm so so sorry-"

   "Sorry? You left us. Now you show up after years only to reveal your face on a camera as the infamous criminal who has been stealing for ages. The person I would trust with my life, a criminal? One who left his family like they were worth nothing? I wished you were with me every day, in every moment I had, but you weren't." Tears streamed down Nya's face and dropped onto the ground. Her hands were clenched in frustration and anger.

   "Nya, I never wanted to hurt you, I'm so so sorry," Kai faced his sister. He didn't dare reach out. Nya's tan hands wiped the salty tears from her face. "Look how that turned out," she laughed, her voice cracking.

   "I wish I had done something else Nya, I was in too deep and I should have reached out when I had the chance. I know, I know it's too late to do anthing," Kai begged forgiveness. "But please-"

   "Don't worry I won't tell." Nya swallowed, "I could never. You're my brother. No matter how much it hurts, I still love you." She lifted her face to look back at her brother. Although they were different they shared many of eachother's features. The same nose, frown, eyebrows, stubbornness, and their love. Nya gave a small smile and wiped her tears on the black leather sleeve of her jacket. "Just leave me and Lloyd out of it." She turned around and walked out of the dark alley. Kai wiped his own running tears.

   "I love you too."

1156 words

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Im really bad at writing conversations lol :')