Affinity: [Cole X Reader 2]

13-.Wish I Knew You.-13

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"You shine like a star, cuz you know who you are, everything beautiful..."
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Well crap.

I paced the floor in the bridge of the Bounty, fingers worrying a stray piece of hair.

"Okay, it's not as bad as it seems..." Lloyd ventured and I huffed, rubbing my face with a hand.

"Oh that's so true! It's not like Jax is seen as a good guy and Jay is gone!" I snapped back, which caused the green ninja to flinch. Cole slid up next to me and took my hand in his with a squeeze. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Lloyd. It's just a whole mess and I don't know what's going on. Makes me feel a little powerless."

Kai frowned and cast a sorrowful look at me. "I'm really sorry, Lux. I shouldn't have left him alone."

"It's not you're fault. Jay can take care of himself."

Zane, from his place in the corner, looked up suddenly, eyes wide. "We do have cause for going after Jax. He did kidnap Jay and we know this for Kai saw a car drive away with Jay, driven by one of his henchmen."

I snapped and pointed a finger at the genius nindroid. "Smart, Tincan! We just don't know where they're all holed up."

Lloyd looked to Zane and they pulled out a map of Ninjago and rolled it out on the table. "We should start looking then."

Nya took over, drawing circles on the map with a red pen. "Okay. We know that in the past, they favored fast food places, usually private owned. I wouldn't be super surprised if they took over the old warehouse we were holed up before you showed up, Y/n." She tilted her head to me and I nodded, following. "They're weapons dealer. They'd need a big place for storage."

"Right! There are only a few left after Borg redid the city." She circled two more places on the map, alongside the one we were at last week.

"That gives us six locations to check." Cole mumbled and tilted his hair, letting his black hair fall into his eyes. "Seems that motormouth has gotten us into more that we can chew."

I waited on the deck of the ship for us to be split into groups. My weight leaned against the railing, I took a deep breath in trying to calm my anxious heart. Jay can take care of himself, but it won't stop me from worrying about him. From seemingly no where, Cole came to stand beside me, his ghostly green color radiating off his skin.

"Hey, look at this!" He said suddenly and super emphatically. He vanished from view, like a magician and blinked back to the same spot a second later. "Cool ghost stuff, huh?" He wiggles his eyebrows at me and I let out a chuckle.

"Super cool." I shook my head, smile on my lips.

"So I told Lloyd and Sensei that you and I should be on a team. I did finally agree to a date tonight and I didn't want you to miss out on the chance." He said, smirk written on his lips.

"Oh right. Because I was the one who begged you to get back together." I retorted.

"Uh huh. You did." His eyes found mine with a smile.

I broke his gaze and my hands found a strand of my hair again. "So where are we going?"

He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "Just one of the fast food places. We're only covering three places tonight, the fast food joints." I only nodded in response and stood to face the others as they came onto the deck with us.

"Alright. We're all set. Don't get kidnapped, okay?"

I followed Cole as we hid in a bush just across the street from the fast food joint. Dusk was settling in and the clock was ticking on finding Jay.

"Well it doesn't look very exciting."

"Hey hey don't bash our date site." Cole grumbled and elbowed me.

I rolled my eyes and cast him a glare from under my mask. "Aye aye, then."

"Okay, first date questions," Cole slid down and pulled a pair of binoculars out and looked through them at the small food joint. "Who was your first crush?"

Taken aback, I frowned. "What kind of a question is that?"

"A first date one!"

"It's lame."

"Answer it."

"Uh okay. Um I think it was some kid named Henry in like sixth grade. He actually turned out to be a big jerk so I cut that real quick."

Cole chuckled under his breath and smiled. "Nice."

A huff and I snatched the binoculars from him, peering at the small building. A few tables sat in the dining area where an old couple sat. "Okay. My turn. Hmm what do you admire most about me?"

"And you said I had a lame question. Um... I'd say your perseverance and boldness. You took this whole ninja thing on like it was no big deal, no elemental power required." From the corner of my eye, I saw him smile.

"They're leaving. We should head in now."

We ran around the corner of the building, where an old metal door stood between us and the inside of what could be where weapons are dealed. Cole glanced at me and after unsheathing my sword, he kicked down the door with a loud bang. I followed him into the nearly empty back kitchen smelling harshly of grease. A glance at me, and he tossed his head to one side. I followed his gaze, seeing a lone worker left in the building as she closed down shop. We went around the other way, avoiding her, checking everywhere for weapons or my brother.

We came up empty. I huffed in frustration as I crossed off the three drive through fast food places on the map. It was late, far past midnight when we all returned empty handed. My hands tugged at my hair, elbows placed on the table. "Please just be okay, Jay." I whispered into the quiet oblivion as everyone else slept in their rooms.
I wonder if they were as worried as I was.

"Can sleep?"

Startled, I sat up suddenly, smacking my head into the screen above me. "Ouch." With a hand, I rubbed the top of my head. "Uh... yeah. Just worried about Jay."

Cole sighed and his eyes met mine, soft and sympathetic. "I know, me too." I nodded, then shook my head as hot tears streamed down my face.

"I know he's gonna be fine. I know... but I'm still so scared for him."

He crossed the floor to me and cupped my face in his hand. I leaned into it before he pulled me into a hug. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."

I nodded into his shirt and took a deep breath in, then out. A gasp escaped my lips as he picked me up, unannounced. "What are you doing?"

"You gotta sleep. You're keeping our team together and we can't loose you to this." Cole held me bridal style and tip toed into my room. With gentleness I didn't know anyone possessed, he placed me onto my bed and taking his sleeve over his hand, he wiped my tears away. "Sleep." He whispered to me with a soft smile. "I promise it'll be okay. I love you."