***GUYS, WE'RE ALMOST DONE! ONE MORE CHAPTER AND AN EPILOGUE, AND THEN I HAVE NO EXCUSE NOT TO WORK ON IAW!

SNL: *pokes head in the door* I can give you an excuse

Me: *mind goes into overdrive*

IAW: Just stop, bro. I deserve some love. Finish me, and you finish your series.

Me: But...the Bachelorette...

Also, I don't own Band-Aid Brand. I'm just stuck on it because it's stuck on me.***

***(Jay's POV)***

Kai and I crawl out of Homer's truck bed as he walks up to Sanders's cabin doorstep. We need to get around the back of the cabin before the police chief gets to the front door, or we'll be spotted for sure.

Once I hoist myself over the edge of the truck, I run to a spot I estimate is out of sight of the door. Then, I do my best to silently creep toward the back of the house. Kai follows at a slight distance.

"Which one is the laundry room window?" he asks. "That's the one Homer told us to use, right?"

"Exactly. I...think it was the window on the left? No, right. Definitely right." I've gone left too many times tonight already.

"You're sure?" Kai asks.

I nod vigorously. "Positive. We break in, we get Nya out, and we get away from here as fast as possible. Then, we'll have to get the authorities from the next town over to come look at the crime scene before the police chief here manages to cover up the evidence."

"The closest PD is probably Stiix," Kai reasons. "I don't know their number, but we can get it off the web." He pulls out his phone. "I'll go ahead and get them on the line, but we need to head in there now."

"You're right." I swallow hard. "I just hope Nya's in good enough condition for us to get her out of here. If we're too late, Sanders might already be out digging a hole in the woods for – "

I hear the door open on the other side of the house and breathe out a sigh of relief. "Okay. We can rule out the part about him burying Nya in the forest right now. He's answering Homer at the front door." I point to the window on the right side of the back of the house. "That should be the one."

"Let's do this," Kai growls. "We get in, we get Nya, we trap the police chief. And shoot him, if necessary." He belts his phone. "The police can track a call, right? I just dialed the number, but I'm not wasting any time talking." He bends down and searches the ground for something to use as a weapon.

"Yeah." I swallow. "Here, give me the phone. I'll give them a quick rundown so they know what to expect." I pull the phone off Kai's belt.

"Hello?" asks the woman on the other end of the line. "Is anyone there?"

"Hi," I say quickly. "My name is Jay Walker. I'd like to report a potentially volatile situation – a woman has been kidnapped in a remote area and is in danger of being murdered."

"Okay, um...do you know the address?"

"No clue," I huff. "It's right outside Ignacia." I name the highway that led us here. "You're going to have to track the call. When you come up the driveway, you'll need to use the left side."

"Okay. Let me patch you over to the Ignacian PD – "

"Their chief is the attempted murderer. We can only accept medical from Ignacia. The corruption is knee-deep in this place." I hand the phone back over to Kai.

I'm going to be in so much trouble with the Ninjago City PD for staging a stupid rescue mission like this.

Kai grabs a log and steps past me. "Ready?" he whispers.

I nod, knowing every second we waste is one which we could be using to save Nya's life.

Kai readies himself, then smashes the window with the log. Glass shatters everywhere, and the resulting sound echoes through the night like a swear word from a three-year-old's lips.

There's silence for a moment, then a shout from inside.

Kai immediately unlocks the window through the hole he made, then shoves it upward and crawls through. I follow suit.

As I begin climbing through, Kai exclaims, "I thought you said this window led to the laundry room!"

"It...doesn't?" I ask, dropping down to the floor below.

"I have no idea where we are in the house," he fumes.

"Looks like a bedroom," I realize.

There's noise from the living room, and Kai and I both spring into action. He runs out of the room, making a right down the dark hall. Just as he does, a figure whizzes past him, identified only by rapid footsteps.

"You take care of him!" Kai yells after me, already intent on the living room.

"I – fine!" I head down the hall after the figure, then round a corner to see moonlight streaming in through a windowed door.

This must be the side door Homer referred to.

And the light of the moon reveals to me...

That I'm following Nya!

Oh my gosh! She's – she's okay!

"Nya!" I cry. "Wait!"

She doesn't pay attention, deftly unlocking the door and throwing it open. The force seems to upset her balance, and she stumbles off to the side before continuing in her trek toward the woods.

I shake off my surprise and sprint after her. I know I must be much faster, given that I'm training to be a police officer and all, but Nya's running scared. Adrenaline has her focused only on getting away from me.

"Nya!" I yell. "It's me, Jay! Don't run!"

She doesn't pay attention as I gain on her. Instead, she veers to the side, her stride uncoordinated. She trips and falls to the ground.

I skid to a stop right next to her, falling down beside her. I immediately run my hands over her face, ensuring myself that she's okay. However, she tries to wrestle away from me, obviously still wild from the ordeal she's just experienced.

I rack my brain for the right words to calm her down.

"It's me, Nya!" I pant. "Jay Walker! I pretended we were having kids today!"

Her struggle ceases, and her rapid breath puffs against me. "Jay? How...?"

"It doesn't matter right now. Oh my gosh, Nya. Are you okay?" I quickly trace my hands over her arms and torso, searching for injuries.

I find a gun in her palm, and my eyes widen. "What the – "

"I'm fine," she reassures me. "Just cuts and bruises and that kind of thing. I was cracked in the head one or two times." She inhales heavily, rising to a sitting position, dropping the gun in her lap, and pulling me into a hug.

"We're okay," I laugh slightly, wrapping her in my own arms. I want to squeeze her so tightly, but I know she probably wouldn't appreciate that if she's a little banged up.

"Cole's back at the cabin," she manages through her harsh breathing. "We have to go back for him. He's a victim, too."

"Cole?" I frown. "He's working with the police chief, Nya. How hard did you hit your head?"

"It's not about that," she huffs. "He really is in trouble. We're going back for him." She rises quickly, stumbling and catching herself successfully. She reaches down and grabs her weapon.

I blanch, standing to my feet and grabbing her by the shoulders to halt her. "No way am I letting you go. I just got you back, Nya."

"And now we're getting Cole back." She steps forward, struggling against my grasp. "Let me go, Jay. I've already been held against my will more times today than I care to recount."

"I'm sorry, okay?" I let out a sigh, following her but not releasing her. "You're staying outside while Kai and I retrieve Cole. It's not safe."

She falters in her step. "My brother's here?"

I mentally facepalm. "I forgot to explain. I met up with Kai at the gas station, and after I explained things, he gave me a ride to help get you. He's inside Sanders's cabin right now, probably taking care of the police chief."

"He'll kill Kai, Jay!" She jerks against my hold on her, ready to run.

"You are going back to the truck," I instruct her, quickening my pace. "Plus, we don't want to run in there ready to shoot when the chief could be waiting for us. How many people are inside the cabin?"

"Kai, Cole, the chief, and Cole's friend who helped in the bank robbery," she lists off, trying to drag me along.

"Okay," I muse. "Add Homer to the mix, and that's five. We'll have to be quiet, just in case Kai and Homer have been subdued. How's Cole?"

"He was struck in the back with a chair. He might've been hit in the head, too – I think he's unconscious." She sighs shakily. "And the police chief was shot in the arm. He's still moving, but he's wounded."

"Who shot him?" I frown.

"I did." She leads me right up to the side door, then freezes. "Do you think we should take the front entrance? Even though coming through the side is more discreet, someone could still catch us by surprise in the winding hallway."

"Front door. And you are going to go wait in the truck." I guide her in that direction.

She growls, "You need my help. I'm armed."

There's shouting from inside, and she dives around the side of the house for the porch. I barely catch her, but when I do, I shoot her a scowl.

"The whole reason Kai and I came was to rescue you. I'm not letting you go back in there."

She scoffs. "I rescued myself." She advances toward the door quietly.

Oh my gosh. I'm not going to win this argument any time soon, and we're wasting time here!

"Okay," I hiss. "Since you're intent on helping, stay behind me, would you? You're not trained for this."

"I'll go in behind you, but I'm not going to stay there." She creeps along the wall of the house under the dim light of the moon. The door stands ajar, allowing artificial illumination to dance a pattern onto the wooden stoop.

"Homer must've gone inside," I realize. The thought does nothing to comfort me.

"Who's Homer?" Nya whispers.

"The next-door neighbor." I peek through the door, then slide in toward the direction of the yelling. Against my better judgment, I motion for Nya to follow.

I see Kai in the adjoining room. He has a gun pulled on the police chief, the police chief has a gun pulled on Homer, and Homer has a gun pulled on some unknown, unarmed guy in the floor. I would assume Nya got her gun from him.

I aim directly at the police chief's back – he's facing the opposite direction as us – then say calmly, "Put down the gun, Sanders. You're outnumbered."

His shoulders tense for just a moment before he relaxes, letting out a low chuckle. "I can see that." He doesn't move to lower his weapon.

"Put down the weapon," I command him again, trying to make myself sound calmer than I actually am.

"You're not going to shoot me," he says nonchalantly.

"He will," Nya vouches. "And if you don't believe him, believe that I will."

At the sound of his sister's voice, Kai's posture tightens, and his face clouds with emotion. His gun hand shakes slightly, but he steadies himself and continues to train it on the police chief.

"So this is what it comes down to," Sanders scoffs.

I advance on him and, hearing my steps, his gun arm trembles. It slowly begins to move away from Homer toward Kai.

Nya takes a step toward him. "Freeze!"

His arm stops, but he speaks up, "And what? Wait for you all to call in some outside police force to take me in? Am I supposed to confess my wrongdoings in front of a court and either spend a lifetime in prison or end my life by death penalty? I don't think so." The gun in his grasp points down to the floor.

I take another step toward him, reaching for his weapon. Right as I do, he swiftly whips the gun around.

Nya pulls the trigger on her weapon. The bullet lodges in chief's side. He teeters backward, then falls to the floor.

I kneel down next to him, knocking his weapon toward Homer. "You could've shot me!"

I mean, he should've expected one of the Smith siblings to take him down if he tried anything. They're both not afraid to fire, apparently.

"I had to try," the man hisses through pain.

"You're lucky," Kai huffs, helping Homer subdue Sanders's accomplice in the floor. "If I would've shot you, chief, I would've aimed to kill. That's the way our dad taught Nya and me to shoot, but apparently my sister was willing to take a chance and show you mercy."

"I didn't need to somehow get serious murder charges added to my record, even if I was only going to kill in self-defense. I don't trust the justice system much, no offense." Nya releases a breath. "Did you call for emergency help?"

"We did," I reply. "You can have a seat, Nya. You've had a long night."

"I find that offensive." She walks over to where Cole's body lays motionless in the floor, shaking him slightly. "Cole? Cole?"

He groans and begins to stir.

"Kai?" I ask. "Can you call up the Stiix PD again?"

"You got this guy covered, Mr. Smiddy?" Kai asks, referring to Sanders's crony.

"It's insulting that you even had to ask," Homer replies.

Kai rushes over to Nya and pulls his sister into a hug. "Gosh, I missed you," he chokes out.

"I know," she says softly, still waking Cole. "Call the police, okay?"

"Is that your way of apologizing?" he sniffs.

I hear shuffling, indicating that Kai is getting out his phone. I, on the other hand, have to keep my gaze trained on Sanders. I don't want him somehow pulling a gun on us. Again. Like, he could've killed me.

A moment later, Kai says, "Yes, I'd like to report a murder attempt. No worries, we've subdued the murderer."

"That's one way to put it," I sigh, pressing my coat against Sanders's wound. I don't want the guy to bleed out. We still need him to testify in court, after all.

"Yes, we need medical," Kai says. "My sister looks like a mess."

"And Sanders could be dying right now," Nya points out. "We kind of need him as proof that a lot of my charges were false."

"Yes, I'm with the guy who called a few minutes ago," Kai tells the person on the phone. "Even though we're closer to Ignacia, we're asking for help from Stiix. The reason is that the attempted murderer is the Ignacian police chief."

You know, if I weren't trying to save a murderer's life right now, I would give a lot to listen in on that phone call.

The police chief scowls up at me. "Just let me die in peace. I don't want to be known as a criminal."

Kai scoffs from across the room. "You should've thought about that before you messed with my family."

"He's right," I put in. "You should've known things would go south if you messed with the Smiths. Even I'm afraid of them."

Kai pffts. "You said you were in love with my sister. You have good reason to be afraid."

"Of you?" I laugh. "Sorry, but you're not the one who just shot my would-be killer."

"He was referring to me," Nya says quietly, kneeling down beside me.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Just taking in everything." She runs a hand over my shoulder.

Kai bends down between us both. "Yes, I can hear the sirens for approaching medical aid."

Huh. I hadn't realized that help was that close. Stiix must've sent for help the first time we called. I'm sure the police will be right behind them.

"They're not allowed to come in until the police get here?" Kai scowls into the phone. "But we have the chief down!"

"It's protocol," I sigh.

Kai speaks into the phone again. "You're understaffed? ...So you want me to get off the line? ...Whatever." He huffs and puts the phone down.

I look up at his disgruntled expression and chuckle. "Mind applying pressure to this wound for me?"

"Let me see how much blood I can squeeze out," Kai grumbles, taking over for me by holding my coat over the chief's wound.

I look over at Nya, then scowl when I see dried blood on the side of her face. "I know you don't like wearing purple, so brace yourself. Something tells me you're going to be sporting a lot of bruises within the next two days." I stand to my feet, then come to her side and trace my finger over her cheek.

She raises an eyebrow, wincing at the movement. "You've got me there."

"You could really use a Band-Aid." I place an arm around her shoulders. "You doing okay?"

"I'm okay. I just need a really long nap." She laughs humorlessly.

I rub my hand over her shoulder. "Nya, would you like to know what I've realized today?"

"Nothing can surprise me at this point," she sighs. "Fire away."

"I've realized that you get into trouble. A lot." A shake my head solemnly. "You scare the heck out of me."

The sirens wail loudly outside, indicating that medical help has arrived.

"Good," she says. "Maybe now you won't tell me you love me on the first day I meet – "

I give her wide eyes, jerking my head in Kai's direction. He does not need to know that I just started talking to her today.

She clears her throat. "Maybe now you won't tell me you love me on the first day I meet your parents."

"You're a lifesaver," I mouth, placing my lips right next to her ear for only her to hear.

"I figure I might need you alive," she whispers back, eyeing Kai. "Are you listening to this?" she asks him skeptically.

"No," he argues, his tone insulted.

She rolls her eyes, then presses her own mouth to my ear. Her warm breath tickles my skin, and I hold her tighter.

"Who knows?" she murmurs. "I might want to keep you around."

"I" – my eyes bug, and I pull away to look down at her – "really?"

"I don't know." She shrugs, wincing again. "Or I might've hit my head a little too hard. Or I've just had too long of a day and need to clear my head. Who knows?"

I bend my face down toward hers, searching for someplace without a nasty red mark or any sort of abrasion. Once I find one – right on her nose – I give her a peck on the tip.

"If you're going to keep me around because a head injury muddled your thinking," I murmur, "then I'm developing a new appreciation for concussions." I crane my neck back to view Homer and the two villains we took down tonight. "You know, I think we make a pretty good team."

"Right," Nya agrees. "You, me, Kai, and Homer."

I laugh. "I meant you and me."

"I know." She leans into my side. "I guess now we just have to worry about how much time I'm going to spend in prison on my real charges."

More sirens of a different pitch wail in the distance, a sign that the police will be arriving soon.

"I'm going to think positively here and hope you only get community service," I say softly, rearranging her messy hair so it rests over her shoulder. "You're off drugs. The police chief threatened you into running and faking an ID and all that. You stole because you were young and hurting. But I think if worst comes to worst, you'll end up in prison for a year or so." I look down at her thoughtfully. "But I'll be there for you no matter what. If you'll have me, of course." I smile reassuringly, even though my heart twists.

She sighs. "I guess we all get what's coming for us. A year in prison, plus never being able to get a job in the future? Yay."

"You've been paying for your wrongs two years, Nya," I remind her, stroking my hand over her arm. "You've been lost and lonely. Maybe you've paid the cost, huh? Maybe it's time you got something good in life. You have me, right?"

"And me," Kai interrupts.

She sighs tiredly. "Yeah. I just...well, I hope justice is finally served. Even if justice looks like prison for me."