Chapter Text
The loud yelling of an alarm was the first thing that assaulted Cole’s ears on a cold, snowy morning. Cole shot up, immediately hitting the alarm clock to silence it. His eyes adjusted to the light, his familiar surroundings registering in his brain. He twisted his body around, his feet thudding on the hardwood floor next to his bed. He rubbed his face, his eyes landing on the multitude of pill bottles on his nightstand. He groaned as he grabbed the bottle closest to him, opening it and dumping a pill into his hand. He anxiously tapped his foot as he did the same motion with the other five bottles. He made sure that he didn’t miss any of them or repeat any of them before swishing all of them down with water from the glass that sat on his nightstand. He stood up, his back cracking as he stretched it. His eyes landed on his own reflection in the mirror. He looked tired. Drained.
It had been 3 weeks since everyone went missing, and his boyfriend got hurt. Once again, it was just him, Geo, Bonzle, and the Finders. Except now, they were in the monastery. A place full of reminders of his friends and family. Because of the extent of Geo’s injuries, he couldn't even bear to be off the couch and in bed with Cole most nights. Cole absolutely hated it. With everyone gone, it was now Cole’s responsibility to handle the monastery, the public, and the press while simultaneously taking care of his newfound family and looking for any leads on where his friends went. He let out a long, exasperated sigh as he took his eyes away from his reflection and walked out the door of his bedroom and towards Fritz and Spitz’s room. Before entering, he took a deep breath, his body feeling ever so slightly more awake. He cracked the door to the boys' room open, letting the light shine in as he stepped through the threshold of the room. He could faintly make out the two small boys who were now slightly shifting in their beds as they were exposed to the light.
Cole smiled. He had made a promise when he had met Fritz and Spitz that he would protect them with his life. Seeing them safe and sound made Cole happier than those two young boys would ever know. Spitz sat up, rubbing his eyes with a hiss.
“Ssss….Hi, Cole!” He said with a small smile. Fritz sat up in his own bed before immediately jumping out and running to Cole. The young formling practically jumped into Cole’s arms. Cole scooped him up, and almost immediately, Fritz wrapped his arms around Cole’s neck, now having a big, toothy grin on his face.
“Cole! Cole! I had a really cool dream last night!” Cole smiled back at Fritz, resting the young boy on his hip.
“Oh, yeah? What was it about?” He began to carry Fritz out of the room with Spitz hopping out of his bed and following right behind his brother and father figure. The three boys walked into the kitchen, Fritz spewing on about some wild, nonsensical dream he had. Cole nodded along, adding the occasional “uh-huh..” or “oh, really?”. Cole walked over to the kitchen table, setting Fritz down in a chair as Spitz sat right next to him. Fritz continued to ramble on and on as Cole began to get out the materials he needed to make breakfast.
Eventually, Fritz had switched the conversation to just him and his brother, leaving Cole to focus on himself. He mindlessly made breakfast as he mentally prepared for the long day he had ahead. He had to take care of Geo, go to an interview with NGTV news about his plans for finding the other ninja, take care of the finders and Bonzle, and make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was going to be a long day.
“Cole?”
Cole was pulled back to reality, turning around to see the boys staring at him. He scratched the back of his head.
“Ah, sorry, boys. Were you asking me something?” Spitz nodded.
“Yeah. When ’ssssssss Geo gonna get better? We wanna play with him again.” Cole sighed. Geo had gotten beaten up badly when he tried to fend off the monastery from Lord Ras. He was in horrible shape. He couldn’t even move most days because of how much pain he was in. He would get better eventually, but it was likely going to be a very, very long time until he was even close to that happening. However, he obviously couldn’t tell the boys that. But, he also didn’t want to lie to them. He sighed, turning the stoveoff and grabbing out plates before turning to the boys.
“Guys, look. I’m gonna level with you. I don’t really know. He got really banged up.” He watched as the boy's faces sank into sadness and disappointment. Cole felt horrible. He wished he could wave his fingers and make everything better. For the boys, for Geo, for himself. But he couldn’t. He stared out the window at the fluffy white snow coating the courtyard outside. Cole couldn’t remember the last time it snowed. He did remember it was from a now bygone era of when he was with his friends and Master Wu. An era where things were probably not as simple as Cole’s nostalgia let on, but they sure as hell seemed that way. His nostalgia-driven train of thought was broken by footsteps. Cole’s eyes came up to see Bonzle walking into the kitchen. He smiled. Even after finding out she was a spell, he still wanted her to feel human and welcome.
“Morning, Bonzle! Sleep okay?” The skeleton shrugged in response.
“Same as always,” She looked around the kitchen, scanning everything. “Where’s Geo?” Cole’s smile faltered a bit. He set breakfast onto three different plates, setting two down in front of the boys and handing one to Bonzle as he spoke,
“He fell asleep on the couch again last night. Didn’t wanna move out of his spot. Said it hurt too much.” He didn’t make eye contact with her as he talked. He poured himself a cup of coffee. Bonzle cocked her head to the side as her face morphed into a mix of confusion and concern.
“Aren’t you eating?” Cole shrugged.
“Nah. I don’t have time to. You guys enjoy it though.” And with that, Cole walked off before Bonzle could even respond.
Cole walked into the living room, where he could see his boyfriend, Geo, curled up on the couch, the TV still playing on a low volume from the night before. Cole made every step count, making sure he was as quiet as possible to not awaken his boyfriend. He looked over Geo, looking at his soft, patterned face. He leaned down, planting a gentle kiss on his lover’s forehead. Cole then placed his warm, calloused hand onto his lover’s shoulder, gently whispering to him,
“I’ll be back in a bit, Geo. I love you.”
He began to walk out, but before he opened the door to leave, he turned back to catch one final glance at his lover. Geo looked so small. His violet skin had slightly faded to a lighter lavender. His breaths no longer flowed out of his nose and mouth, but rather wheezed. The way he was curled up on the couch made him look small and weak. Cole felt a pit of guilt in his gut. He wished he could help him, but he didn’t know what else to do. He called a doctor, who didn’t really know what to do due to Geo’s species. He called Queen Vania of Shintaro to see if anyone there could help, but Shintaro has its own personal problems that make anyone from there too busy to travel to him and help. So, what was Cole to do? He spent his days trying his damndest to help Geo back to health. He had seen enough people in his life get hurt to know how to take care of them to the best of his ability. Cole sighed one final time before quietly exiting the room.
Back in his own room, he put on his ninja gi, making sure it was clean and presentable enough to look okay on TV. He looked at himself in the mirror once again. His eyebags being prominent on his face. Cole groaned to himself.
“FSM, I look like shit…” He grumbled. He made sure everything was on his body. His wallet, his phone, his keys, a to-go cup of coffee, all there. He patted his chest, making sure one final thing was there. When he felt it, his body loosened in relief just a tad. He reached down the collar of his shirt to pull out a locket. Cole pressed his thumb up against the clasp of the locket, popping it open. What was revealed was a photo of his mother, Lily, and a photo of his father, Lou. Without taking his eyes off the locket, he took a few steps backwards and plopped down onto the edge of his bed. His thumb lightly grazed the side of the locket with his mother’s photo. Cole let out a heavy sigh that rumbled within his chest. His eyes began to well up with tears as memories of his mother flashed through his mind. He sat in complete silence, holding his sniffles. His eyes trailed on the photo of his dad on the other side of the locket, where a photo of his dad lay. It had been 5 years since The Merge, and he still didn’t know where his father had disappeared to. Cole had already assumed the worst, however. It sucked, too. Cole and his father had finally started to get along after years of arguments and screaming matches.
Cole looked back and forth between the two photos, tears brimming in his eyes,s but Cole didn’t dare let them fall. He quickly sucked in his breath, tilting his head up and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He looked back down at the photos, a small smile, a beacon of hope in his otherwise dreary world. He whispered to himself,
“Don’t worry, guys. I’ll make you proud.”