Hmm. I didn't think I would like Mech-X4 as much as I do. It looked like a bad Ben 10 rip-off to me, but I tried it and hey, it's dramatic, it's got action, and it has a decent dose of humor. Of course, it's only in the first few episodes, so it's not great, but it's got promise. A lot of secrets and mysteries and all that fun stuff.

So anyway, this one-shot takes place right after Let's Open the Monster Heart!, which is the latest episode I've seen. (I happened to start watching during catch-up week on Disney XD, so by the end of the weekend I'll have seen them all, but not yet, so no spoilers!) Anyway, this idea came out of the fact that I got suspicious that Seth Harper cared so much about people over science. Not that that's bad (that's really good!), but, y'know, it's unusual. So I started writing about the moments immediately after what happened, and, well, somehow I came up with a theory. A lot of theories. Disclaimer: I'm sure that many of the things in this story aren't true, and they may even be completely dismantled by the episodes that I haven't seen yet. I don't know. But hey, it's fanfiction. So let's have some fun with it, huh?

I'm sorry about any OOCness or inconsistencies with the show. I'm still new to it. This story is T for blood and some intense content toward the end. I don't own Mech-X4 or any of the characters in this story. Enjoy.

— Let's Find Him —

He had a word for this lab: wrecked. Poisonous gas lurked in corners it hadn't yet escaped. Scorch marks decorated the floor in wild patterns. Glass crunched underneath boots and stuck in more malleable substances. Tables laid on the floor, and inventions splayed out in front of them, all now entirely unusable. The lights flickered every so often, and sparks of electricity jumped through broken wires. Wrecked. Destroyed. Devastated.

And at the head of all this wreckage stood Seth Harper himself, eyes glued to a video player as he ignored his surroundings. He coughed every so often as wisps of gas trailed out of their hiding places, but he hadn't bothered with a mask. No use. Sparks cracked overhead, and he didn't flinch. Electricity would have to do worse than that to scare him. He kept his gaze on the screen in his hands, because that mattered more to him. It displayed two young men, college-age, messing around amidst a wide array of equipment. Seth watched the conversation that unfolded between the best friends with interest.

"I did it!"

"You did not."

"I did so. Here, look-look-look."

One of the men held out something that looked like a battery. It pulsated with blue light and made a faint humming noise.

"See? All right, now if we could only hook it up to something . . ."

"You really did do it! That is awesome! Is it dangerous?"

The inventor of the battery shrugged. "Probably."

"Well, let's test it so we can turn that probably into an absolutely."

"We still need to be careful."

"Sure, sure, careful, but if this thing works, you'll be a legend!"

"Mr. Harper?"

Seth deactivated the video player and tucked it into his pocket. He turned to smile at JJ as she walked in the room, but he didn't greet her.

"I'm sorry," she said, pausing before taking another step. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, I would've turned it off anyway."

"Were you watching the security footage?"

"Nope, I don't need to do that. I was watching . . . an old video." He hesitated before taking the video back out and pausing it at the moment the two boys began to flip switches on the battery. "I don't want to watch any more. Right after this, something went wrong. It's like something from television, and maybe it would be funny or at least intriguing if . . . if it hadn't happened to me."

Seth stopped talking, staring at a fixed point in space while his thoughts wandered to a moment more than a decade-and-a-half earlier. JJ knew how to listen through his spacey ramblings, so she stood with a folder clutched in her hands and her eyes fixed on her boss. She didn't move, and he didn't move, and somewhere on another floor a clock ticked away the seconds faster than either of them anticipated.

"It didn't really blow up," Seth said after a moment. "And later I managed to replicate what happened. It was some kind of pulse. Sent us both back into a wall. Sent us both . . . right to the hospital. He was worse than me. That kind of shock . . . that can do bad things to your brain. He's lucky he ever recovered. I got a concussion, he got trauma. And I should've listened to him. I should've waited, should've been careful. I thought his battery could save us all . . . such a wonderful way of conserving energy. When I replicate it, it does the same thing. Some big pulse, and if anyone's close by, it does extensive damage. Leo had his hands on the thing . . ."

Seth trailed off, then he took in a sharp breath and looked around as if surprised to find himself in the lab. His eyes wandered to JJ, and he snapped back into full reality. "Sorry about that, JJ. I was just thinking about that day after what happened here, and I watched the video and . . ." He smiled. "You know the mind of a scientist. We can't stop thinking."

JJ smiled. "I understand, sir."

"All right!" Seth clapped, trying to force old, bad memories out of his mind. But different old, bad memories surfaced as he surveyed the lab in front of him. At least no one had been injured this time around, but the consequences of what happened here could be devastating, and Seth was not unaware of that. "We'll need to clean this place up. Get somebody on that. And make sure no one works in here until we know it's secure."

"Got it, Mr. Harper." JJ turned to leave, but then she stopped. "Mr. Harper . . . what about those boys?"

"Oh, leave it to me. I've got a plan."

JJ nodded. She didn't know everything—couldn't know everything. For her own good, Seth wouldn't let her. But she still knew enough to grasp the gravity of the situation and not ask questions. That was one of the things Seth liked best about her, and the reason she made such a good assistant. She left without another word, leaving Seth behind to come up with the plan he promised he had.

Those boys were the pilots of Mech-X4. Of course Seth knew that. As soon as they snuck into his lab so they could break into the primorphorous core, he knew who they were. Ryan was the real pilot—the one Leo had chosen. Naturally, Seth would see it as his responsibility to keep these boys safe.

Naturally, Seth had his own selfish reasons, too. Leo had gone missing years ago. Seth had tried every avenue, legal and illegal, to find him, but no results had ever turned up. Now that Mech-X4 had been activated by his chosen technopath, perhaps, just perhaps, they could find Leo again. Or least find clues to his whereabouts.

Seth wandered through the lab, avoiding the most dangerous areas of gas and glass, but observing everything. Someone had attacked Ryan here. Someone had returned for the primorphorous core. Seth had long suspected that those cores worked as some kind of tracker, and now his suspicions had been proven right. Of course, that meant whoever had the monsters would be after him now. The boys had led them here.

"Let them come," Seth muttered as he righted a table. "I've been waiting for this fight for a long time." A smile slid across his face—he assumed it was one of those smiles that made people call him "deranged," but he preferred the word "excited."

Seth would protect Mech-X4 . . . from the public, from the monsters, from whatever tried to hurt it. He would get to know the pilots, but they wouldn't know his reasons. They couldn't know just how much connection he had to them and their robot—for their own safety, no one could know, not yet. He would use them to find Leo again, to protect Bay City, to fight the monsters, to finally put an end to everything his friend had fought against.

Seth himself didn't know a great many things—Leo had kept those things away for his protection. Leo had secrets that he didn't dare share with anyone, knowing that whoever housed those secrets would be in great danger. Though Seth loathed to admit it, he knew Leo was in great danger now. Leo couldn't be dead, not yet. Not when his mission hadn't been completed. But where Leo was and what he was going through was a mystery to Seth, and one he intended to solve soon.

He pressed play on the video.

"Here we go," Leo said. "Let's see if this thing works. Hit it, Seth!"

Video-Seth connected a wire, and Leo did the same. A bright blue light expanded outward, blinding and knocking over the camera that had been used to film their interaction. A rumbling sound masked the screams, and for many seconds the camera only picked up white light. Then it all cleared. The camera had fallen sideways on the floor. Shattered glass coated the ground like carpet, and everything looked like chaos. But no noise. Everything was horrifyingly silent.

Beside a cracked circuit board a few feet away from the camera, someone's foot stuck out at an odd angle. The blood transferred from the torn pant leg to the glass to the concrete floor underneath. No sound, no movement as the camera continued its inhumane filming.

Then from the other side of the camera came some soft groans. A sound, like someone shifting around. The crack of glass and a howl of pain. Then, "Leo?" A cough, a groan, a sigh, and another indescribable utterance of agony that could curdle the blood of a sadist. After some heavy breathing, another, "Leo?" and then more words. "Leo? Where are you?" More unpleasant sounds that could rival a horror movie. "Leo? Are you okay? Leo!"

A figure stepped over the camera and walked towards the foot. The camera got a full view of Seth, clutching his head and blinking wildly in a desperate attempt to keep his eyes open despite the pain. His bare feet left bloody footprints every time he stepped somewhere, and his hisses of pain were unmistakable. He stepped lightly, but as soon as he saw his friend lying on the ground, all caution left his mind. "Leo! No . . ."

He began to shuffle around the room, looking for something that could help—a phone, most likely, so they could both get the attention they needed. In his stumbling around, Seth almost tripped on the camera. He frowned into it and used the hand that wasn't clutching his head to turn it off.

The video ended and Seth looked up. He looked up at the lab that had been wrecked by someone who wanted the primorphorous core, destroyed by someone who wanted to end Mech-X4 and its pilots, devastated by one of Leo's enemies.

"Leo?" Seth muttered. "Where are you? Are you okay? Leo?"

Hmm. I like that theory. But no, seriously, think about it. What if they were friends? What if Seth has at least some knowledge of Mech-X4? What if that's why he stands up for them and wants to get to know them?

Probably not. Maybe Let's Be Idiots! or Let's Survive in the Woods! will blow that theory out of the water when I watch them this weekend. (No spoilers!) But, hey, fanfiction, remember? All in good fun. Besides, I liked exploring the idea of Seth's motivations if he really did care about and want to find Leo. And putting Seth in a, shall we say, emotional situation was quite fun. I enjoyed it.

I'll probably write more for Mech-X4 once I'm all caught up and get new ideas. (If there's an idea you'd like me to write, feel free to suggest it to me.) I do like that the show is dramatic and realistic, something that few Disney shows are these days. It's the first show I've seen since Lab Rats that really knows how to make good, believable drama. So I'll keep watching and writing. If you'd like more Mech-X4 stories from me, be sure to follow, favorite, and review. I'd love to know your thoughts on this story. Thanks to everyone for reading. Bye!