Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to Capcom.
Author's Notes:
Many many thanks to RandyPandy for checking my fic for inconsistencies and grammar.
While the timeline for this fanfic was sometime after Command Mission, the universe this was based on is from RandyPandy's Svarga AU. In this timeline, Spider and Redips aren't the same person. X in this verse quit the Hunters after the Giga City incident to pursue the cure for the virus.
If you want another fic in this timeline, you can go check out RandyPandy's An Octave Higher
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Marino would admit that, at first, she wasn't too enamored by X.
Had they met in a situation unlike the one they had, it may have not gone as well as it did. She could see it in his expression then, how surprised he was at her being a petty thief. She wasn't sure if it was disapproval or disgust, but she couldn't blame him. From what she knew of him, he has always been on that side of the law.
And he was at a position where he couldn't refuse any help. Even if it was from someone who could easily steal something from him.
Well, not that easily, seeing as he was the Maverick Hunter X, but a girl could dream.
And it wasn't like she was doing it for him, no. She had echoed his words when Massimo noted they have two new comrades, and it was Cinnamon who convinced her to take this shot at actually doing something good and in the right way.
In hindsight, she had a lot to thank Cinnamon for.
It didn't take too long for Marino to see that X wasn't just this angry, always-serious Reploid.
Sure, he looked pissed off, but after finding out what happened to him, she could sympathize. She could pick up anything from within the Resistance base, so it was just a matter of feigning innocence if it wasn't something meant for their audial receptors.
Granted, there wasn't much to hide; she was rather appalled at how X had just placed his trust in this ragtag team he managed to form, and even defending them from his best friend. If she were honest, and she were in Zero's boots, she'd question him for the exact same thing.
She didn't want to believe X was that naive, though. No one stayed as long as he did as a Hunter and be that incredibly naive.
Although, she felt honored, somehow, to be trusted. And X made her feel that she could trust in him and the team, something she never felt like doing before.
Marino, the sneaky, crafty thief who always preferred to work solo, trusted someone to watch her back.
When all was said and done, and the Hunters' mission in Giga City finished, Marino knew her life would change. For better or worse, though, she wasn't entirely sure; the Hunters could see them as liabilities, for one.
She was grateful when she realized that it was for the better.
While she couldn't completely shy away from the life she had before-she wasn't just a petty thief, after all-she did try to find legal ways to get by. Maybe it was to keep X from being too disappointed; as if it was less of naivety and more of believing in the best of people that X trusted them to change.
...Or maybe she could, just so he'd go back to visit them.
Marino froze, the mouth of the bottle of strawberry milk still on her lips, as she considered her thoughts.
Did she miss X?
"Cred for your thoughts?"
She glanced at her side, to Spider looking at her, seemingly noticing the shift in her expression. The former bounty hunter became her roommate after they had met again and realized that it was cost-effective to share a flat. Their career choices fell on almost the same vein and Spider did eventually help Marino gain some legal employment within Giga City. It was a win-win situation for both of them.
And Spider wasn't a terrible companion either; he kept mostly to himself whenever they weren't sharing a meal, and was an incredibly private person. And Marino preferred it that way.
"You'll need more than a cred." She smirked as she set the bottle down on the coffee table in front of them. They were both waiting for the presscon on TV to start, and they had time to kill.
"How about a cred, a drink, and a man?" the blue-haired Reploid teased.
Well, he was an incredibly private person sometimes.
Marino shook her head. "More creds, I literally spend half my time in a bar, and no thanks, I'm not interested."
"I should've known you swing the other way." And he got a glare from his housemate. "What?"
She knew where he had gotten that idea and she would rather not have him voice it out just because it would sound so wrong. "I'm not interested in dating. Asimov, Spider."
"You should've clarified that-" and a sudden cacophony of reporters interrupted him, an indication that the presscon was starting. Their attention was now on the screen in front of them, a brief silence between them before Spider started again. "I haven't heard of X willingly and personally hold a presscon before."
"Yeah." Marino watched as X was focused on the screen, the Hunter looking so different out of armor.
He looked rather dashing wearing business casual, though. Even if it was still mostly in varying shades of blue. Maybe one of these days she could-
Marino stopped herself before she could add any more to that thought and focused on the screen instead. She probably just missed the Hunter trio; she often dropped by at Chief R's base and at Professor Gaudile's laboratory, mostly to see Cinnamon and Massimo every now and again-and she was glad he had stopped tripping over his words whenever he talked to her-but the Hunter base was just too far for her to casually visit.
And it wasn't as though she could just go there and say "Hi, I helped X, Zero and Axl in Giga City!", not when X had kept their involvement in the incident secret just so that the Feds won't go after them. And they preferred it that way; the limelight was not something any of them wanted, especially with their existing records.
Her attention now was on X as he started the presscon; after their team-up in Giga City, even she was paying attention now to the international news and anything regarding the Maverick Hunters.
X looked rather serene, though his tone was dead serious as he talked, and the silence as the press listened echoed the silence Marino and Spider shared. Back in Giga City, X sounded mostly tense, and it couldn't be helped, but right now, X was calm, collected as he spoke about the latest development of the cure for the Maverick Virus.
There was certain air about him that Marino couldn't put a finger to. But one thing was certain as he continued to talk.
X was in full control of the situation he was in and he wasn't afraid. It was probably the first time that Marino had heard him with that kind of confidence in his voice.
When X finally dropped the bomb on everyone, of him retiring as a Maverick Hunter in order to continue the development of the cure full-time as a private individual and not under the employ of the Federation, it was as if the room suddenly burst with mad energy as the press went from quiet to all wanting to have their own questions answered. Despite this, he calmly answered their questions before the presscon was concluded.
Marino had kept some network channels open as some of those in the public servers were also watching the presscon-and to get an idea of the feel of the situation from other Reploids- and as soon as X made that announcement, she saw the mix of awe, anxiety, and excitement and she couldn't blame them.
The world had seen one of its best Maverick Hunters step down from all the fighting. But it was for a bigger cause.
X stepped down from fighting and killing Mavericks to find a way to truly save them.
Marino and Spider were still watching even as the presscon was drawing to a close, with the reports coming in from both the screen and the network and coming up with their own versions of the press conference, and Marino knew both of them were momentarily stunned at the turn of the events.
Spider has been the one to recover first, as he chuckled and leaned back onto the couch. "Well, well, looks like our X finally found a way to wriggle out of the Federation's slimy grasp," he remarked.
Marino managed to nod at that, her gaze was still at the screen, to their comrade seemingly gladly facing the press. "That… was remarkable." She added, her voice clearly showing the awe she had at what she had just witnessed. It was then she felt some shuffling at her side and glanced to see Spider looking at her.
She did not like that look.
"Never seen that expression on your face before," he commented, causing her to momentarily blush. Spider was great at reading people, that much she knew.
"What about it?" Marino answered, directing her gaze back at the screen. What Spider could see, he'll figure out eventually.
Right now, though, she just felt like something had stirred in her core. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, just… strange. It took some time for her to completely comprehend what was going on with her.
And Spider wasn't helping. "I think you've got a thought there that's worth some creds, Rin," he remarked.
At that, she looked at him squarely in the eye as she hoped that his audial receptors aren't that fine-tuned to hear how her core was fluttering. "You don't have enough creds for this one, mon frère."
She realized she was going to have to eat the words she had let out earlier.
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It's been so long since I've last published anything. Thank you for reading and feedback would be greatly appreciated :)