Title: Warm, Drunken Kisses
Author: GundamWingFanatic90
Date: 12-29-07
Time: Roughly 2 hours
Challenge: "Warm, Drunken Kisses" (see bio page for full challenge)
Characters: Megaman X/Rockman X, Zero, OC, Iris, Megaman/Rockman, Roll, Dr. Light
Category: Horror, Romance
Pairing: X/OC, Zero/Iris
WARNING: First Megaman/Rockman fic. Please don't kill me if I have characters OOC.
If you don't like X/OC or Zero/Iris, I suggest you exit the fic now.
Summary: It was Zero's idea, X mused, despondently taking another sip of his brandy. The crimson reploid just hadn't known how it would affect the other ancient Hunter. PG-13 for violence, gore, substance abuse, and implied non-committal romance. Pairing: X/OC.
Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman/Rockman or anything related to that franchise. It is awesome, though.
It was Zero's idea, X mused, despondently taking a sip of his brandy. But of course, he didn't know any better, did he? This was the first time he had ever gone out drinking with his best friend.
Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever gone out drinking, period. Just hope my systems can hold the alcohol down long enough for me to not make a fool of myself.
The techno-rock music played softly in his audio receptors as X tipped the glass up to his lips for a second time. A particularly grating note reminded him why he had allowed the other reploid to drag him to this bar in the first place.
A bright light whizzed past his head, and he barely managed to duck down behind the rubble before he got a face-full of plasma. Gritting his teeth, the Maverick Hunter popped out from behind his cover and snapped off a shot before retreating again. An agonized cry was the reply.
From his left, one of his subordinates shot him a gleeful thumbs-up even as another shouted into his mike for reinforcements. X just felt nauseated. All of this war, this death, was going completely against his morals. The commander pushed it away in favor of staying alive.
When the bloodbath was over, X was left standing on the battlefield, a red haze slowly fading from his mind as the artificial adrenaline running through his systems wore off. Only when he saw something red drip onto his hand did he notice that his blue armor was bathed in the scarlet coolant of his enemies... enemies who had once been his friends.
So many lives you've taken, X.
X's green gaze slowly became more and more horrified as he took in every face that stared lifelessly up at him from the duracrete underneath his feet. Faint tremors wracked his slender frame. Dissolvent welled in his throat as the blank gazes of the eyes of his victims bored into his own. His knees began to shake slightly as he vainly attempted to regain his composure.
Why did you do it, nii-san?
"Stop it..." he murmured.
The half-melted face of a small, childlike female reploid glared harsh betrayal at him from its final resting place under a half-ton of scrap metal and concrete.
We trusted you to lead us! We trusted you to take care of us!
"Please, stop it..." His white-gloved hands, now stained red with coolant, came up to press over his audio sensors.
Black seemed to be gathering at the edges of his vision. Were his optical systems shorting out or malfunctioning? The eyes of his former comrades cried defeat and accusation from the puddles of bloody coolant that their owners were steeped in.
You said you would save me, aniki. If you did, then why does it hurt so much?
"Stop talking to me...!" But the voices continued to swirl horrifically in his mind.
A child's tear-streaked face stared up at X in horror where he knelt next to his lifeless mother. The boy's left arm was completely gone. He must have been less than five years old.
What will you do now, X?
"Leave me alone!"
The weight of a hand falling onto his shoulder sent X crashing to his hands and knees in the middle of the carnage. The reploid commander choked on artificial bile, clapping a hand to his mouth in a futile attempt to stall the coming expulsion. Zero's voice rang with alarm in his ears.
"X!"
X!
Nii-san!
Aniki!
Why?
Why?
Why...?
X rocked forward and retched onto the cold, blood-soaked ground.
The commander's haunted gaze focused back on the empty brandy glass in his hand, his face graven. To his right, he saw Zero sit back down next to him, another bottle of alcohol in tow. The two of them were silent for several moments as Zero refilled their glasses before the red reploid spoke.
"There's a reason why I usually leave the 'comforting people' thing up to you or Iris," he began, "but when the comforters have no one to comfort them, then I have to step in and do my best." His luminescent blue eyes sought X's dull green ones over the rim of his glass as he took a drink, and then he placed the vessel gently back onto the bar, studying his unresponsive best friend.
"Listen, X..." X's response was to program the sound of Zero's voice out of his audio receptors and down the remaining brandy in his glass in one gulp. The blue reploid did not even flinch as his sensory receptors registered the alcohol's burning effects as it slid languidly down his throat.
This was not X's first time hitting the bottle. No, indeed. There had been several times when he had returned to the base from a mission in such a bad emotional state that he had reported in and then gone straight to his quarters before downing a pint or three of hard liquor and passing out. It was not often that he was driven to such extremes, but it had given him quite a tolerance.
X sighed quietly with disinterest as Zero eyed him with concern, and reached with expertly nimble fingers to pour himself another glass of brandy. Sipping the amber liquid, he rested his elbows on the bar and closed his eyes. The pungently sweet scent of the alcohol filled his olfactory receptors, and he savored it slightly before taking the cool glass away from his lips and pressing the vessel lightly against his forehead.
"X?" Zero asked, watching as his best friend revealed a side that he had never, in all their years together, seen before.
"Just keep talking, Zero," X suggested, eyes still closed. "Just keep talking."
They had been there for several hours. X was grateful for the fact that he and Zero both had the day off tomorrow, courtesy of Dr. Cain and Signas' influence, for at the moment, the two reploid commanders were almost completely sloshed.
Zero was chattering happily away on the perks of having a girlfriend to X's right. X had his head down on his crossed arms, blinking darkly at the dark liquid in the glass before him.
There was a reason why X never went out with others when he was drinking. The reason in question was that he tended to see things that oftentimes left him angry, depressed, or outright mournful. He could never explain where these images came from; he just knew that they existed, even if he could only rarely recall them the morning after.
Zero's chipper voice gradually faded away as X's green eyes slipped shut, and before long, the rest of the world had been tuned out.
"Dr. Light! Dr. Light! They're here!"
A female this time, then. She sounds alarmed.
"Roll, help me hide this stasis pod! It cannot be allowed to fall into Wily's hands!"
"Dr. Light, what about Mega? He's all alone against those traitor-bots!"
"Mega can hold his own. Right now I need your help!"
Is that buster fire I hear?
"X, my son. I am sorry that I cannot be there to personally welcome you into the world, but it seems as though my time is going to come to an abrupt end..."
"Don't speak like that, Father!!"
Father? She must mean Dr. Light.
"That sounded like Mega! Oh, Dr. Light, they're torturing him!"
Is that Rock's tormented agony I am playing witness to, then? Wait, what's the matter? Why did you gasp just now?
"Goodbye, little brother. Maybe Mega and I can meet you, someday, but sleep well for now while I go kick some ro-butt!"
What? Where are you going?
"Farewell, my son. I am going to get Rock, Rush, and Roll out of here. You're safely hidden; I doubt that even Dr. Wily and his robots will be able to find you here. You'll be safe until you wake. Take care when you enter the real world, and make good decisions."
Don't leave me! You'll be safe with me, just don't leave me alone!
"Stay true to your beliefs and morals. Maybe we shall meet again, someday. Farewell forever, X, my son. Farewell."
Wait! No! Don't go! ...Father? Father!
X blinked, noticing that Zero had slipped away to where Iris, his girlfriend, was sitting at a table across the room. The blue commander sighed and shook his head slightly, taking a sip. That was just like Zero to do when he was drunk, but X did not mind.
A gentle touch to his cheek brought X out of his reverie, and he turned to his left to see a female brunette catching something on one slender finger, her brandy-brown eyes studying his with a tender concern. Her voice, however, was light when she spoke to him.
"Tears and grief don't really suit a face such as yours."
He snorted lightly with slight derision, turning his cold eyes back to his alcohol. It was a clear dismissal.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
X frowned. Couldn't this woman take a hint? She seemed to be reading him.
"I know you don't want me around, but trust me when I say that taking a depressant when you're already depressed isn't a good idea, even if your systems can take the abuse pretty well. Things like that don't generally end nicely."
X turned slightly to look inquisitively at the female next to him. He absently noted that she was a reploid, as well. Her warm brandy-brown eyes scrutinized him with a surprising clarity, reading his expressions.
"I'm part of the medical squad, so not only do I deal with death every day, but I also have to deal with its effects on the psyche of reploids and humans. Trust me, I've seen all types of problems. People tell me I'm a good listener, though. They also tell me that it helps to talk."
X snorted again, but it was less forceful this time, more sadly bitter. His body and words were both cold as he finally spoke to her.
"It's nothing you could understand."
A warm but mournful smile twisted her lips faintly, and she sat down daintily, a shot glass of whiskey cradled between her tiny palms as she closed her eyes and faced forward, head held high.
"Then do you want me to tell you what the alcohol makes me see before you tell me?" X looked up at her, puzzled at her persistence, and then cast a glance over to Zero. The blonde reploid nodded emphatically, having been watching the whole thing.
"Sure, why not?" X mumbled, turning to stare icily back at his brandy. A small smile quirked the brunette female reploid's lips before they parted and she began to speak.
"I see the first patient I ever had die on me. I see the life slowly fading from his eyes, the sparking wires in what was left of his chest, the crimson of the coolant leaking onto the operating table. I remember his dying words, 'Keep my friend safe for me'. I still haven't forgotten him or his request after all these years." X saw her eyes open, her liquid brown gaze sliding over to land on him, and he knew it was his turn.
"...I see figments of a past that I can't remember." A brown eyebrow quirked itself at him, but the eyes below the delicate brows were anything but amused.
"Oh? What kind of figments?" Her tone was light, but X could tell that she was being completely serious.
"...My creator and my sister. Sometimes my brother, too." Her eyes studied him sadly for a second, and then her fingers were on his cheeks, the feather-light touch turning his face towards hers.
"I thought I told you that you aren't suited to tears, X." X did not react, allowing her to brush away the artificial wetness.
"What's your name?" he asked after a moment. The brunette smiled a little, her warm brandy eyes making contact with his own cold emerald optics.
"My name is Hope." And then she kissed him.
X's lips were softer than she had thought they would be, and chilled from the brandy he had been drinking for the past several hours. The burn of the alcohol still lingered in his mouth, but Hope did not mind.
X was unresponsive for most of the kiss, but his cool lips slid over her warm ones effortlessly nonetheless, a slight answer to her unspoken request.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" Hope asked him, panting slightly, when they had broken for air. X glanced between her and where Zero and Iris were watching him, and made a quick decision.
"Yes," he said, getting to his feet and swaying slightly. He could allow himself to forget, if just for one night.
X awoke the next morning in his own bed, a warm, slender back pressed tightly to his naked chest. He gazed down at Hope for a moment in contemplation before gently nuzzling his nose back into her chocolate locks.
"Thank you," he whispered to her, his arms at her waist pulling her to him more firmly than before. A slender hand caressed the back of his fingers whilst the other hand drew idle shapes on the bared synthflesh of his outer thigh.
"You're welcome, X," came the quiet reply. "And thank you." X pressed his forehead into her dark hair, knowing that the next time he awoke she would be gone.
"You're welcome." For the moment, he was at peace in the arms of one of the few reploids to whom he could relate.
She had given him his hope back. And she would do it again the next time he lost it.
END.
Please don't kill me for having X get with an OC at the end. Just realize that it won't last.
Just to let you know, the scene with Dr. Light and Roll in it was supposed to be X's memories from when he was being hidden. I realize that he had not been activated at that point, but I assume that the computers in his stasis pod would have recorded what Dr. Light and Roll were saying as they hid X. This is the use of artistic liscense, here, so please don't bomb me. I am well aware of how the gap between the Classic and X timelines is generally interpreted.
This was something that entered my mind late at night after reading a snippet of a fic where Forte gets Rock drunk. I didn't read past Rock vomiting everywhere, but I got to thinking about how X would react to alcohol and what would drive him to it in the first place. Hence this fic was spawned. I originally had a different ending where he didn't go with Hope, but I decided that I liked this one better. It was better written and less rushed, and it is the reason for the warning in the summary.
Many thanks for reading this.
Feedback is much appreciated, so please leave me a review. Your words help me to improve on my writing style and its effectiveness. Thank you.
-Fanatic