Disclaimer: I do not own MegaMan.EXE or MegaMan X.

Of Souls and Reploids

Thoughts "blah"

Chapter 1

X and Zero were on their way to the medical wing where their injured comrade was currently being repaired. "I know you've heard this a thousand times before, but Axl just isn't cutout to be a Maverick Hunter.", stated the blue reploid as he reached the door to the recovery room.

The blonde swordsman turned to his long time friend and said, "X give it up. I'll admit he did get himself injured by Lumine during the last Maverick uprising, but he's still one of the best hunters we've got." Zero stopped X from opening the door with his hand and continued, "X the boy knows fighting is a necessary part of life. He fights to protect people just as you do, so don't keep jumping down his throat about every mistake he makes."

X offered his fellow reploid a fierce glare and spat, "He treats missions like they're games. He doesn't understand that fighting is wrong." To further his point he reminded Zero of how Axl always jumps into a fight head first without even attempting to end it peacefully.

"X the whole pacifist thing works for you, but there are times when we must fight and the kid knows it.", said Zero returning the glare. "Furthermore Axl's hasty actions have saved hundreds of Reploid and Human lives. Can't you just trust in my judgment on this?"

The blue hunter knew that the swordsman was even more stubborn than he is and so X consented defeat...for now, "Alright, but I want you to work with him. He's got to stop with this 'shoot first, shoot some more, and then when every bodies dead try to ask a question or two' attitude."

Offering a smirk to his friend Zero opened the door to medical only to be run over by Pallette. "Oh! Sorry Zero. I didn't see you there.", she apologized.

The hunter look over her blushing face and thought "She's so obvious. Ah...young love." He accepted the hand she offered him and once he was back on his feet he said, "Checking up on your crush, huh?"

Pallette had a mortified expression on her face as she stuttered, "Wha...What...I...I just...wanted to...make sure one of our hunters was ok." She knew very well that the older reploid had already figured out who had been breaking into the medical ward at night and why. "How did he figure it out? It's not fair. Maybe I can get him to drop it if I turn his attention elsewhere."

"Well how is he?", X asked ignoring the previous outburst and the perverted smile on Zero's face.

"Oh so now you care about him!", she snapped. She would've tore into X then and there, but Zero stopped her with a hand motion. "Fine! He's ok. The purple shard turned out to be a crystallized portion of a 'Reploid Killer' class virus. Don't be concerned Alia managed to isolate it and remove it before it reached any of his vital systems."

Breathing a sigh of relief Zero muttered, "In other words the kid dodged the bullet and will need a few weeks rest."

The navigator nodded rapidly, "Which as we all know will be next to impossible considering he HATES waiting while his body recovers and systems repaired."

They all agreed on that one. X considered bluffing the teenage reploid with the threat of 'Rest or we won't allow you to remain a Maverick Hunter', but that ended up starting an argument with X on one side and Zero & Pallette on the other.

As the debate started to get heated again a mechanic stepped out of the room and rushed past them. An "Excuse me." was heard as the man left the vicinity.

The arguing continued on for another sever or eight minutes before the navigator managed to best X with words. "Alright. I'll admit he's done some good...I just don't want to see him emotionally destroyed by all the chaos. Despite his skills he's still just a kid.", X finished.

"He's more than just a kid...He's a hunter just like you X. It's his decision to fight and with or without your help he will, so don't you forget it.", Pallette said while trying to glare holes in her "superior's" head. She then walked off to get some rest since she wouldn't get a chance to with her next shift starting in only four hours.

"Shall we?", Zero gestured with his hands.

X narrowed his eyes and said, "Very funny."

They entered the room and found Axl buried under a blanket. Zero smirked when he saw the bed and X walked over to it. Once at the bed he pulled back the sheet to find something he knew he should've seen coming, "He's not here. This guy is the mechanic...that left just a little while ago."

Zero was shaking his head and replied, "I figured that much out when I saw the bed. Axl never covers his face with a sheet...tries to eat the pillows sometimes, but that's about it." He looked over the man and could see where Axl had been rather rough in restraining him. His arms and legs were tied together with some of the extra sheets while a thick gauze was stuff in his mouth. "That poor human never had a chance. "The Three Laws didn't stop the kid from playing dirty...I guess his design is more like Lumine than we thought."

The two hunters used the intercom to inform the base to be on the lookout for an escaped medical patient.

"Uh Oh! They're onto me." the young reploid stated as he changed his form to another hunter he knew.

About this time a soldier rounded the corner and ran up to him, "Sir. We haven't located the patient yet."

"Keep searching. Don't let him get away.", 'X' stated as he began 'inspecting' a nearby vent that one could easily fit through. "This is the old ventilation system if I remember correctly...Perfect."

The soldier then ran off to continue his sweep while Axl considered different places to hide. He knew that if either X or Zero ran across him he was as good as caught and Alia...Alia could be scary when her patients runaway.

"This way." a voice from behind spoke.

Axl's eyes were met with the navigator Pallette and he couldn't help but smile. "Lead the way." The two Reploids maneuvered through the base and managed to avoid the two hunters and other soldiers. "So how did you know it was actually me instead of X?", he asked out of curiosity.

She turned those sparkling eyes towards his and answered, "Because you could never 'act' like X." The navigator saw her crush look downed at her response and the finished, "X is just such an..."

"An ass..." the Reploid currently sitting on her bed said as the two escapees entered Pallette's quarters. "I had a feeling in my gut you'd end up here.", he directed at Axl.

"Hi...Hi ya Zero.", the teen managed to say before trying to back out the door. Once the door opened again he was met with the sight of X calmly tapping his finger against his crossed arms and Alia.

"Didn't I leave you in the medical wing?", said Alia as she advanced on the teenager. The look on her patient's face reminded her of a deer caught in the headlights. "Well?"

The teen reverted back to his true form and gulped before answering, "Yes...Yes maim." "If I had any sense at all I'd shoot a hole in the wall and run for it. How does she always do 'that' to people?"

The navigator moved her face closer to Axl and said, "Then don't you think that's where your supposed to be." She was pleased to see him nodding vigorously and walked back to the blue hunter. "Let Zero take him. Right now you'd say something you would regret later.", she consoled.

X approved and Zero escorted the runaway back to his now vacant bed. "Your not going to impress the Brass or get yourself back in the field sooner by pulling stunts like this.", he lectured on the way back.

"I know. I know.", the red head replied, "But I just hate lying around doing nothing. I rust of boredom that way." The other hunter chuckled at this and motioned for him to return to his bed. Axl heard the red reploid say "Try to get some rest." before leaving the room to stand guard. "Great! Now I've got him standing guard right outside my door. I could try the vents, but I'm certain he'd hear the noise before I could get through them...guess I'll have to wait for my chance."

Alia then walks into the room after greeting Zero. "Axl. Could you tell me how you were able to hurt that mechanic?" She was met with a look of confusion on the young boy's face, "I mean he is human and yet you could still hurt him. Why? How?"

Axl started to panic. "She going to bust me!" He took a deep breath and seemed to be thinking over the 'new information', "Maybe it's got something to do with that virus Lumine tried to scrap me with?", he offered. He managed to make it sound convincing and felt relief when the navigator seemed to accept his answer.

"Well we will have to watch that closely. Let me know if you notice anything unusual happening to you in the meantime.", she said before running a few scans over the boy just to be safe. Of course the scans turned up nothing, so she went back to work monitoring missions.

"I thought she'd never leave. It's not like she'd believe me anyways...my life sucks" The young hunter laid down and chose to enter 'Recharge Mode' instead of normal sleep in order to avoid dreaming again. "I just don't want to be reminded of that.", were his last conscious thoughts before nothing.

X and Zero were in the training room sparing as they usually do. "X you seem a little distracted lately. What's going on?"

Said hunter look at Zero with depressed green eyes and replied, "Just feelings I get while I'm around Axl."

The red swordsman noticed how X always seemed so overprotective of the kid...seeming almost instinctively towards him at times. "What kind of feelings?"

He sighed and scratched his unarmored head, "I just want to see him get hurt. Every time he does...I just let anything bad happen to someone so young."

Zero was sure that there was something more there that X either wasn't aware of or was unwilling to share. "He's a grown young man. The kid will make his own decisions and he'll have us to look after him. That's what it means to be a soldier, a unit."

The green eyed machine agreed with him on that before cutting their sparring session short. "I just need some time to think.", he said before walking out.