(A/N): Why. Are. You. Writing. More. Artie?

This was sparked during a discussion in chat, which was started with a single question: Where the hell was Fudo-Mama during the whole Zero Reverse incident?!

And so, in an endeavor to answer said question, I wrote said fic. This one's for you, Sethy!

Mama Bear Can't Be There

The room was quiet.

That was the way the woman wanted it. The small room was decorated with a homely appearance, with a chest of toys and a small bookshelf tucked neatly on one side of the quaint room and a crib on the other. It was a small daycare for employees to leave their children to play. She and her husband had begun using it frequently over the past several months after their baby boy, the light of their life, had been born and their presence was continually required on the expanding Momentum project. This room had become as much of a home as their own house-and the little one seemed to accept it as such, considering he spent nearly as much time in this room as he did in his home.

There were times when the room was filled with loud, happy children at play, and while she was usually happy to see them gamboling about, she was grateful that no other kids were in the room at the moment. The little babe slept like a rock once he was inclined to rest-but putting him to sleep was no easy manner, particularly if he was fussy from hunger. Which was what he happened to be at this point at time.

So, as the woman rocked in the chair, listening to the gentle creaks as its oaken sides rocked with her, the baby put his mouth to her exposed breast and began to drink.

Things continued in this vein for some time, the only noises in the room being the humming of the mother, the creaking of the chair, and the suckling of the wee infant, before a sound like the clap of thunder broke the silence-the sound of the door striking the wall as it was nearly thrown off its hinges by the woman's anxious husband.

The crash nearly made the mother fall from the rocking chair in shock-and the father's disheveled appearance made her jump out of the chair for the very same reason, nearly disturbing the baby boy from his feeding.

Disheveled was, bluntly, putting it lightly. The man's coat was torn and stained with blood, which dripped from a wound on his arm and trickled in a thin stream from his mouth. He looked like he had been attacked-but how, the MIDS building had the best Security protection...

"Dear...what-"

"No time," the man cut her off, stumbling towards her as the blood dripped from his wounds, staining the carpet and a wayward book a child had left open on the floor. "Gotta get him outta here."

"What? Why? What's going on here? Why are you injured?!"

The father ignored her questions, instead pulling the infant out of her arms. The baby began to wail, having been separated harshly from his mother and his satiating drink; and no amount of hasty soothing from the father could stop his cries as he awkwardly cradled the child with his uninjured arm. He turned to go, only to have the woman stop him with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"This is unlike you. You're not one to upset a child that way, nor separate him from me without good reason. You're injured and bleeding in a place where you should be safe." She gestured around the room, its homely appearance unchanged with the man's entrance (and yet somehow marred, still shaking from the quake he had brought in with him that disturbed it-the previously unmoving mobile hanging from the crib was still turning slowly). "And now, all of a sudden, you come in here, and try to take our son away without explanation. I won't let you go until you answer my questions."

"There's no time. I must-"

"There is always time for the three of us. You promised me there would always be."

After those words there was a brief lull in conversation, as the chair continued to creak slowly back and forth with the absence of its occupant, a steady metronome marking off the seconds they had.

"The project. It's taking a turn for the worse. You know I was planning to halt its development because of those negative rotations and the storms occurring at the same time they did."

"So what's wrong, then?"

"Rudger. He's gotten the higher-ups behind him to stop me from stopping it. He's gone so far as to remove the seals I put on Momentum...I managed to take back three of them and hand them off to Rex, but..."

"Dear..."

The man's eyes wavered away, looking down at the steadily growing crimson stain at his feet, sullying the lightly toned carpet (didn't the designers know that white carpets were just asking for punishment in a child's playroom, no less one inhabited by several children?) before looking back up, fixing the woman's brown eyes with his cobalt stare.

"I need you to act like nothing's wrong, then get away at the first sign of danger. You know the signs I told you about-once you see them, run."

"But why? And what about our little boy?!"

"They're out for me. The MIDS' Security squad. If they don't know that I told you, they'll keep away from you, for now. But if trouble starts acting up again, they'll use you-and our son-to get to me. I can't have that."

"Rudger-san is going that far? Why?"

"I don't understand myself. But he's a completely different man now. I have to at least get you and our boy to safety while I can. If everything turns out alright, I can track you two down. I have the money and influence. But if I don't..."

The words were left unsaid between them. Everything seemed muted, quiet. Even the young one's bawling had tapered down to a quiet whimpering, as if sensing the tension between the two parents.

"...We were supposed to have a happy life together." The words were silent, soft, a plea that this was all just some cruel joke.

The man only had a softened expression as he leaned to kiss his wife, wiping his mouth free of any blood so that she wouldn't have to taste the coppery flavor that tinged his mouth.

She tasted it anyway, and nearly pulled away, but the knowledge that this could potentially be their last kiss kept her close, and soon the taste was washed away in warmth. He pulled away all too soon.

"We still can. We just need to separate for a small while. We'll find each other again."

"...Be careful, alright?"

"If you'll do the same."

And with a short embrace he was gone, whisking their infant son down the hall as the child began to cry again, disconcerted by the sudden journey.

She stood and listened for those cries until she could no longer hear their resounding echoes.

Then, slowly, methodically, she put her work coat back on as she straightened the mess in the room (there was nothing she could do at the moment about the blood, she'd have to notify the janitor that some child spilled punch on the floor again-really, what possessed the designers to use a white carpet here?) picking up the book with the blood stains on it.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The page had been opened to the very beginning, with the family all heading out for a walk as they waited for their food to cool. Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. The blood was spattered along the paper, outlining a path for them to take down the beautifully illustrated meadow.

That was all. They were going for a walk until things cooled down.

Everything would be fine, and they would come back to their home, all holding hands. Together.

-----

The room was quiet.

The woman paid no mind to that as she fought to keep tears from leaking into her eyes when she entered it. She slammed the door behind her, locking it securely before sinking to the floor.

Everything was happening as her husband said it would. The indicators of another soon approaching negative rotation were forthcoming soon after she returned to the room. She requested leave to check on the other instruments and check if they were being affected...and took that opportunity to get the hell out of there, as he had told her to do.

She had locked herself in the only sanctuary that had come to mind-the day care room, with it's softly toned walls and toys and books and damnable white carpet. It was the only thing resembling home that she could think of. If she wasn't home to welcome her husband and son back, it wouldn't be right...if she was here, then they'd have to come back here. They'd have to. He promised there would always be time for the three of them.

And yet, she couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. Things had taken a wrong turn with the project, and now they were spinning out of control. There was nothing she could do but let herself be torn away by the ride and hope she and her family came out in one piece.

She was shaken out of her reverie when the door behind her vibrated with a loud bang, nearly knocking her down.

"Open up! We know you're hiding in there! Come out peacefully and you may be spared! If not, you'll face down full charges for resisting arrest!!!"

How? How had they found her here? This was their sanctuary, where no one could find them...

She stood up to hold back the door to the best of her ability and looked down-splotches of red dotted the white carpet.

The blood. Her husband's blood trail that had sullied the purity of the sanctuary. The janitor hadn't had time to respond to the request to clean up the result of "yet another child's antics."

Damnable white carpet.

The door rattled again-they were using brute force to beat that door down, and she couldn't hold them back, couldn't keep them out of their sanctuary...there wouldn't be a home for the Papa and the Baby to come back to...

Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling down onto the white carpet, where they ironically blended all too well...

...I'm so sorry...Mama can't be there, my little one. Mama can't be there...

There was another bang, then a soft clinking that echoed through the silence as the door's hinges were broken.

FIN

(A/N): Reviews please? They'd be greatly appreciated.