Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Ghost in the Shell universe. They are not my creations and never were.

Setting: Post-Solid State Society (2 years after end of 2nd gig), from Batou's POV, one shot

Summary: Batou sits down and has a personal talk with the Major, about the future of Section 9, her future, and whatnot.

Author's Note: Please read and review. Here is another SAC fic that I came up with the idea for at work. It has references to another fic of mine (see and read "False Attraction" for more details) so hopefully that won't leave you confused. I have a third on the way so expect more GITS fan-fics. I'm hoping I caught Batou in-character. I find that writing from the POV of GITS characters can be very difficult to legitimize so I tried my best.

Plucked Rose

I found the Major sipping coffee in the break room, alone. This type of scene was all too familiar to me, her in the break room, alone, staring at her coffee or gazing out the windows at the city below. I recall once, years ago, in this same room, I had asked her if she wanted to go see a movie with me. Of course, she politely refused at the time. That was the only time I ever asked her to do anything with me, outside of work. I remember being disappointed by her refusal.

I just stood there until she took her eyes off her coffee and saw my reflection in the windows. "Oh, it's you Batou," she said in a gloomy voice. The Major averted her eyes back down to her dark coffee. I knew something was bothering her. Otherwise why would she be in here?

"Well, I came here to speak with you," I told her. "I have a lot of things on my mind." With the Major back, things still didn't feel "normal." A two year absence from Section 9 was too long for me, especially when our lives revolve around ops, information warfare, and all the other typical bullshit. This week we were preparing to do another big op, so it was quite rare for me to see the Major just sitting and doing nothing. I decided now was the time to sit and chat, since it would probably be weeks before we ever sat down like this again.

In the end, I gave it directly to her like I always did. I sat in a seat right next to the Major. She didn't look at me, but I knew she was listening. The Major always listened. "You're going to leave Section 9 again, aren't you?" The moment I asked, I regretted it. I no longer had a biological heart, but if I did, that question would have torn it in half.

For a moment, there was no reaction. There was just another one of her blank stares into her coffee. A minute later she raised her eyes to the windows, oblivious to her own reflection. She opened her mouth for a split second, only for nothing to come out. Seems whatever she wanted to say wasn't worth saying.

"Look Motoko." I figured if I called her by her first name she would pay more attention to me. I wouldn't dare call her by her first name in front of the others, though. "We need you back on the team. The Chief talked to me recently about him getting older, and not being around here too much longer. Section 9 has more members now than ever, but who the hell will take Aramaki's position? Not me for god damn sure. Also, Togusa has taken your position, and he's doing a damn fine job, but none of us are cut out to take Aramaki's place. That's where you…"

"I never said I was staying with Section 9," the Major interrupted. No signs of anger in her voice, not an ounce of impatience located. I felt like I was talking to a wall. "I told you Batou, that I would help with the last op. I did, and now it's time for me to move on." She picked up her coffee and took a long sip.

"Then why the hell are you still here, Motoko? Even if you're not our commander officially anymore, you are still a team member. You will always be welcome here. You insist you want to leave, again, but what will you do when you are gone?"

The Major lifted her head and finally gave me eye contact. Despite her depressing state, she was beautiful. I remember Saito told me the story of how he had a showdown with the Major when we were younger. One of the tachikomas let me know that Saito had told this exact story to some of the newer recruits over a game of poker, years ago. The only difference was that when he told the story to the recruits, he left out the part where he called the Major a "beautiful rose." When he called her beautiful, she slammed his face into the concrete. When Saito told me this I laughed my ass off. Saito apparently learned his lesson that day and warned me to never comment on the Major's beauty.

I loved her so much, but I never told her. If I told her how I felt, that I loved her, I would ruin everything. She would kick my ass off the team for sure if I said I loved her. We came close to intimacy after the Laughing Man incident was practically over, me having my arm blown off. She had let me stay in her safehouse and I gave her back the watch that was so important to her. She never did tell me who the hell gave her the watch, or why it was important, but it didn't matter. Either way I wanted her stay with Section 9 so I wouldn't lose her ever again.

She finally spoke, then averted her gaze once again. "You keep thinking I left Section 9 because of Kuze, but I had other reasons. I had to get away Batou. All those other reasons aren't important though." She gave me a quick smile. "I noticed you cut your hair. Why?"

I was surprised by her random question, simply because I didn't know if I could respond. It completely caught me off guard, of why she would ask me a pointless question. "You're the greatest hacker in the world Motoko, and you only now noticed that I cut my hair?" With my response, she laughed a little. I don't know why she found it humorous, because I was speaking the truth. However, it made me glad that she still saw some humor left in me.

"I bet you cut your hair Batou, because I left Section 9." Then, silence ensued. Like a pig, she gutted me and waited until all my blood drained out. Me, left speechless? Christ Batou, get your act together. I tried making up the best answer I could give her. "I guess I cut my hair short so I would look less frightening to strangers in public. I look like a damn criminal, like I'm yakuza or something. I thought if I prettied myself up a bit, I would appear less atrocious." Good answer, I thought. But then, I don't feel like I made up that response at all. I found it to be quite true, that I really did frighten people.

Motoko smiled again. "You're not frightening to me Batou." Then, she took her right hand and placed it into one of my giant, gruff-sized hands. I would have fled the damn room. She had never shared such an intimate touch to anyone, let alone me. It was even more intimate than that fleeting moment we shared in her safehouse years ago. I made no move to touch her anymore. I stared into her artificial eyes, eyes that weren't "real." I saw her humanity, her soul, her ghost. They were there, not hidden in the fog where they blended in. Her body was all prosthetic, but her ghost was genuine and there.

The hand touch didn't last very long, and before I knew it, Motoko raised herself out of her seat. She let go of my hand. "Anyway Batou," she said in a serious tone, "we need to prepare for the next op." Oddly enough, I smirked at the Major's charisma. She was back.

Unlike Saito, I plucked this rose without ever being endangered by her thorns.