Fighting On

by Mewser

Zee has to keep fighting.

TZP Series - Mini-fic #2

Author's Note: Rated T for red stains everywhere, but this is not a dark fic! Read on.

P.S. – Messages from Zee's internal system will be displayed in parentheses (like this). If there's a chance that you don't know who the characters in The Zeta Project are, then you can see my bio for a short description of some of them. Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to the WB. See my bio for additional info.

o—O—o

Fighting On

by MouserMewser

Blood...

There was blood everywhere.

Horrible memories flashed through Zee's mind for a mere instant at the sight of it. He was deeply horrified to see it there... smeared on the walls, on the floor, staining the light-blue carpet, where it didn't belong... because it meant only one thing.

"Ro?" he called out.

He dropped the brown food bag, rushing past the bedroom and stopping in front of the bathroom. The door was partially open. There were red streaks and hand prints on its surface.

Zee opened it all the way.

He followed the bright red trail with his eyes, seeing that it stopped in front of the walk-in shower. He could see her denim-clad legs through the frosted glass...

He pulled the door open and knelt beside her. She was propped against the wall, and there was so much blood...

"No..."

Zee held out his hand and nearly touched her face.

"Get up, synthoid!" suddenly a grim voice shouted from behind him.

Zee turned and saw Agent Bennett with a weapon aimed at his face.

"So, you finally couldn't resist your programming, could you?" Bennett asked, anger in his voice.

"No... Agent Bennett, I didn't hurt her," Zee said, his voice torn.

"Get up!" Bennett ordered.

Zee turned to Ro. Her eyes were closed and her features were calm and still, as if she were sleeping. "Ro..." He wanted her to open her eyes.

But he felt something snap onto his neck, suddenly pulling him sideways. It was a large, metal clasp, and another agent was holding on to the other end of the pole, pulling hard.

Zee fell to the tiled floor, and, instantly, he was surrounded by agents.

His arms were snapped together behind his back with powerful electromagnetic cuffs, and his legs were immobilized in the same way.

He was dragged out of the bathroom. A metal gurney waited for him, and he was loaded onto it and held down by an electromagnetic field. He couldn't move.

As other agents entered the bathroom to check on the victim, Bennett neared Zee and looked down at him with fury in his eyes.

"Agent Bennett, please believe me," Zee pleaded. "I didn't hurt Ro!"

Agent Rush came out of the bathroom and approached her superior. "Sir?" she said.

Bennett turned to her.

Rush's solemn look said it all. She shook her head.

Bennett swallowed hard and set his jaw, and then looked down at Zee again.

"I hope you're happy now, Zeta. Your irresponsible behavior has led to the death of your accomplice," he said.

Zee looked mortified. "No..."

He began to struggle.

"No! Please, it can't be true... Ro... NO!"

"I'm afraid it is," Bennett said.

Zee struggled even though he knew it was pointless.

Ro was dead.

She had been killed.

He hadn't been there to protect her.

He hadn't been there to stop someone from hurting her.

He had let them kill her.

Agony and fury wrenched at his figurative heart. "Ro!..." he cried out.

Bennett watched Zeta's reactions with hidden sympathy. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that the synthoid was demonstrating true human emotion.

o—O—o

The van swayed lightly as it made its way down the road.

"What will you do with me now?" Zee asked, solemnly.

Bennett looked at the synthoid. "I think you know what the government wants," he answered.

Zee fell silent. "I see," he said quietly, and then went back to staring blankly at the ceiling of the van.

o—O—o

It was useless to struggle against the restraining field.

There were scientists and technicians in white lab coats working around him, and agents with their weapons ready in case Zeta tried to escape.

"I didn't kill Ro," Zee said, as he looked at Bennett pleadingly. "I loved her. She was the only family I had. I wouldn't have let this happen to her if I had been there. Please believe me!"

Bennett finally looked up from the computer console.

"And yet, the last 45 minutes of your memory files before you found Ms. Rowen are blank. What did you do to that data, Zeta? Did you delete it?" Bennett asked, accusingly.

Zee froze. How could the data be missing? He hadn't done anything to it. Bennett should have been able to see everything in his memory.

"No... I didn't do anything to it," he said.

"Then why is it missing?"

"I don't know," Zee said.

Bennett scowled. "Can you even remember what you were doing before you found Ms. Rowen, Zeta?"

Zee tried to recall. "I was standing in the doorway with food for Ro."

But before that…?

Why couldn't he remember?

One of the scientists looked at Bennett and they exchanged a few words.

Zee looked down, and then glanced at his restraints, knowing what was going to happen to him then. He didn't think that there was a reason for himself to fight the erasure anymore. Ro was gone, and so was Dr. Selig. Even if there was another way to prove his innocence, he didn't really feel the will to fight for his freedom anymore.

As the scientists worked at their computers, Zee quietly relived every cherished memory in his head, especially the ones with Ro.

In his mind, he could see her dazzling smile, her bright, blue eyes. "Good-bye, Ro," Zee said quietly.

It didn't matter to him anymore if they were going to take his memories away.

But there was one thing he could not tolerate...

They would try to wipe his memory clean and reprogram him to be a killer again.

Zee had no intention of allowing that to happen.

--

One of the technicians suddenly looked up from his computer, alarmed.

"Sir!" he called out, looking at Bennett and at the lead scientist.

They both looked at him questioningly.

"Zeta's activated a self-destruct sequence!" the tech said.

Bennett's eyes widened. "What?!"

They rushed to the computer the tech had been looking at. It showed the current activity in Zeta's system.

"I didn't know he could do this," Bennett said, looking at the scientist.

"I wasn't aware of it, either," the scientist said.

"Can we stop it?" Bennett asked.

"I can try," the scientist answered.

"Well, hurry!" Bennett snapped. He left the computer and walked up to Zeta, whose head hung down to his chest. His eyes had gone dark.

Bennett stared at the synthoid for a few seconds, before shaking his head and then turning to the scientist. "How much time do we have left?" he called out.

Working tersely at the computer, the scientist looked up. "About three minutes," he answered.

Bennett sighed and looked again at Zeta.

"It's not what I wanted, Zeta. It's what the government wanted," he said, and then looked away sadly.

He turned and walked back to an unoccupied computer, typing several commands.

When he looked up at Zeta, he saw that a green, transparent shield began to lower from the ceiling, encasing the synthoid.

Backing away from the computer, he made his way to the door, placing his hand on the panel on the wall. "Everyone evacuate the room!" Bennett ordered, as the doors opened.

The agents, scientists, and technicians looked up at the sound of his voice, and then each of them left their stations and rushed to the door.

"I could have stopped the sequence!" the lead scientist said as he walked up to Bennett.

Bennett shook his head. "No, you couldn't have," he said. As he looked up at Zeta, he saw that the synthoid's eyes were blinking red.

"Come on," he said, pushing the scientist out of the room as he walked out also.

Once everyone was outside the lab room, Bennett turned and shut the doors behind him, leaving the synthoid alone in the room.

o—O—o

In Zee's mind, the seconds counted off.

(15 seconds to self-destruct...)

"Bucky, can't you do something?!"

"I'm trying!" the kid genius replied tersely.

"Here, let me," a third voice said.

(12 seconds...)

His fingers worked on the console.

(8 seconds...)

"Zee! Zee, wake up!"

(5 seconds...)

He looked up from the console. "I've deactivated the machine. He should be waking up now."

"Well, he's still out of it!"

(3 seconds...)

"We're too late! Come on!"

"No! Zee! Zee, wake up! Wake up!"

(2 sec--)

Something was interfering.

(Warning: Hostile activity detected.)

"Wake up, you metal-head! Before you blow us all to bits!" a loud, desperate voice said.

Ro?

Zee reactivated his systems. His eyesight blinked on again, and he sat up.

"Ro!"

She conked him upside the head with her hand, and then threw her arms around his neck.

Slowly, he raised his arms and held her against him. "But how?" he asked, confused, but immensely relieved to see her alive.

Two other figures walked into his range of vision.

"Bucky? Batman?"

"That was close," the kid genius said, grinning.

Batman extended his hand to the synthoid.

Zee took it, and Ro released him as Batman pulled him up to his feet from his sitting position.

Zee looked around, seeing rows of control panels and large screens planted next to short, narrow platforms.

He looked down and realized that he was standing on a platform. Lying at the center of it were several thick cables that were coming from a nearby control panel. He touched the top of his head, finding that the small panel on his head was open.

Somehow, he knew that those cables had been connected to him.

"What is this place?" Zee asked, looking around at the dim room, as he closed the panel on his head.

"It's an abandoned VR center in Gotham," Batman answered.

"VR? You mean, virtual reality?" Zee asked, as he stepped off the platform with Ro. He concluded that someone had hooked him up to a VR machine. "So, nothing I experienced was real?"

Batman nodded. "Someone's idea of a sick joke."

"Joke?!" Ro said. "Zee was about to blow himself up for real! That would have been no joke!"

"Yes," Zee said, realizing how close he came to destroying himself, and his friends. "I am glad you were able to stop me." But after a moment, he asked, "How did you stop me?"

Bucky grinned. "She knocked some sense into you—literally," he said, pointing to a metal bar that was dropped on the ground beside Zee.

"Zee can fix himself later," Ro said, crossing her arms. Having a few dents was a minor price to pay for being saved from total destruction. Zee was able to fix himself, after all. But then she looked at Zee, suddenly unsure, concerned that she may have caused him some permanent damage. "Right?" she asked.

Zee gingerly touched the side of his head, feeling several small dents. "Yes. Don't worry," he said. "They are superficial. None of my circuits were damaged."

Ro smiled, and then she hugged Zee.

"Well, isn't that a shame!" suddenly, a harsh voice said from somewhere behind them.

They all turned around to the sound of the voice, and saw a single person standing several feet away from them.

Batman narrowed his eyes.

"Krick," Zee said, loathingly.

"I should have known it was you!" Ro spat.

Wielding a powerful-looking blaster in his fist, Krick looked at them with a malicious grin.

"And I should have known that getting rid of your synthoid friend wasn't going to be that easy," he replied. "But since I have all of you here, why not make the most of it?" He lowered the muzzle of his blaster to aim at Ro. "Besides, it'll be fun watching the real thing. Won't it, synthoid?"

Batman raised his arms at Krick, and then two sets of cords shot out from the top of his wrists.

Krick ducked sideways, evading the cords.

"Stay back!" Zee said to Ro and Bucky, as he pushed them away.

Ro and Bucky didn't hesitate to run behind a large pillar for cover.

As Zee ran beside Batman, Krick shot at them, making them duck for cover.

Part of the wall behind them exploded in flames.

Zee and Batman scanned the large, dim room for Krick.

"I lost him," Batman said.

They both stood ready to fight, searching and listening for the escaped convict.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a projectile came at them from the shadows.

"Look out!" Batman shouted, as he tackled Zeta to the ground.

The projectile crashed into the platform where Zee had been found, exploding into a ball of flames and sending its fiery remains flying everywhere.

Meanwhile, behind the pillar, Ro and Bucky sank to their knees and covered their heads.

"This isn't very good cover, you know!" Bucky said.

"Got a better idea?" Ro asked.

"Yeah—getting out of here!" Bucky said.

"Oh, yeah," Ro said, sarcastically, "With Krick being near the exit, that'll be really easy to accomplish, won't it?"

"Wrong," Krick's rough voice suddenly surprised them. "I'm right here."

They looked up, horrified to see him standing there with his blaster aimed at them.

He ordered them to stand up and turn around. Ro stood with Bucky at her left side. Krick ordered them to raise their arms, and once they did, Krick grabbed Ro's left arm and Bucky's right arm in one of his fists, and then guided them in front of him.

"I have your friends, Zeta!" Krick shouted, as he walked with his blaster aimed at Bucky and Ro. "Come out or I'll shoot them!"

Ro and Bucky looked at each other worriedly, with a "now what do we do?" expression on each of their faces.

Krick looked around, seeing no sign of the synthoid or of Batman anywhere.

"You don't believe me?!" Krick shouted, suddenly releasing Ro and pushing her to the floor. She fell hard onto her knees. "How about I give you a little demonstration of what this gun can do to a person's head!"

He aimed the blaster to the back of Ro's head.

Bucky's eyes widened. He pulled at his arm and kicked Krick, trying to stop him.

Krick turned his head at him angrily and aimed the blaster at him. "Unless you wanna go first."

Bucky swallowed hard, shaking his head.

Being distracted, Krick didn't see Batman as he ran out of the shadows and launched himself heel-first at Krick's head.

The blow sent Krick to the ground with a grunt.

Suddenly free, Bucky ran and grabbed Ro by the arm. "Come on!" he shouted.

"You two get out of here!" Batman shouted, and then proceeded to kick the blaster out of Krick's hand.

With his back to the floor, Krick looked up at Batman. He aimed his fist and a laser came out of his robotic arm.

He shot, but Batman jumped out of the way before he could get hit.

Krick stood up and ran after Batman, shooting wildly.

Batman turned and released three small, metal balls from his hand before ducking behind a platform.

The metal balls bounced and rolled to Krick, exploding in a cloud of thick, purple gas.

Krick waved his arm, trying not to breathe.

But the gas stung his left eye (the non-robotic one), making him clench it shut and cry out in fury and agony.

"Zeta! I'll kill all of you!" Krick cried out in rage as he stumbled through the cloud of gas, shooting his laser blindly.

He heard explosions around him and felt flaming debris singe his skin.

But then he was tackled from behind.

Strong arms gripped his wrists and wrestled with him, dragging him, and then he was lifted and dropped onto a platform, pinned face-down.

The sound of a spinning saw made Krick realize that he was wrestling against Zeta.

"No!" Krick shouted, as he turned and saw the synthoid slice off his laser weapon, disarming him.

Zee slammed a helmet over Krick's head. "Now!" he shouted to Batman.

Beside the platform, Batman pressed a round, green button on the computer panel, and the screen beside him suddenly blinked on.

"It's working!" Batman called out.

Zee struggled with Krick, holding him down.

But then, after several seconds, the villain stopped moving and went slack as the waves emitted by the helmet reached his brain.

Zee let him go and stood up. He jumped off the platform and went to Batman's side.

"It looks like you did it," Batman said, as he looked at the screen to see what Krick was seeing.

The screen showed a short, windowless hallway with a white door at each end.

Batman grinned as he saw Krick run through the hallway and open the door, revealing another hallway with another white door. On the other side of the new door, he found an identical hallway... with another identical door.

"Subtle torture," Batman commented with a grin, as he looked at Zeta.

Zee shrugged. "I figured it would keep him busy until the police arrive," he said.

"Unless it drives him mad first," Batman said.

Zee looked at Batman with a concerned look. He held out his wrist near the console. "Should I..."

"Nah," Batman said with a grin. "Come on."

o—O—o

Zee had been surprised to discover that it was night by the time they stepped out of the condemned building.

They watched from the shadows of an alley across the street as the police dragged a struggling, restrained Krick into a van.

"I hope they can keep him in prison this time," Ro said.

"I'll be checking on him to make sure that he stays there," Batman said.

Ro smiled. "Thanks again for your help," she said, hugging him briefly.

"What? Don't I get a hug, too?" Bucky spoke up, as Ro stepped back from Batman.

Ro looked at him, crossing her arms.

"I see how it is," Bucky said sourly.

"You can get a hug from me," Zee offered good-naturedly, nearing him.

Bucky made a face and held out his hand to stop Zee, and Ro burst out laughing.

"What?" Zee said, genuinely puzzled.

"Just… Never mind," Bucky said, taking a step away from Zee.

After the laughter died down, Batman spoke up. "Well, I'm glad everyone's all right, but why did you come to Gotham in the first place?" he asked. When he'd found Ro and her friend Bucky, Ro had told him that Zee had gone missing shortly after they had arrived in the city.

Zee suddenly remembered their purpose. "We were hoping you could help us," Zee said.

Batman listened to them as they explained the situation.

"I see," he said. "And you think I might be able to help you find him?"

"If there's anyone else that can help us locate him, maybe it's you. We could use all the help we can get," Ro said.

Batman nodded. "I'll see what I can do," he said.

They thanked him, and then Batman left, launching himself upwards and spreading his wings, disappearing over a roof.

"Wow," Bucky said. "Never thought I'd get to see him in real life."

"That's why you wanted to come with us, wasn't it?" Ro said.

"Uh-huh," Bucky answered. "Plus, I figured you two could take me to a nice restaurant. You won't believe the things my uncle expects me to eat."

"Save it for later," Ro said. "But now that you mention it, I am starving."

"Where would you like to go?" Zee asked.

"Hmm..." Ro thought about it as they walked out of the alley and into the street.

Zee watched the passing cars and managed to hail a cab as Bucky and Ro argued over where they should have dinner.

- - - - -

Batman watched their cab leave as he stood on a rooftop.

He lightly tapped an area above his ear. "Wayne?" he said.

His mentor's voice sounded in his ear.

"Dr. Eli Selig?" the former Batman's voice asked.

"You got anything?" Terry asked.

There was a pause, and then Wayne's voice spoke up again. "Yes, but it's not much. There's recent info on him, as recent as two days ago, but most of it is heavily encrypted. It looks like the government doesn't want anyone to know he's alive," he said.

"Then he is alive?" Terry asked.

"That's what it looks like," Wayne said. "Unless you can explain how a man that presumably died months ago can still be on the government's payroll."

"Is there any way to crack his file?" Terry asked.

There was a beat, and then his mentor said, "There's always a way, Terry. I thought you knew that by now."

Terry grinned. "With you as my mentor? Of course I knew that," he said, as he propelled himself into the air and flew off the roof. "I was just making sure."

In his ear, he heard Wayne scoff. "Yeah, right," he said.

--

The End

--

A/N: Yay! I finished my second mini-fic, although this one is longer than my first.

And, see? TOLD YOU this wasn't a dark fic! (Did I fool anyone? Ha ha!) ;)

Please be kind and leave me a short review. :) It would be much appreciated. Thanks!

- Mewser