AN: Anyone remember this story? Well, I really don't blame you if you say 'no' to that. I gave this story what, an eight month rest? @_@ Bad me! No matter though. Here's the second chapter… third should be coming out soon.

The first thing that Zero really could focus on when she woke up was the intense pain the danced up and down her right shoulder. The second thing was the throbbing pain in her head. The third was that she was lying in some bed somewhere. And it wasn't her own. And the fourth…

She wasn't wearing her own clothing. Instead of the blue jeans and red shirt that she always wore, someone had taken them and replaced it with an overlarge white T-shirt that nearly came down to her knees. It wasn't as if she was naked, but still, the thought of someone touching her and removing her clothing wa-

"I see you're awake! Hello!"

Sitting up quickly, Zero winced and pulled the covers up around her. Moving made the pain far more intense, but she wasn't just going to lie there while some stranger was in the room.

"Oh, lay back down now! You're going to rip your shoulder open again!" The speaker, a young looking girl with blond hair and large blue eyes, walked over to her, gently forcing her back. "There. I'm not going to hurt you. And before you ask, I was the one that changed your clothing. Don't worry, neither Blues nor Rock saw you."

"Rock? Blues?" Eyes widening, Zero sat up again, fear evident in her eyes. "But, they're Light's creations! If they're here then…" She stared at the girl. "You're Roll, aren't you?"

"Yes, indeed, I am Roll. And please, for the love of God, lay down! I'm not going to repair your arm again if you damage it." Scowling slightly, she turned and started straightening the room up, muttering under her breath about the 'goddamned obstinate ways of the Wily 'bots'.

"You're Roll." Zero repeated this, still staring at the girl. "Why… why am I here? I mean, I tried to kill Blues yesterday. Why are you helping me at all?"

Roll stopped, shaking her head. "You just have to keep on questioning everything, don't you? No matter…" Turning around, she gave an exasperated sigh. "If you want me to tell you anything, you're going to have to lay down! Now!"

Not wanting to anger her, and knowing that trying to defy your enemy while your were currently injured and half-naked in their house was a stupid thing, Zero complied. "So… why am I here?"

"That's a damn good question, because if I had been Blues, I would have left you out on the streets to die. Or for Forte to take you back with him." Roll snorted. "It's just plain stupid to be helping any Wily bot out… but Forte asked Blues if he would take you here."

What…? Confusion filled Zero's mind. Forte asked for me to be taken here? Why?! I mean… that would get me away from Wily… but that would get him into so much trouble… Forte, you stupid idiot!

Unbeknownst to her, tears began to fill Zero's eyes at the thought of what would happen to Forte once Wily found out that she was missing. Startled by that reaction, Roll bit her lower lip, struggling to find something to say. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you," was all she could think of.

"Oh, no… no…" Shaking her head, Zero wiped the tears away. "It's not what you said… It's just that, Forte. I don't know what Wily's going to do to him… when Wily finds out that Forte helped to get me away from him." Helped to make him stop beating me. Seeing Roll open her mouth to say something, she added: "I'm a little tired… I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

Roll nodded, turned, and left the room, leaving behind a very confused, frustrated, and frightened Zero.

What's going to happen to me now…?

***

"She's where?" Forte winced at the sound of Wily's voice. He hadn't been looking forward to telling him that he had lost Zero, but he hadn't thought that he would react this badly.

"She's… I don't know. I was fighting Rock, but he suddenly left. After that, I couldn't find Zero anywhere. I think that maybe Blues might have captured her," he lied, keeping a straight face. Believe me, you bastard. Just believe me, yell at me, and let me go. I don't like the way you're looking at me…

"Are you sure that's what happened Forte?" There was an odd look in Wily's eye, a questioning, disbelieving, you-better-tell-me-the-truth-because-I-already-know-it look. "Are you sure that… something else didn't happen?"

"No… yes. I'm positive that that's all that happened." He can't possibly know what really happened, can he? I mean, it's not possible that he would know. Sweating slightly from worry, Forte struggled not to let any emotion besides boredom show through.

"And where, then, is Waltz?"

He froze, thinking fast. "She… she must have left with them. You know that Waltz would never leave Zero." Just like Gospel would never leave me, he added mentally. Now just drop the subject!

"Are you sure she wasn't… I don't know, asked maybe? By someone? To stay with Zero? To allow Blues to take Zero back with him?" The old man began to grin, a sick, twisted grin. "Are you sure that there isn't something that you want to tell me Forte?"

"No, Wily. Nothing." He knew, Goddamnit, he knew! It was hell trying to keep a straight face, trying not to let him know that he was hounding him. How did he find out? How did he?!

"Poor poor Forte." Shaking his head, Wily walked over to a large monitor. "I knew that you would try to do something like this one day. Which is why, when I was repairing Gospel one day, I installed a camera into his optical sensors. So I could watch you. And do you know what I found out today?"

Forte swallowed hard, refusing to allow himself to break. He could just be bluffing, you know. He may not be telling the truth…"No, sir… you found me fighting Rock?"

Wily cackled gleefully. "Tricky tricky! But you're not going to fool me this time. I have all the proof I need right here." With that, he pressed a button on the bottom of the monitor, turning in on. Pressing another one, a small video clip began to play.

A sick feeling washed over him as he watched everything from Gospel's point of view. The battle between him and Rock, the sudden stop in the battle, him rushing over to find his sister, unconscious, him talking to Blues, talking to Waltz… He groaned, without realizing it. That bastard! That mother-fucking bastard! He's been spying on me this entire time!

"Not only did I find out that you're in a relationship with Rock-" Forte flinched upon hearing that. "-I find out that you helped Zero run away. With Blues. Now tell me Forte, why did you do that?"

For a moment, Forte stood there, staring at Wily's back. Part of him wanted to tell him exactly why he did he, what he thought of him, how he wanted to kill him. The wiser, more sensible part was telling him to say nothing. Nothing at all.

"I'm waiting."

That did it. Rage filled him and, before he could think, everything spilled out: "I did it because you beat her! You beat her when she does nothing wrong! She screws up on missions slightly, and you try to kill her for it! Why do you treat her like that?!"

Something hard and heavy greeted the side of his head. Reeling back, he clutched her head, moaning slightly from pain. "You will not question what I do, boy." Wily's voice was amused. "You will do as I command… you will get that bitch for me. You will not question me."

Forte would have argued with him. It he didn't black out from something else connected with his head.

***

"If you touch him, you'll die."

It wasn't much of a threat, and both of them knew that. The wolf-bot stared at Rock; green eyes locking into blue, questioning.

"No, seriously dog, I will. You do not attack Rush."

Waltz rolled over onto her back, exposing her stomach, and tucked her tail between her legs. Please, I'll be good, just don't make me go. I need to stay here, where Mistress is.

Rock sighed and ran a hand through his short, black hair. "If only I knew your name, Dog. This would make this so much easier."

My name is Waltz! Jumping to her feet, the gray-ish black lupoid wagged her tail, grinning ever so slightly. Waltz! If Mistress comes out, she can tell you.

Rock blinked, confused. "Dude, dog, do you understand me? Bark once for yes and twice for no."

She barked, wagging her tail even more. Yes yes, I understand! Now let me see Mistress, you stupid robot!

"Woah… dude, even Rush isn't this smart. Maybe I should let you meet him."

"Or maybe not."

***

Starling, Rock turned around to see the girl, Zero, standing there. She smiled slightly at him, but it was obvious that it was forced. She still wore the T-shirt, though he hoped that Roll had given her a pair of shorts or something to wear underneath them.

"I'm sorry I scared you… just, having Waltz meet with Rush without me being there might end with some casualties. She isn't a very nice wolf sometimes." She walked over to the wolf-bot, crouching down and stroking her head.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. After all, she is your dog and…" Rock's voice trailed off as he stared at her. When Blues had brought her in, her shoulder had been ripped wide open. Since Doc was busy working on something else, and Blues wasn't exactly looking forward to telling him that a Wily-bot was now staying with them, they had Roll stitch it up to keep it closed until they got around to informing Doc.

But now there was no sign that there ever had been any wound on her shoulder, let alone stitches. "Who are you?" He demanded, jumping up from his position on the floor. "You're not Zero!"

The girl blinked at him. "I'm not Zero? Well, that's news to me, because last time I checked, I was… why do you think I'm not Zero, anyways?" She placed her hand on the wolf-bot, Waltz's, muzzle. "You behave," she ordered.

I don't get this, he thought, frowning. She can't be Zero because even Bioroids can't heal themselves that fast. But… how could Wily have snuck a double in here when we weren't watching? "Your wound. It's healed."

"… yes, I know. Android's, apparently, have a very high healing rate. Ya know, the repairation of one's own body? … that's not a word, goddamnit."

Rock stared at her blankly. "… Android? You're an android?" What's an Android? Is that a new type of Bioroid?

Zero nodded, looking down at the floor. "I was one of Wily's experiments. I failed, of course, but in a way that's rather ironic. I'm too human like, which is what Wily wanted, so I never listen to him, which is why For-" Eyes widening, she stopped and looked up at him. "I shouldn't be telling you this! You're one of Light's creations!"

"Yeah, I am," he agreed wryly, sitting back down on the floor. "In fact, I'm one of his most famous creations. I'm Rock… or MegaMan."

He had honestly thought it wasn't possibly for her eyes to get any wider. Shows how wrong I am, he thought, grinning slightly at the sight of her sitting there, eyes bugged out, jaw dropped, hand still resting on Waltz's muzzle. The wolf-bot was growling, hackles raised. "You're… Waltz, I told you, behave," Zero ordered, turning her attention from Rock to the wolf.

Rock sighed, shaking his head. "Zero, I'm not going to hurt you. Whatever reasons Blues had for taking you here, well… they're his own, because he hasn't told us them yet. But I trust him. I can't say that I trust you, but I'm not going to hurt you." Like I could ever trust you. You're a Wily bot… or android. I can't even fully trust Forte, as much as I want to…

"I know why Blues took me here. And he hasn't told you because he doesn't really understand why he did it himself." Standing up, she gave Waltz a final pat, then turned her full attention to him. "Where could I find him? I need to speak to him."

Rock frowned, thinking. "Well, usually, I'd say you couldn't find him… by now, he would probably be off in town somewhere. But, today, I think he's out back…"

"Thanks. Oh, and… just don't touch Waltz. I've told her to behave," Zero paused for a moment to glare at the wolf-bot. "But, she's a damned stubborn lupoid, and if she thinks I'm in trouble, she'll attack." She left, without even bothering to ask for directions on how to get 'out back.'

What's a lupoid? And why do I have a bad feelings about all of this?

***

A strong wind blew, grabbing at his short hair and tossing it every which was. Long having given up on trying to keep it neat, he stared at the sunset, deep in thought.

I know that Forte trusts us more than Wily does. I mean, he would have to, right? Since he loves Rock… but he doesn't even fully trust Rock. He can't, because of his programming. So why would he send his sister out here with us? Blues sighed, shaking his head. It just doesn't make sense.

… unless he wanted to get her away from Wily. But why? I mean, yes, she's a female… He shuddered, making a noise of disgust. "And that's just sick. Ugh… though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Wily had been using her for that."

"Using who for what?"