A/N: Well, this is what happens when I get distracted by things like school, RPs, and more personal things. I've been prodding this chapter for a week or so, but I've also been very busy with bass practice, so yeah. Whatever, it's here now. I decided to work on character development. As always, please read and review, but enjoyment is optional - after all, that's what opinions are for. I still don't own Zoids. Actually, that's untrue. I own several models, my favorite is my Liger Zero-X model with the lightning armor equipped. That thing is daaaamned sexy. But anyways, yeah. I don't own the franchise.

Chapter Three: A Day to Recall

"Barkeep… another drink, please."

The man eyed her warily before setting the already prepared drink in front of her. "Finish that one and then you're cut off; you're too young for all of this, girly." With that, he went about washing glasses, meticulously scrubbing with the fervor of a man plagued with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

With a sigh, Rose set about sipping at the drink - something about being denied another made her want this one to last. She needed the alcohol. She needed to drown the pain.

She needed to forget.

Flashes of hate, of bloodlust, of pure sadistic hunger flashed through her mind, bringing about a shudder - a shudder which didn't go unnoticed by the bartender. "…Kid, are you even old enough to be in here?" It amazed him that it had slipped his mind to ID the girl.

Rose picked her head up quickly, staring at the man - she'd thought that she had evaded that small stumbling block. Unable to bring her face into the hard mask that she normally wore due to five and a half mixed drinks in her system, she simply nodded - the straw never left her mouth through the movement, continuing to innocently transfer liquid from the cup to the mouth of an underage girl.

The barkeep watched her carefully, slowly raising a hand for her ID. "Out with it, girl. I want to see some identification, now." With an equally slow motion, the commander slowly reached inside her trench coat and pulled out a beige handbag. She set the drink down and undid the clasp, reaching inside and digging for a moment.

"Where… Ah, there it is," she said in mock relief, slipping a large bill into her hand. With a quick slap to the man's hand, Rose transferred the bill into his hand - without breaking motion, she scooped up her drink in the same hand and wheeled about, dashing to the door. There was a yell of complaint, though it quickly faded to a satisfied mumble as he realized just how much money he had just been handed.

"Come back anytime," the man yelled as the door closed behind her.

Rose just grinned.

"What do you mean you can't find her? Who the hell let our leader out without a guard!" To say that Alex was annoyed would be an understatement. After giving her ample time to rest, the major had gone to check on his commanding officer, looking to comfort her and make sure she was alright after the episode - so imagine his surprise when he found her private quarters completely empty.

After that, he'd systematically checked everywhere she normally spent time: her brother's room, the exercise center, the firing range, the cafeteria, the hanger, he'd even checked all of the restrooms; Rather, he'd gotten female officers to check the restrooms. With each false lead, another few members had joined the scavenger hunt for their leader.

And now…

"We've searched the entire Whale King, sir… we can't find her anywhere. But-"

"So that's it, then?" Cross was fuming with rage. "You're just giving up? You don't have any clue where she might be? Any idea at all?" Anger was driving the man blind to his rudeness. They'd let his commander go, though - their commander! Rosalie Arrington was a leader to all of them, and a damned good one too. So how could they just stand there when she went missing? How could it be that they weren't going insane with worry?

"Sir… that's what was trying to tell you. One of the hover-bikes is missing. We think she took it and drove to a nearby town called 'Urals'."

So that was the story, eh? She'd just bailed? Well that was something else entirely. While Alex was still angry, his anger was now directed at the very person he'd been worried about moments ago - didn't she know that she had responsibilities? "Right… sorry, ensign. I'm taking one of the bikes to go find her. I'll drag her back here kicking and screaming if I have to. You have my word."

The soldier just nodded and watched as his commanding officer ran across the hanger to the bike rack. He mounted one of the bikes and kick started it, cranking the throttle and throwing himself out of one of the deployment gates that lacked a launch rail. "Hurry back, Major…"

Her footsteps quickened dramatically as she rounded the corner.

How exactly had this happened? She'd thought that she was being careful by never using her name, her hair covering most of her face - hair that had been dyed brown for this excursion with temporary color - to the point that only one of her eyes was visible. Her eyes were adorned with colored contacts to keep them from giving her away. Her clothing was large to keep from exposing her frame.

"So how in God's green earth did they find me?" Rose cursed under her breath as her power walk turned into a full blown sprint through the mostly empty streets - the pair behind her finally seemed to give up attempting to shadow her in favor of chasing her down. After dodging around a small child and vaulting a very perturbed man on a hover-board, the girl hung a sharp right and dashed down an alley.

The men were gaining on her, their long legs giving them the advantage in this chase. If they kept this pace up, she would be caught in a matter of a minute or so. Then something occurred to her. "Wait, why am I even running?"

With several blinks, Rosalie Arrington skidded to a stop and spun around to face her - now very confused - would-be attackers. A wicked grin spread across her pink lips and she quickly reached up to discard her bulky coat; it would only serve to hinder her movements. The grin grew wider as her hands moved to a combat ready position before curling in a taunt. "Bring it on, boys."

There was no movement for several seconds as the pair of men looked to each other in confusion, which gave Rose a chance to take them in. They were tall, just over six feet each, and were lean. They were wearing suits, something similar to funeral attire, with odd looking combat vests over them. This would be… interesting.

One of the man reached to his radio to mutter into it while the other charged, punch extending. Too easy, she mused to herself as she grasped his wrist and began to twist the corkscrewed punch even further, sidestepping into safety. Her free hand coiled above her head and she jerked forward to pull him off balance and keep his arm stretched into the perfect target.

The man let out a scream of pain as her forearm crashed through his stressed elbow joint, ruining the joint. A swift kick to the man's groin later and Rose gave him a shove, pushing his unconscious body to the ground - he had passed out in his own vomit from the pain. "Scary looking, but not very good at backing it up, 'eh?" Her gaze moved to the remaining man, drinking in the stunned expression on his face. He growled into his radio again and charged, his hand moving to pull a knife from its sheath on his hip.

Rosalie's face twisted into shock and fright as he charged and shoved it forward in an amateurish stab. "Oh wait." Her face twisted into a grin and she quickly grasped the man's wrist. With a twist, she spun behind him and brought his own knife into his side with it still in his hand. "I've taken self defense since I was four," she recalled as the man slid to the ground, gasping in pain. "Don't take out the knife, it'll just make you bleed out faster."

With a giggle of delight at the two very much incapacitated men, Rose moved to head out of the alley, only to realize her mistake - there were men in similar coats jogging in from both directions, at least a dozen. "…Oh, shit."

The first of them charged a pair from each side rushing in to make the takedown. She'd been trained to fight groups, but four grown men at once were too much for even her. Without hesitation, her hands moved to her right hip only to grasp for air - the image of a pair of revolvers laying on her bedside table flashed to her head. She was without a doubt in over her head.

"Up here, assholes."

Gunshots rang out and the four men dropped - everyone turned and looked up to the man who had spoken. Despite the fact that the sun was to his back, casting a haunting silhouette, Rosalie still recognized her subordinate. "Alex!"

With a grin, Alexander Cross leapt lightly from the building and landed with a thud next to his commanding officer - he produced two .357 eight shot revolvers with inlaid pearl grips from his pocket. With a matching grin, Rose took the pair of revolvers, her thumbs snapping back the hammers. They were double action revolvers, sure, but the message was still clear. "Leave now or die."

There was a moment of silence before one of the men burst into laughter. With a sigh, Rosalie adjusted her aim slightly and proceeded to send a round into the man's kneecap, replacing his laughter with screams of pain. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. "Anyone else think that was funny?"

No one moved for a breath.

And that's when the laughter burst forth from the rest of them, filling the air with the sickening mirth of the insane, growing to the climax. Confused, Rosalie was very much surprised when Alex suddenly lifted her in his arms and jumped - jumped all the way to the top of a two story building. As they landed, he threw himself over her, shielding her as the explosions began.

The noise was deafening, threatening to blow out her eardrums even after her hands had clapped over her ears. After what seemed like an eternity, the explosions ceased, only to be replaced by the sickening sound of flesh, blood, organs, bones, and other remains turning into a rain and splattering against the rooftop around them. Not knowing when they had been pinched shut, Rose slowly opened her eyes. His eyes were open as well, staring into her own with a look of concern and terror - his short blonde hair was red with blood. Slowly, the rain stopped and a single drop of the red substance fell from his nose onto her forehead.

Opening her mouth to speak, she found herself without words - she had too many questions to narrow it down in her current state of mind. Instead, Alex spoke for her. "Cybernetics derived from project Diablo. I knew that you would disapprove so it was kept under wraps; that's not important. Are you alright, ma'am?" Still unable to speak, she simply nodded. "Good, now please forgive me for this…"

Rose gave him an inquisitive look as he seemed suddenly angered.

"Have you lost your mind! You're the commander of everything that your father left behind! You can't just go about leaving to go wherever you please, whenever you please without telling us! Do you even know how long we've been looking for you - how worried I've been? If I hadn't shown up when I did, God only knows what would've happened to you! I swear, you can be so stupid sometimes!"

Rosalie Arrington blinked several times, taken aback by his sudden outburst. His chest heaved a few times as he sought to reclaim his breath, and finally a few tears welled in his eyes. "Don't you dare worry me like that, ever again."

His strong arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Slowly, Rose returned the hug and buried her face in his muscled chest. "I… I won't."

"I'm sorry, sir; all we have left is the honeymoon suite."

A sudden heat flashed over Alexander's face as his cheeks brightened into a pink tint. "That… are you sure there's nothing else?" The receptionist simply shook her head. "I don't know about…"

"-We'll take it!" Rosalie was suddenly clinging to her subordinate's arm, hand on his chest. "Won't we, honey?" He gave her a shocked look, his throat catching while his face flashed brighter red. The girl generously took the key and nodded her thanks. "Come one, Alex we've got things to do." And with that, she grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to their room.

"Y-… You're evil, you know that," he grumbled as she pushed the door open with a giggle.

The room was something straight out of a pimp's dream world - pink fur covered the walls, the ceiling, the floor, even the large heart shaped bed that the room was centered around; the rest of the furniture was equally heart shaped and padded. The lighting in the room was very… dim, casting shadows in what could be called "mood lighting".

Rose was pretty sure she could see smoke coming from Alex's head as he took in their temporary living arrangements, earning another giggle from the girl.

After getting off of the roof and buying clothes to change into, they had gone out for drinks. It had been nice to unwind and forget about the day. Then when he said they had to go back… the girl had turned to begging. She just wanted one night away from the stress, one night of peace. So finally he had given in, calling in to let them know about their status. They weren't happy about the wait, but what could they do?

"You uh… you want the first shower?" Rosalie was about to say yes when she took in his matted hair and bloody skin.

"No… you need it more."

He hesitated. "Ma'am, are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go get sudsy, Major. That's an order." He nodded and grabbed his bag of new clothes before heading into the small restroom that the room offered. She heard him mutter something about a hot tub before the door closed, causing another giggle.

After a bit of hesitation, Rose plopped down onto the large bed, groaning at the way that she sank into the bedding; it was sinfully comfortable. Very slowly, her eyes began to droop. She didn't realize it, but after a few moments, Rosalie dipped in unconsciousness.

After only fifteen minutes or so, her eyes fluttered open to a view that was… heavenly. Facing away from her was Alex; he was shirtless, his bronze skin rippling with every movement that he made as he slowly slipped a white cotton shirt over his torso. His legs were covered in black denim and his hair was messy in a way that complemented his overall attractiveness.

Slowly, he turned and froze as he met her scrutinizing gaze. "You um… How long have you been awake?" The grin that he received in response was enough to tell him that she had seen him without his shirt. There was a short pause while he took a seat in one of the padded chairs behind him. "The shower's open whenever you want it."

After a moment's consideration, Rose nodded and rose to her feet, grabbing her clothes before heading to the small bathroom. The shower was in the corner of the room, just across from the hot tub. "So that's what he meant…" She muttered several things under her breath before slipping out of her bloody clothes and into the shower, twisting the knobs for the water. As the hot water washed over her bare skin, Rose thought she might lose the strength in her legs; after such a long, stressful day, this was exactly what she needed.

After washing out her hair and the brown coloring that stained it and cleaning her skin, the commander stayed in there for several extra minutes, just soaking in the relaxing feeling. Finally, though, she got out - because she ran out of hot water, of course - and got dressed, slipping into a pair of silk pajamas and a large cotton top.

With a yawn and a stretch, Rosa stepped out of the steam filled bathroom and into the main room, attracting an amusing stare from Alex. "Something on my shirt?" she asked with a grin. Alex quickly shook his head and attempted to hide his embarrassment. "That's what I thought." She walked over and plopped down on the bed again, grinning when he didn't move. "Come on, Major, it's a big bed. You don't want me to be lonely, do you?"

Yet again, heat flashed across his face as Alex hung his head. Finally he moved to the bed, awkwardly sitting on the edge of it with his back facing her. Rose frowned. "Come here, damnit." With strength that still managed to surprise him, Alex found himself jerked onto his back on the bed.

In a split-second, Rosalie was ontop of him, crushing her lips against his. Alex blinked, confused. What the hell was going on with his captain? Was it because of the trauma from being merged with the Night Empress? Was it from the close call this afternoon? Was it because of the alcohol that he tasted on her lips? Or was it because she held genuine feelings for him? It was difficult to see her as anything other than his junior by six years, his captain, his best friend's little sister. This situation, the closeness, the intimacy… it was too much for him. With a grunt of willpower, he pushed Rose back gently, earning a groan and a frown.

"What are you doing, Alex?" She leaned down to kiss him again but he put his hands against her shoulders to keep her at bay. "Alex," she whimpered out his name and it nearly broke the loose grasp that he had on his control.

"Commander, you're drunk."

She grinned at that, her hands taking his wrists and gently moving them out of the way. "And you're complaining." She kissed him again; he pushed her away again. Rose growled angrily. "Major, I wanted this to be sweet, but I'll order you to lie down and take it if you don't stop pushing me away."

Alex froze, seeming to contemplate his options. After a few moments something seemed to click inside of his head and he pushed upwards into a hard kiss, hands cupping her face. Her hands explored his chest while their lips meshed together. Alex's tongue tipped out, tasting, exploring, earning a whimper from the girl above him.

She seemed to pull herself together then, her hands balling into fists in the fabric of his shirt. With a yank, there was a satisfying rip of cotton as his chest came to bare - literally. After a few minutes, the pair broke for a breath.

Rose nibbled at his jaw, but Alex was wasting no time. He pinned one of her legs and bucked with the opposite hip, flipping over atop of her. Giving a surprised gasp, Rosalie Hale stared up at him questioningly. He just gave her a shrug and then buried his lips back into hers.

A/N: So… yeah. Really. Freaking. Long. Chapter. Like I said, I worked on character development this chapter, and… yeah. Got carried away. BUT THERE ARE QUESTIONS: Who were those men, who did they work for, and what the hell's going on between Alex and Rose? To be answered next time… maaaaybe. Because let's be honest here… I have no freaking clue where I'm going with this.

ANYWAYS. Reviiiiiew and it won't take nearly this long for the next one to come out. I'll see ya' next time.