This story seems to be one of my latest obsessions. I really should be doing other things. Oh well.

PsychoCandy: Thank you for the advice on the last chapter, but I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to. I don't see how Megabyte could have been dropping hints- I just meant for him to tease Enzo. For some reason, this story is focusing more on those two than I had meant for it to. But this chapter is definitely leading up to a cute scene between Dot and Megabyte.

Also, I'm not a member of Ao3, so if you think you saw me on there, please do tell me more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Reboot

It was two something in the morning. The real Bob wasn't likely to go out for a solo patrol in G-Prime at a time or stop at Al's like this. It was dark and cold, but Megabyte had nothing to fear, and with all of the viruses supposedly gone, Bob would be rash enough to make sure everything was peaceful. But why would the real Bob patrol the skies on his zip board when nothing was wrong, much less stop in a place like Al's while he was out? Did the real Bob even drink? Surely he did from time to time- who doesn't?

Megabyte lowered himself to the ground. He sat against the cold wall. It seemed that dark allies were becoming his new domain. His behavior was not going to help him pull off his guardian act if he got caught. Then again, his claws could take care of such a problem, and the taste of blood would be very comforting right then.

He reviewed his performance from earlier that day. No one would suspect him a being Megabyte, but was he really giving his best performance? Did he really want to? What more could he do to keep them convinced? Without a virus to keep under control, Bob was useless. Now Megabyte wished he had spent more time watching his enemies; learning about them. Of course, no one in their right mind could have expected this upgrade. It wasn't like he had planned on infiltrating their group. But now he was trying to act as though he had always been there. There had to be an easier way.

Maybe if he could get them singled out. If he could use one of them as a source of information, he could learn about them faster. But Dot and Mouse were clever girls- they would notice something was up. And with Dot planning for the wedding, distracting her would only make her more moody than she already was. Dot had already questioned why he wasn't sleeping with her. He couldn't risk her getting suspicious.

The game sprite learned quickly, but she was too open about everything with Mouse and Dot, and she was just as smart as they were. She would have been even smarter if she hadn't gotten stuck in the games with her overpowered boyfriend. Who knew a sprite could go toe-to-toe with a virus? Still, he was basic enough to not notice obvious mistakes. But if he did manage to figure out what was going on, Megabyte knew what to expect- a good shot from Gun would delete him.

Little Enzo, on the other hand, was still naïve and fragile. It would not be hard to get rid of the boy if he managed to learn to much, but that wasn't likely to happen. It wouldn't take much to get the kid to start talking. Getting him to shut up would be more of a challenge, but a few rounds of sports should tire him out, and the virus needed the exercise. Megabyte grinned at the idea of the boy bonding with him, becoming his shadow like Enzo had done with the real Bob.

The fake Bob looked around to make sure Little Enzo hadn't followed him. This was no place for a little sprite, and they could both get into a lot of trouble if AndrAIa was out looking for the boy and caught them.

Megabyte closed his eyes and listened for a sign that he was not alone. There was plenty of noise coming from Al's, and Megabyte sighed. He couldn't say for sure, but he thought he heard a familiar voice. Of course that boy would sneak out, and where better to go to? To someone so young, going to Al's must have seemed like a hardcore thing to do.

Enzo had so much to learn.

As Megabyte made his way to the bar, the kid got louder. Of course they wouldn't let him in there- he was a child. Did he really think he could argue his way through this? He was in the middle of telling off the bouncer when he heard his hero walking up behind him.

"Enzo Matrix." Bob sounded calm, yet stern. Enzo didn't like it. "Sneaking out on a school night? I don't think so."

"Bob!" Megabyte could tell by the look on the child's face that he knew he was in trouble. "W-what are doing here?"

"I came here for a drink." the fake Bob admitted "What do you think you're doing?"

"I was only going to order a soda." It seemed believable- Enzo may not have been the most obedient child, but he wasn't a bad kid. "I just wanted to hang out with the tough guys- like Matrix!" The boy had gone from worried about the trouble he was going to get into, to getting excited over something that wasn't going to happen. "Can I sit with you? Please?"

"Sorry, I can't let you do that." The fake Bob looked genuinely apologetic. "I have to take you back to Matrix and AndAIa."

"Awww, where's the fun in that?" Enzo bargained with him "If AndrAIa wakes up, she'll tell Dot that you snuck out too."

Megabyte gasped "Are blackmailing me?" He would have never expected Enzo to do such a thing to the guardian. Maybe it was just Matrix rubbing off on the kid, but it was better than what he had thought of the kid before. It seemed this boy was going from blind follower to a helper who was willing to do whatever it took to get something he wanted.

This was the kind of sibling Megabyte wanted- clever, independent, and still idolizing while somehow adding just enough sass to make it interesting.

"I just want one soda." Enzo was back to pleading. The young sprite pointed at the door. "From here."

"Fine." the virus acted irritated, but he was secretly amused by the boy "But just this once. We're not going to make a habit of this."

Megabyte secretly vowed to himself to bring the kid back once MegaFrame was all his for a family-only celebration.